232 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



the brown-tail moth it is different. This insect may now be 

 present in one hundred and four i)laces, and has actually 

 been found in more than half of them. When it is present 

 and the inspection is made after the 10th of September it is 

 possible to find and remove this pest, as it has then con- 

 structed its winter tents. Earlier than this date no inspec- 

 tion can be made which will be certain to discover all the 

 brown-tail moths, as these insects will then be present either 

 in the egg stage or as tiny caterpillars, and neither can be 

 sure of discovery without examining every leaf on every 

 tree, — manifestly an impossible task. Yet, as shipments 

 of some kinds of stock must be made by the middle of 

 August, the beginning of inspection cannot be delayed 

 beyond that time ; and in consequence the inspector, after 

 consultation with the secretary of the Board of Agriculture 

 and with Mr. A. H. Kirkland, the su})erintendent of the 

 Gypsy Moth Connnission, has been forced to rule that cer- 

 tificates granted to Massachusetts nurseries shall not be con- 

 sidered as covering the brown-tail moth. 



That this is much to be regretted no one appreciates more 

 than the inspector; but the only alternative would be to 

 make no inspections till about Sei)tember 10, and to forbid 

 all shipments of stock till after that date. This, however, 

 would necessitate a much larger force of inspectors if the 

 work were to be completed in time, for with the present 

 force it takes six to eight weeks at least to make the rounds 

 of the nurseries, and if the work were begun three or four 

 weeks later, the last nurseries would be reached after the 

 shipping season was practically over. The deputies now 

 accept their appointments because they can obtain about a 

 certain sum for their labor ; while, if that sum were to be 

 divided among twice as many, they would not receive enough 

 for the time they would spend to make it pay them to give 

 up whatever employments they might have. From these 

 facts it seems evident that no other action as to the brown- 

 tail moth could have been taken last fall. Whether it would 

 be best to delay inspections so as to include the brown-tail 

 moth, and still finish the work early enough not to interfere 

 with the shipping season, by obtaining changes in the law 



