202 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
tee from the nurseryman should be 
substituted for a certificate. But why 
should a written guarantee from the 
nurseryman not be required to accom¬ 
pany the inspector's certificate? Every 
buyer has the power to demand such 
a guarantee. Again, it has been sug¬ 
gested, that fumigation should be sub¬ 
stituted for a certificate, or that a cer¬ 
tificate of fumigation from the nurs¬ 
eryman should be required to- accom¬ 
pany each shipment of certified stock. 
The requirement of a certificate of 
fumigation from the nurseryman, to¬ 
gether with an inspector’s certificate, 
is the law in Georgia and some other 
states. Again, defoliation together 
with the cutting back of the tender 
growth should be required in all ship¬ 
ments, and several nurserymen now 
make this practice. In fact, one should 
practice not only defoliation and cut¬ 
ting back, but fumigation as well. 
There remains only the addition of the 
written guarantee, and I hope soon to 
see some nurserymen take this for¬ 
ward step. A nurseryman could give 
a guarantee which the inspector can¬ 
not give, because every tree sold ought 
to come under his or some competent 
person’s scrutiny at the time of digging 
and packing. 
It has been objected that fumiga¬ 
tion, defoliation, and cutting back are 
injurious to trees. In regard to de¬ 
foliation, the preponderance of evi¬ 
dence, so far as the writer can judge, 
indicates that, at least under certain 
climatic conditions, it is not injurious; 
and some even state instances where 
defoliated trees started off better than 
others not defoliated. Should fumiga¬ 
tion cause the death of some trees and 
retard the growth of others—a doubt¬ 
ful contingency—yet the loss of a few 
trees should not be deprecated when 
it may involve the saving of a whole 
grove from becoming overrun by in¬ 
sects. It is the writer’s opinion that 
defoliation, together with cutting back 
and fumigation, should be practiced by 
all nurserymen, in fact insisted upon 
by the buyer, whether any noxious in¬ 
sects are suspected to be upon the 
stock or not; for there are other pests, 
such as rust mite, red spider, orange 
weevil, and perhaps still others, living 
on the leaves and roots [the grubs of 
the orange weevil live on the roots], 
which would probably be completely 
eradicated by this means. 
No stock should be shipped partially 
exposed [leafy tops left uncovered], 
but it should be so covered and wrap¬ 
ped as to make it secure against be¬ 
coming infested in transit. We need 
only to bear in mind the possibility 
that a package of citrus trees may 
come in contact, either in the express 
car or at the railway station, with a 
crate of scale-infested citrus fruit, or 
a package of peach, plum, or other 
similar trees, or with some San Jose 
scale-infested fruit; when the in¬ 
festation may spread to the previously 
clean stock, if it was not completely 
and properly covered. All these re¬ 
quirements, I believe, are quite within 
the reach of the buyer, and need simply 
to be insisted upon when he contracts 
for his trees. 
Further, in regard to a written 
guarantee from the nurseryman, it wiU 
be evident that the nurseryman could 
not give a guarantee of freedom from 
insects and diseases extending ahead 
over any long period of time. The best 
form of written guarantee would pro- 
