210 BOARD OF AGKICULTUKE. [Pub. Doc. 



has come in ttiroiigh channels not reached by the nursery 

 inspector. 



It has become evident that our present laws are insuffi- 

 cient for the protection of the people of this State from the 

 San Jose scale in at least two classes of cases. One of these 

 classes was considered in the report of the inspector last year, 

 and I desire to call your attention to it again. 



Nurserymen must keep their stock free from this pest, in 

 order to receive certificates permitting them to make sales ; 

 but in too many cases they find this impossible without con- 

 siderable expense, because of serious infestation existing 

 just beyond the limits of their nurseries, and which they 

 have no power to check. When the scale occurs in abun- 

 dance just across the fence from the nursery, the inspectors 

 are prepared to find the nursery stock in this neighborhood 

 more or less infested each year, and this stock is at once 

 removed and destro3^ed. The nurseryman under such con- 

 ditions is practically paying an extra tax as a result of negli- 

 gence on the part of his neighbors. One particular case of 

 this kind was described in the last report, but there are many 

 others quite similar, and at the present time the nurseryman 

 has no means whatever of protecting himself. 



The second class of cases is by far the largest. A man 

 has orchard trees frequently in large numbers which he is 

 willing and able to protect from the ravages of this scale, 

 but his orchard is near others which are infested, and which 

 are not taken care of in any way ; of course the ultimate 

 result will be that such adjoining orchards will either die 

 out or at least become worthless, but they serve as breeding 

 places, from which the scale each year will spread. Under 

 such circumstances as these, any orchardist feels that spray- 

 ing which he might do for the pest would l)e almost equiva- 

 lent to pouring water into a sieve ; and I have received many 

 inquiries as to what can be done under such circumstances. 

 One recent letter runs as follows : " It seems to me it would 

 be difficult for me to fight the scale, if my next neighbor 

 allows his apple trees to stand without removing or burning 

 or spraying in any way. Is there no law in Massachusetts 

 by which I can obtain protection ? " As a result of a large 



