140 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
by the small nurseryman and he feels the 
discrimination keenly. 
Some of the small nurserymen have 
heard it said that the present nursery law 
was passed at the instigation of the larger 
nurseries and we can hardly wonder that 
they jumped at the conclusion that the 
large nurseries chose this method to force 
them out of the business. 
According to my information, however, 
the present order of things was brought 
about by an entirely different motive. It 
seems that other states passed laws re¬ 
quiring all nursery stock coming into their 
territory to bear a tag stating that the 
stock had been duly inspected by an ex¬ 
pert, and was apparently free from insect 
pests and diseases. The Florida nurseries 
found their market greatly curtailed be¬ 
cause their stock was no longer accepted 
in States having such an inspection law. 
They therefore petitioned the State Legis¬ 
lature to have a State nursery inspector 
appointed, who was to so inspect and cer¬ 
tify their nurseries. When the objection 
was raised that this would be expensive, 
these nurseries offered to help bear the 
expenses of the work themselves by the 
payment of reasonable inspection fees. In 
reality, they had nothing to do with fixing 
the size of the fees or the method of col¬ 
lection, which was done by the Board of 
Control. 
Be that as it may, the fact remains that 
at present the inspection charge per bud 
is much higher for the small nurseryman 
than for the large nursery. Moreover, he 
can ill afford to pay the difference, for he 
generally has to sell for less than does the 
large nursery, and often the small nursery* 
man is a person of limited means. 
So long as this discrepancy remains, 
just so long will the State put a premium 
on evasion of inspection by the small nur¬ 
sery. The State Nursery Inspector can 
not be asked to act as a detective as well 
as a nursery inspector. Are we not to a 
great extent nullifying the beneficial ef¬ 
fects of the nursery inspection law by the 
present system of inspection charges? A 
certain set charge per thousand buds could 
be made. This would eliminate all uncer¬ 
tainty and would make the charge the 
same to all, no matter what the size of 
the nursery. Is it fair to charge a man 
an especially high price just because his 
nursery is in an inaccessible portion of 
the State? Such a system of charges as 
has been proposed would eliminate the 
excessive charges caused by high travel¬ 
ing expenses incurred when a small nur¬ 
sery is located off of the main lines of 
travel. 
But why should there be any charge 
for inspection at all? We do not have to 
pay for the service of the State Board of 
Health, nor for the services of the State 
Veterinarian. Even hog cholera serum 
has been given free to the farmers. Why 
should not the services of the nursery in¬ 
spector be given free as well? It would 
be expensive. Granted. But is it not 
worth it to us? Not only to the nursery¬ 
man, but also to the grower, banker and 
business man; in fact to every citizen of 
the State it is worth many hundred times 
the small amount it would cost us in our 
taxes to know that our interests were be¬ 
ing thoroughly and efficiently safeguard¬ 
ed. 
By discovering canker when he did, the 
Nursery Inspector saved the State of Flor- 
