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With the passage of the inspection laws it became necessary to organize a force to 
carry on this line of work. In most cases this work was delegated to the State ento- 
mologist or the entomologists of the State experiment stations. In States where few 
nurseries existed the matter of inspection required but little time, but where the 
nursery interests were large it was necessary to perfect some system of inspection so 
thai a careful record might be kept of each nursery from year to year. It was also 
necessary to thoroughly train men for this particular kind of work, which, of course, 
required time, careful selection, and thorough drilling. 
Nearly all the laws relating to inspection require that an examination of each 
nursery and premises be made annually. They also provide that, if the nursery stock 
and premises is found apparently free from dangerously injurious insect pests and 
plant diseases, that the owner shall he given a certificate of inspection stating the 
facts. This places the responsibility for the condition of any nursery upon the party 
who is authorized to issue such certificates. 
Freedom from injurious pests, and hence tin- value of a certificate of inspection, 
depends largely upon the party who makes the examination; hence it is desirable 
t'.iat the work should he carefully and systematically done and that the inspector 
should he a well-trained and a keen observer. In the early days of nursery inspec- 
tion it is doubtless true that many nurseries were examined in a superficial manner 
which would not stand the test of nursery inspection as it has been developed at this 
time. Each year results in the adoption of more perfect methods, based upon pre- 
vious successes or failures. On the whole this work has been highly beneficial to 
nurserymen in preventing the introduction and dissemination of infested stock, and 
lias saved many times its cost to the fruit growers of the country. 
Before discussing some of the methods employed by the division of nursery and 
orchard inspection of the Ohio State Board of Agriculture, it may be well to consider 
some of the principal sources from which nurseries may become infested with the 
San Jose scale. The location of the nursery premises will often determine to a large 
extent its liability to infestation. One of the most difficult phases of the nursery 
problem with which the inspector is called upon to deal is where the stock is grown 
in cities or towns, or adjoining neglected orchards. It has been the common prac- 
tice among the owners of city lots to buy trees and shrubs in a promiscuous fashion 
from irresponsible agents and tree pedlars, and this has been the primary cause of 
the infestation of many districts in thickly settled communities. In cases where 
nursery grounds are in the immediate vicinity, it is a difficult problem to prevent 
the infestation of the growing stock, as many owners of such lots take very little 
interest in the condition of their trees, and the treatment which they apply is apt to 
be hastily or carelessly done. Neglected orchards also furnish a convenient breeding 
ground if this pest once becomes established, and as it is expensive to properly treat 
them, the problem of controlling the scale is a very serious one. Aside from nurseries 
that are located in such situations (and on the whole they furnish a very small per- 
centage of the actual number of nurseries in Ohio), the principal cause of nursery 
infestation is undoubtedly due to the use of affected cuttings and buds in the prop- 
agation of young stock. It has been the policy of the writer for several years to 
advise and urge nurserymen nev.r to use buds, grafts, or scions in their nurseries 
unless they have been properly fumigated. In spite of this advice several cases have 
been found where; stock had become quite seriously infested with the scale, the canst; 
being directly traceable to the use of cuttings and buds taken from badly infested 
orchard several miles distant. It therefore becomes apparent that one of the duties 
of any nursery inspector should be to ascertain the source from which the buds and 
cuttings have been obtained and also to satisfy himself concerning their proper 
fumigation. 
In order to test the effect of hydrocyanic-acid gas on the buds which were about 
to be set, the writer conducted a series of experiments during the summer of 1902. 
Peach buds were used fortius purpose, as they were the most tender species obtain- 
able at that time. It was found that a charge consisting of three-fourths of an ounce 
of potassium cyanid, three-fourths of an ounce of sulphuric acid, and 2\ ounces of 
water to each 100 cubic feet of space was effective in Trilling the San Jose scale and 
did not injure the buds. They were exposed to the action of the gas for forty minutes. 
In fact, when the cyanid was used at the rate of 1 ounce to each 100 cubic feet no 
injury to tin; buds resulted if they were not exposed for a greater length of time. 
The effect of the gas upon the scale was tested by fumigating badly" infested apples 
at thesame timewith bud sticks. Dippingthe bud sticks for fifteen minutes in whale- 
oil soap mixture, when used at the rate of 2 pounds of soap to each gallon of water, 
does not prevent the buds from developing, but renders them unpleasant to handle 
and more difficult to set in the seedling trees. This method is less satisfactory than 
fumigation, as it can not be depended upon to kill all of the old female scales. From 
