162 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Rub. Doc. 



destroy such pests before they shall have an opportunity to 

 establish themselves here. 



Until about two years ago it was practically impossible to 

 learn of these imports, the custom house officials being under 

 no obligations to furnish such information. For the last two 

 years, however, this information has been supplied to the 

 different States by the Bureau of Entomology of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture, and it is now possible to 

 examine the imports as they arrive at their various points of 

 destination. Lack of funds has prevented any large amount 

 of this work, but in a few instances an examination was pos- 

 sible, the contents of perhaps one hundred cases being exam- 

 ined to discover any insects or diseases which might be present 

 on the stock. The results showed the importance, and, indeed, 

 the absolute necessity, of watching our imports carefully if 

 we are not to receive other pests as serious as the gypsy and 

 brown-tail moths. Among the shipments the worst case of 

 crown gall ever seen by the inspector was discovered, includ- 

 ing forty-five out of fifty plants tied together in one bundle. 

 Another shipment was abundantly supplied with the West 

 Indian peach scale, which has already received some attention 

 because of its abundance on a shipment of cherries from 

 Japan for planting on the White House grounds at Washing- 

 ton, resulting in the destruction of the entire shipment. If 

 the authorities of other States consider it of prime importance 

 to watch all consignments of import stock carefully, Massa- 

 chusetts cannot afford to admit this stock without a careful 

 examination. As a result of the slight amount of examina- 

 tion possible last spring, five different pests or diseases were 

 found, any one of which, if it had escaped unnoticed, might 

 have added another to the number of foes this State is now 

 obliged to fight. 



It has just been stated that examination of about one hun- 

 dred cases or other parcels of stock resulted in finding five 

 insects or diseases liable to become dangerous to our trees or 

 other plants, but it cannot be determined how many other 

 kinds of pests, and how many specimens of the five already 

 discovered were brought in on the uninspected consignments. 

 As the inspector has received notice of the shipment into the 



