34 PLANT QUARANTINE AND CONTROL ADMINISTRATION [April-June 
The meeting afforded a full opportunity for anyone present to express his 
opinion as to the advisability of removing the Federal quarantine on account 
of the Japanese beetle. 
The sentiment was almost unanimous that the Federal quarantine restrictions 
should be maintained. The National Association of Commissioners of Agricul- 
ture, the Society of American Florists and Ornamental Horticulturists, and the 
representatives of each of the nurserymen's and florists' organizations, almost 
without exception, expressed themselves as favoring this action. The American 
Nurserymen's Association, for example, stated that: 
"The continued spread of these four pests (the Japanese beetle and three 
others under consideration) has not as yet been so extensive as to justify the 
discontinuance of the several quarantines. On account of the relatively small 
territory so far infested by these several pests, the advantages of maintaining 
the Federal quarantines amply justify the cost of administration. It is very 
doubtful that the States can provide the necessary protection to the country at 
large as effectively, advantageously, and economically as the Federal Govern- 
ment." 
The State departments of agriculture of the States outside of the infested ter- 
ritory expressed themselves as being particularly anxious for the maintenance of 
Federal protection against the introduction of the Japanese beetle, and stated 
that they were not yet ready to assume the responsibility and work of preventing 
the introduction of this pest. 
Although the representatives of the commissioners of agriculture of the 
infested States presented a different point of view, they similarly agreed that 
it was advantageous for the Federal Government to maintain the restrictions 
and carry the general responsibility for protective measures. 
In considering the subject since the conference the department has reached 
the conclusion that it will be more advantageous and economical in the long 
run for the Federal Government to continue the program of scouting, quaran- 
tine enforcement, and the certification of restricted products than it would be 
for the individual States to undertake the work. It would also be practically 
impossible for the States to maintain uniformity of requirement and to cover 
the borders of the infested area with uniform efficiency to determine the rate 
of natural spread. It is therefore believed that the spread of the beetle could 
not continue to be retarded effectively if the Federal quarantine were removed. 
The present distribution of the Japanese beetle extends from eastern and 
northern Virginia through considerable parts of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and 
eastern New York, and all of New Jersey, Delaware, Connecticut, and Rhode 
Island to southeastern Massachusetts. The insect feeds in the adult stage on 
a wide variety of fruit trees and ornamental plants, and in the larval or grub 
stage is a pest of lawns and golf greens. During the past 15 years or so it has 
spread about 300 miles from the point of original introduction in New Jersey, 
but isolated outbreaks in other parts of the United States have been minimized 
by restrictions on the shipment of plants, fruits, vegetables, and soil from the 
regulated areas. In some cases beetles have been carried to considerable dis- 
tances on trains and boats, and such outlying local infestations of limited extent 
have been the subject of intensive eradication work. 
ANNOUNCEMENT RELATING TO NARCISSUS-BULB QUARANTINE 
(NO. 62) 
MODIFICATION OF NARCISSUS-BULB QUARANTINE REGULATIONS 
INTRODUCTORY NOTE 
The following amendment to the narcissus-bulb quarantine regulations elim- 
inates the requirement of fumigation on account of lesser bulb fly (Eumerus 
spp.) infestation. The certification of bulbs as free from infestation is also 
authorized on the basis of the warehouse inspection where the planting has not 
been examined during the growing season, provided the Plant Quarantine and 
Control Administration issues a special approval of that procedure based on 
evidence of an intensive inspection of the bulbs in storage by inspectors com- 
petent to discover eelworm infestations in such dormant bulbs. 
