One Chicago motorist who tried smuggling said, ‘‘No fruits or plants,"' 
when he drove over the Mexican border, returning to the United States. 
But the customs inspector lifted the car hood and found 13 potted plants. 
On further inspection he found five packages of dried herbs in springs 
under the rear seat. When the plant soil was tested, it revealed cysts of 
the destructive golden nematode, and the plants proved to be infested with 
a scale insect. 
FROM TODAY TO TOMORROW 
The task of officials responsible for keeping out foreign agricultural 
pests and diseases is expected to become larger, not smaller; harder, not 
easier, The main hope for the future is to make the best possible use of 
research advances and to gain the full cooperation of the public. 
Sizing up the Task 
The increase of travel and transport to the United States shows no 
sign of slackening. This means ever-mounting quantities of baggage and 
cargo that must be inspected for stowaway pests and diseases, Since 
World War Il, air traffic requiring agricultural quarantine inspection has 
increased nearly 600 percent; ocean traffic more than 100 percent; and 
vehicular traffic across the Mexican border 450 percent. 
Furthermore, the network of transportation lanes is becoming more 
and more complex, necessitating the wider spread of official guardians of 
agriculture to additional strategic stations. 
When the St, Lawrence Seaway was opened to deep-draft vessels in 
1959, it added 2,000 miles of shipping coast to be guarded--the first 
major addition to our water coastlines in 70 years, Cleveland, Duluth, 
Milwaukee, and other places far inland are now ‘‘ocean’’ ports. Large 
freighters docking to unload foreign goods along the Seaway can be expected 
to carry their share of agricultural pest hazards to the heart of the 
Midwest grain and livestock centers, One of the first stowaways riding the 
seaway was the grain-devouring khapra beetle, found in the hold ofa 
German ship at Cleveland, Importers and exporters along the seaway are 
being urged to become familiar with agricultural inspectionand treatments 
necessary for varied agricultural products, and to aid U. S. Customs and 
quarantine officers with close cooperation. The fact that these ports are 
in fresh water materially increases the danger to livestock because if 
foreign garbage were dumped in the water it could infect livestock drinking 
the water. 
Alaska is another large area beginning to require strong protection 
against stowaway pests. Several airlines already run regular scheduled 
flights linking Europe and the Orient by way of Anchorage, Alaskans are 
worried over the chance of introducing the golden nematode to their potato 
crops. They fear that foot-and-mouth disease may be brought to their State,. 
realizing that this disease can destroy cattle and also the wild game that 
is an important source of income, 
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