Laws and Pests. 23 



this law, trees were allowed to pass if an officer certi- 

 fied that he had examined them and had found no 

 evidence of disease thereon, which is a very different 

 matter from asserting that they are free from dis- 

 ease, and which is a virtual acknowledgment that 

 such provisions of laws really cannot be enforced. 

 The best laws of this nature, and for the regulation 

 of spraying and the like, are probably those which 

 are not mandatory, but which provide a protection 

 or a legal remedy in case any person considers him- 

 self to be endangered or injured by the perverseness 

 or the negligence of another ; and it is a question 

 if the common law does not provide ample redress 

 for such grievances. There are instances, too, in 

 which it may be wise to make a general effort to 

 stamp out a pest when it first obtains a foothold in 

 America, but this is a very different matter from 

 the endeavor to control the spread of insects and 

 fungi between the different parts of the country. 

 The fact is, that most insects and diseases are beyond 

 the reach of legislative fiats, and it is time that the 

 fact were fully learned. The demand for functionary 

 proceedings against the bugs sometimes recalls the 

 laborious efforts of the Middle Ages. "At one time," 

 writes Fernald,* "a thoroughgoing procedure, accord- 

 ing to all the rules of jurisprudence, occurred before 

 the spiritual judge. The accused insects were sum- 

 moned, and in case of non-appearance, which always 

 occurred, unless the insects were moving to new feed- 



*C. H. Fernald, "The Evolution of Economic Entomology," Proc. Eighth 

 Annual Meeting Assoc. Eeon. Entomologists, 1896. 



