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Show IMPORTED PESTS. It has been a good many years ?ince the English sparrow was brought into the United States, and almost continuously since a few years after the first importation sporadic attempts have been made-to made-to rid the country of it. It is said that the sparrow in England is a very different bird from the sparrow in America ; that the breed has degenerated in the land of the free into a nuisance, whereas in England Eng-land it is looked upon as a valuable agent in destroying de-stroying the pests that affect orchards and vegetable life generally. Be that as it may, the importation of the birds into America is now very generally considered con-sidered as a very grave blunder. The English sparrow, however, is a comparatively comparative-ly innocent nuisance which we have brought into this country from foreign lands. The worst pests have come in inadvertently, in shipments of fruit trees. The bureau of entomology at Washington has arrived at the conclusion that a number of moth pests that now affect the orchards were brought into America through shipments of fruit trees, and efforts ef-forts are making to prevent a repetition. It is pointed out that the money spent by states and the federal government to eradicate pests after they have become established here, if iihad been used in keeping the pests out by adequate inspection of imported im-ported fruit trees, would have resulted in large savings sav-ings to the agriculturists as well as leaving a comfortable com-fortable sum unspent besides. Last year it is said thousands of apple and pear seedlings were imported import-ed from France on which were the winter nests of the browntail moth. The exporting nurseries are not officially inspected, and the imports passed the customs house without adequate inspection. That the country was not overrun by the browntail moth is due only to the efficient inspection work of the different, states. The experiences of the past indicate that a federal fed-eral inspection law imposing an examination and quarantine of imported nursery stock would aid materially ma-terially the efforts of the states in preventing the spread of insect pests. The laws of Utah concerning concern-ing fruit and fruit trees are adequate to meet the demands of this state, but a lack of federal inspection inspec-tion of foreign importations may bring into the country some pests which will destroy the woodlands wood-lands and work untold injury to the orchards. It is better that prevention be sought than that a cure be found. It is also cheaper in the long run. |