The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-11-20

| of ships. The disagreeable bug comes and goes on ships almost as freely as the rats. The two seem to live together iamicably, and they monopolize largely the hold of the ships which carry food stuffs.
 Grain carrying ships always have many insects aboard. Common grain weevils are transported in these cargoes from all parts of the world. The ap- pearance of many new grain insects in this country in the past twenty years | is attributed to the fact that they have been imported with the seeds of grain from other lands. In the seeds the larvae of the insects may be buried, and no human power could detect them. The only safe way to prevent their inn portation is by fumigation or by boiling. The common smut and black rot of our grain cannot be destroyed in any other way. To avoid spreading these pests, even in this country, it is necessary for the farmers to soak the seed in water London. Nov. 13-In a letter to Miss brought nearly to the boiling point, which destroys the germs and spores of the disease, but does not quite kill the germ of life in the seed.
 Tropical fruits are common carriers of strange creatures which may prove costly immigrants when admitted. Ships engaged in fruit carrying from the warm countries are frequently lad en with miscellaneous cargoes of queer creatures. Concealed in the punches of bananas there may be poisonous rep tiles that have travelled half around the globe. They may sting the hand of some receiver of the fruit, or they may be killed before harm can be inflicted by them. Sometimes, however, they es- cape ashore, and If the new country they have reached proves congenial to the growth and multiplication, they may establish in time a progeny that will spread in all directions. Poisonous snakes of the tropics have thus been in troduced in lands where none were ever known to exist before. Even along the shore front in New York poisonous snakes have been found and killed. They had escaped from the hold of some fruit steamer, and in the warm summer months they had found conge- nial existence among the wharves.
 The smallest insect pests which are not so easily detected by the ordinary eye frequently come into the country by means of imported fruits. Thus has been introduced the scale, which has proved such a costly enemy to the or ange and fruit groves. Moths of de- structive nature constantly come to our ports in the fruit ships, and their se. AJxy ,H4 ,,Sl opportunity. They are shipmates that cause no trouble to the sailors, who are not even aware of their presence on shipboard, but they are costly to the farmers and inhabitants of the land where they become established. The question of quarantining all fruit steamers and making rigid investiga- tion of all their products before they are landed has been agitated number of. times. but 1t is doubtful if the intro- duction of obnoxious insect pests could be entirely prevented even then. The single fruit that a passenger might car " in his trunk might prove sufficient to give the pest foothold in the coun- try.
 A single plant brought from South America was the means of spreading q fungus growth throughout the southern states, which caused endless loss and outlay of money to destroy.
 Likewise the escape of single moth in Massachusetts entailed great expense upon the government and private indi- viduals, who sought to limit it's multi plieation and to destroy it's rapidly in creasing progeny.
 Even flowers and plants from other countries bring with them new mi grants in the shape of bugs, bees and other insects. Concealed in the blos- som or bud of the plants, they remain dormant during the long voyage, but when they reach land, where climate and surroundings are eongenial to their active growth they come forth to estab- fish themselves in heir land of adoption. Thus from Bermuda have been brought insects by the hundreds concealed in the beautiful Easter lily blossoms, and from all parts of the world strange in sects, hid away in the cuplike blooms of orchids, which hunters risked their lives to secure, have been introduced to work destruction or add to pleasure. Not all migrants on incoming ships are obnoxious. Some are of distinct value to the country, and their introduction in this secret way works out successfully problems of great public value.--New varlr N,r;,,,na -5gz