SUPPRESSION OP INSECT PESTS AND PLANT DISEASES. 11 



States Department of Agriculture. By this act the head of the Department is given 

 the power to prepare such rules and regulations as might bo deemed necessary for 

 the speedy and effectual suppression of the diseases of domestic animals. Necessary 

 rules and regulations are to be certified to the executive authority of each State and 

 Territory, and said authorities are to be asked to cooperate in the enforcement and 

 execution of the act. This removes all difficulties that may arise between Federal 

 and State authorities, and gives the head of the Department power to act whenever 

 an emergency arises. The rules provide for the necessary means of bringing to the 

 attention of the Department any contagious or communicable disease, the appoint- 

 ment of inspectors, the quarantining of infected localities, destruction of the diseased 

 animals, and compensation therefor whenever the latter is recommended by a board 

 of appraisers appointed by virtue of the act in question. Whether such a general 

 law or a similar one could be made operative in the case of insects and fungi is a 

 question. Public sentiment is not as yet very far advanced in such matters, and 

 public sentiment is what makes a law operative. In any event, it seems to me that 

 a law, no matter how drawn, would prove useful only in certain special emergencies. 

 The greater portion of our plant diseases and insect pests can not be reached by legis- 

 lation. They are governed by natural laws, and it is to these that we should turn 

 our attention. Let us strive, therefore, to obtain more light on nature's fundamental 

 truths, for one such truth well understood may prove of more lasting benefit than 

 legislation without end. 



The next paper called for was by Mr. L. O. Howard, Entomologist of 

 the United States Department of Agriculture. The following is an 

 abstract of the paper made by the author, who has reserved the com- 

 plete article for publication elsewhere: 



THE DESIRABILITY OF AN INSPECTION SYSTEM AGAINST FOREIGN INSECTS. 



The speaker called attention to the fact that fully one-half the principal inju- 

 rious insects of the United States are of foreign origin, and have at one time or 

 another been accidentally imported into this country, where, in the majority of 

 cases, they have nourished to a degree unknown in their original home. This state- 

 ment was supported by instancing many important injurious species. It was shown 

 that aside from a large number of insect enemies of field crops, most of the granary 

 pests, most of the household pests, and most of the greenhouse pests belong to the 

 class of imported species. The countries of origin were briefly discussed, and it 

 was shown that while Europe is the home of the majority of the imported spe- 

 cies, the recent development of commercial intercourse with eastern Asiatic coun- 

 tries, especially China and Japan, in connection with the enormous development of 

 agriculture and horticulture on the Pacific Coast, is now resulting in the arrival at 

 the port of San Francisco of many new insect enemies of vegetation. It was fur- 

 ther shown that there is much less danger of importations of this character from 

 the Southern Hemisphere, since such an importation would involve a change of cli- 

 mate. An insect shipped from Chile in midsummer, for example, would arrive in 

 this country in midwinter, and such a radical change, involving the complete rever- 

 sal of the life cycle of the insect, is a practical barrier against the establishment of 

 species imported from such localities. 



Widely differing ways in which insects may be introduced were briefly discussed 

 and the known facts regarding the number of our principal imported crop pests 

 were given. It was shown that the present method of packing the cargo of a steamer 

 is admirably adapted to the successful transportation of insects, and of course the 

 faster the steamer makes its way across the sea the greater the danger of importation 

 of injurious forms. 



The great difficulties of competent inspection were dwelt upon, but it was shown 

 that a rigid inspection of nursery stock would be possible. The resultant value of 



