144 
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 
[Vol. 16 
plan that will come as near giving what we desire as we can ever 
hope for. In the past we have fallen short of our aim due to variation 
in requirements and methods and to the influence of geographical 
location on the dangerous insects and plant diseases of nursery stock. 
By inspecting at digging time the first two factors can be largely 
eliminated and a committee selected geographically could largely 
iron out the third difficulty. Funds and men are the outstanding 
difficulties we have encountered and a further suggestion here will 
bear on that point. 
In the first place why should Mississippi, for instance, be forced 
to maintain a staff of inspectors to inspect at point of delivery all 
small or large shipments of stock from Missouri and other states. 
Would it not be cheaper and more satisfactory for Missouri to spend 
say one half that amount on inspection at digging time when all 
these spiall orders are assembled at one or a few packing houses 
perhaps. The inspection and movement of nursery stock is no longer 
a state matter but one of inter-state and national importance. The 
various states and the Federal Departments should closely co-operate 
in carrying it out effectively. Why could there not be a regular 
staff of state and federal inspectors, with uniform training, grading 
uniformly, working from the north toward the south as the fall 
advances. A combined state-federal certificate or a straight Federal 
Horticultural Board Certificate could be issued. In fact following 
out the purpose of federal quarantine regulations a grower might be 
given a certificate which would enable him to ship stock only to 
certain areas should any insect pest or disease appear which might be 
important only in certain parts of the country. We have already 
the beginning of such federal aid and co-operation; is it not feasible 
to extend it to include all interstate control of nursery insects and 
diseases which is really the present purpose of our nursery inspection 
work. I offer these suggestions for the thoughtful consideration of 
the State and Federal inspectors present and later during the business 
sessions if the matter is considered worthy of more serious considera¬ 
tion a committee, of which Dr. Marlatt should be a member and 
preferably, chairman, might be appointed to look into the possibility 
of such a basis of future co-operation and betterment of our nursery 
inspection work throughout the country. If the plan is workable 
and will render greater uniformity and cleaner, better stock then we 
can certainly count on the co-operation of the nurserymen of the 
country. 
