NATIONAL LAWS 299 



Another point of great practical importance is the question of 

 what shall be done with stock found to be infested with some 

 serious pest. Such stock ought either to be treated so as to free 

 it from the pest or else the stock ought to be destroyed. For 

 example, an inspector looking for San Jose scale in a nursery when 

 he discovered the scale on a tree, might break it down as an indica- 

 tion to the nurseryman that that particular tree was to be dug 

 out and destroyed. But immediately adjoining trees, whose 

 branches might interlock with those of the tree broken down, but 

 on which the inspector failed to find any scale, might be allowed to 

 stand and be shipped out to customers. Such an inspection is ab- 

 solutely worthless. In fact it is worse than that, because if the pur- 

 chaser knows of it he is thereby thrown off his guard and is less 

 likely to discover the pest for himself. 



Local Administration. Any law dealing with orchard pests, 

 whether it be with those in the nursery or in the orchard, is much 

 more likely to be of value if it is administered by a State or na- 

 tional officer, rather than being left to a local official. The locally 

 administered law is absolutely dependent on local support for its 

 effectiveness. If the people of the neighborhood believe in it with 

 sufficient zeal, then the law is carried out ; if they do not, then the 

 most zealous official is powerless. The writer has seen this well 

 illustrated in the case of laws against the black-knot of plums. 

 When public sentiment was not strong on the subject, black-knot 

 flourished undisturbed even in orchards immediately adjoining 

 the highway. 



National laws are likely to be most effective both because of the 

 fact just suggested and because such a law brings all parts of the 

 country under uniform regulations. For example, the United 

 States has a ''Quarantine Act," by the provisions of which the 

 Secretary of Agriculture may prohibit the importation of plants 

 or of fruits likely to be the means of introducing into this country 

 a dangerous pest. The following was Secretary Wilson's order 

 prohibiting the importation of fruits likely to bring in the ' * Mexi- 

 can fruit fly": 



The fact has been determined by the Secretary of Agriculture that an 

 injurious insect known as the Mexican fruit fly (Trypeta ludens) , new 



