REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR I917 67 



Nursery inspection. The nursery inspection work of the State 

 Department of Agriculture has resulted, as in former years, in a 

 number of specimens representing various stages of insect develop- 

 ment, some in very poor condition, being submitted to the Ento- 

 mologist for identification. As such material may originate in a 

 foreign country, determinations of this character are laborious and 

 require for their successful prosecution a large collection and an 

 excellent library of both domestic and foreign works. The correct 

 identification of such material is important, since the disposal of 

 an entire shipment of nursery stock must' depend in considerable 

 measure upon the character of the infestation. 



General. The work of the office has been materially aided, as in 

 past years, by the identification of a number of species through the 

 courtesy of Dr L. O. Howard, chief of the Bureau of Entomology, 

 United States Department of Agriculture, and his associates. There 

 has been, as already stated, very effective cooperation with the 

 State Department of Agriculture, the New York State Food Supply 

 Commission and its agents, the county farm bureaus, the state 

 experiment station and other public welfare organizations in the 

 State. A number of correspondents have donated valuable speci- 

 mens and many have rendered efficient service by transmitting local 

 data respecting various insects. 

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