Evening star., 1911-08-25
ALEXANDRIA AFFAIRS RAvACES OF PESTS
Nurserymen Lose Millions
Through Imported Insects.
MOTHS AND SAN JOSE SCALE
Department of Agriculture Urges
Enactment of Law for Protec-
tion of Industries.

The Department of Agriculture declares
there is urgent need for an effective ma
tional quarantine law that will deal with
the bugs, fruit scales. fungi and other
pests that are continually being imported
into this country iN foreign nursery stock.
The department has just issued cir
cular setting forth the necessity for such
a law Efforts have been made to have
the law enacted by three past congresses,
and il has failed each time. Another ef-
fort Is 10 be made at the next session.
The department points out the ravages
of the gypsy moth and the brown-tailed
moth in New England. and the San Jose
scale all over the country, as instances
that could have been effectively dealt
with by such law II they had been
taken at the start. but that they have
now made such headway that they VIII
constitute a permanent charge or mil
lions of dollars on the industry OF the
country probably for all time.
Regulations in Other Countries.
The department states that all first
class foreign powers have stringent quar-
antine regulations in virtue OF which
American fruit and nursery stock are
barred except under the most rigid in
spection. while the United States is en-
tirely without such protection. Attention
is called to the Importation during lvt'
of the winter nests of the brown-taiied
moth These nests, imported on IoreIsi
nursery stock, were distributed IN tWeh
ty-two states from the Atlantic seaboard
to the Rocky mountains. There were
over 1900. 900 found in shipments to New
York state alone. During the next year
there were GIT nests found on shipments
TO the state Of Ohio. The department
still coming IN ana
that the danger thereerom is greater tnan
ever 1t Is quite possible that local IN
festation has already started at num-
Der of interior points.
In a limited district in New England
more than 81 $1,OOOOoO a year has ALREADY
been spent in fighting the pest. and the
national government Is appropriating
S3OO,OOO a year to clear the edges OF the
Instances Cited.
Two recent instances of importations
Of this sort are the alfalfa leaf weevii
and the Chinese cotton scale, one OF the
worst enemies of the citrus fruit industry.
The alfalfa weevil has already spread
over the whole state of Utah. destroying
much of the value Of the alfalfa crop OF
that state. and is now spread to adjacent
states. The cotton scale Is already well
established in Florida and naturally will
spread.
New diseases are constantly being inn
ported, one of the latest being the po-
tato wart, brought in shipments of pota-
toes from Newfoundland. The white
pine blister rust and the japanese chest
nu tree disease have already been i'm
ported in the same way. More than half
the important insect enemies and plant
diseases with which the country Is now
afflicted have been brought In on I'M
ported stock. A properly enforced quar-
artine law in the past would have Kept
out the most of these pests.
Purpose Of the Law.
The department states that the passage
of such a law has been defeated previous
ly owing TO the opposition Of nursery
men and importers of foreign stock. but
that the law is really intended for their
benefit and that their opposition Is based
entirely on misapprehension Of the scope
and effect of the proposed legislation.