it in its hold on the attention of our people. States like New Jersey in which the urban population is a very large part of the whole and in which farming land is being rapidly transformed into suburban residence property, medical entomology is particularly needed.

If there is no further discussion I will now pass the chairmanship over to President W. D. Hunter.

PRESIDENT W. D. HUNTER: The first paper of this session will be presented by Mr. Henry H. P. Severin on "The Mediterranean Fruit Fly."

PRECAUTIONS TAKEN AND THE DANGER OF INTRODUCING THE MEDITERRANEAN FRUIT FLY (CERATITIS CAPITATA WIED.) INTO THE UNITED STATES

HENRY H. P. SEVERIN, Honorary Fellow, University of Wisconsin

CARGO: The chief dangers of introducing the Mediterranean fruit. fly into the United States is through ships carrying cargo, ship stores, export fruit and baggage into our coast ports. With such a large. coast line as we have on the western boundary of the United States dotted with harbors, it is interesting to know what precautions are taken to keep this serious pest out of California, Oregon and Washington. On the California coast every ship coming from a foreign port must first enter one of the five ports of entry, and report to the United States Customs. Each ship, upon its arrival at one of these ports of entry, finds in waiting, one or more horticultural quarantine officers who together with the customs' men examine the horticultural products on board and the baggage of the passengers. Each vessel upon its arrival, must furnish a manifest, itemizing all horticultural products carried in the vessel as freight and indicating the nature, extent and origin of such material. The inspector having this information some time in advance of the actual landing of such imports, can take proper precautions for their inspection, treatment and final disposition. Practically the only horticultural imports arriving from Honolulu to the ports of entry are pineapples, bananas and root crops, all other crops being quarantined against under the Plant Quarantine Act (Quarantine Notice No. 2).

One Californian, after having studied the fruit fly situation in the Hawaiian Islands on returning to San Francisco, observed that the steamer on which he was traveling docked just a half hour later than another which came from the Orient. He wondered how three (now six) horticultural quarantine officers could search a steamer thoroughly

in half an hour, and be ready to inspect the steamer on which he was traveling in so short a time. The first steamer came from the Orient via Honolulu and as soon as the federal health officer lowered the quarantine flag, one horticultural quarantine official and three or more customs' men boarded the ship which they met in the open sea in a launch and began to search the ship's stores, the steerage lockers, the steerage galleys, the forecastle galleys, etc. As this steamship sailed from a foreign port, and docked at San Francisco, forty or more customs' men began to search the travelers' baggage. Whenever these customs' men found a horticultural product of any kind they held the same until a quarantine officer examined it. The horticultural officers received a special manifest setting forth every article of horticultural product that was on the ship. The manifest was taken to the dock agent and the horticultural products were marked on this list and could not be removed from the dock until searched. One horticultural officer has boarded the next steamer and as it approaches the dock, the two remaining quarantine officers hurry to meet this steamer. This steamer happened to be sailing between two domestic ports, i. e., Honolulu and San Francisco. The United States Customs' men do not search ships plying between domestic ports and the quarantine officers must, therefore, perform all of this work. There are two steamship companies running steamers between Honolulu and San Francisco and every one of these ships is absolutely dependent upon the quarantine officers for examination.

What about other ports along California, Oregon and Washington coasts where no quarantine is being maintained? Sailing vessels from Honolulu and other Hawaiian ports sail to California, Oregon, and Washington ports. And again, what about Australian steamers which stop at Honolulu and then proceed to Vancouver? Shipments by rail or by Pacific coasts steamers from these ports would be a constant danger of distributing infested fruit from the Hawaiian Islands. In connection with the oil ports in California the ship owners have issued an order to the captains of all their vessels on September 8, 1911, which reads as follows: "From now on it will be against the rules of this company for you or any of your crew to bring ashore any fruits that are put on board your vessels at Honolulu. Any infringement of this will mean expulsion." Under the Plant Quarantine Act it is unlawful for these sailing vessels to receive for transportation from Honolulu any quarantined fruits or vegetables. British Columbia has placed a complete quarantine against any kind of fruit from the Hawaiian Islands.

SHIPS' STORES: An arrangement has been made with ship owners that all fruits and vegetables purchased at Honolulu for ships' stores

should be thrown overboard before entering California water, i. e., before or arriving at the three-mile limit. Even this is a dangerous. method to pursue for Gurney of New South Wales immersed the Mediterranean fruit fly maggots in sea water for a period of forty-five hours. and a large percentage of these maggots developed into adult flies. Notwithstanding the promises of ship owners that the remnants of all fruits and vegetables purchased at Honolulu for ships' stores should be thrown overboard before their vessels enter California waters, the quarantine officers, during the month of May, 1912, found living larvæ of the Mediterranean fruit fly and melon fly in eleven different instances in this class of stores on board ships arriving from Honolulu. The quarantine officers then threatened to hold at anchor, away from the docks, all ships arriving from infested ports until they were declared free from insect pests. The reaction of this stimulus brought about the desired effect for no more infested fruits or vegetables were found in the ships' stores on the Honolulian steamers since.

EXPORT FRUITS FROM THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS: Let us take up next the danger of sending export fruits from the Hawaiian Islands into the United States. On June 24, 1911, California placed a quarantine against all Hawaiian fruits excepting pineapples and bananas. On October 1, 1912, the Plant Quarantine Act went into effect, the Secretary of Agriculture having followed the footsteps of California in quarantining all the Hawaiian fruits, except pineapples and bananas.

In the last number of the JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY No. 6, pages 443-451, we published a paper entitled, "Will the Mediterranean Fruit Fly (Ceratitis capitata Wied.) Breed in Bananas under Artificial and Field Conditions?" There is no question or doubt but that the Mediterranean fruit fly will occasionally breed in ripe and overripe bananas under Hawaiian conditions. The fruit fly was also bred from a half ripe banana under field conditions.

A number of entomologists have bred the Mediterranean fruit fly from pineapples and bananas under natural conditions. Kirk of New Zealand has actually bred the Mediterranean fruit fly from pineapples and bananas intercepted at the wharf. French of Victoria has also reared the pest from pineapples and bananas, and on many occasions he has proven "eggs to have been deposited in green bananas."

What precautions were taken at Honolulu to prevent the Mediterranean fruit fly from entering the United States through export pineapples and bananas? On March 1, 1912, the marketing division of Honolulu took entire control of shipping export fruits. An inspector was employed who visited the various banana plantations and inspected the bananas. He was not to pass bunches containing scale infested bananas nor ripe, partly ripe or injured bananas. The

bunches of bananas were marked in the field and later tagged, and arrangements were made with the steamship companies that no untagged fruits or vegetables were to be shipped to California. The material used in packing pineapples and bananas was changed from grass, in which there was a possible danger of the pest to pupate, to rice and excelsior. The wagons carrying the packed bananas were to be covered with canvass to prevent any maggots from dropping on the load while driving below fruit trees through the streets of Honolulu. What precautions are taken at San Francisco regarding pineapples and bananas entering California from Honolulu? At a meeting of the California quarantine officials on June 7, 1912, it was decided to burn the wrapping material around bananas shipped from Honolulu, but whether this good intention is being carried out at present I am not able to state. All fresh pineapples destined for California points are fumigated heavily as a matter of insurance before they leave the dock. At San Francisco a man is especially detailed to make a thorough inspection of banana imports on the dock and to inspect fruits in the store-rooms of the commission districts.

With all the evidence showing that the Mediterranean fruit fly has been bred from pineapples and bananas, you may wonder why California did not follow the footsteps of British Columbia and place a complete quarantine against all Hawaiian fruits. At a meeting of the quarantine officials at Sacramento, the California representative who had been stationed in Honolulu admitted that California was taking a chance in allowing pineapples and bananas to enter the state. After discussing the fruit fly situation for six hours with the California quarantine officers, it was fully decided to put an absolute quarantine against the Hawaiian Islands. At a meeting of a fruit fly committee in connection with the California state fruit growers' convention held at Santa Barbara on June 13, 1912, this question was put to me, "If there is a choice between (1) a complete quarantine against the Hawaiian Islands and (2) to stop the inspection of baggage, which would you recommend on the strength of the greater danger of the Mediterranean fruit fly entering the state of California through these two sources?" I replied that the greater danger would rest in infested fruit being carried in the baggage.

BAGGAGE: The most dangerous loophole through which the Mediterranean fruit fly may gain entrance into the United States consists in the fact that the California quarantine officers have no legal right to search baggage. When a passenger at Honolulu goes aboard a steamer coming from a foreign port, his trunk is sealed at Honolulu and the customs' men do not search this sealed trunk at San Francisco, but only search his hand baggage. The United States Cus

toms' men have no authority to search baggage on any steamer sailing between domestic ports, for instance, between Honolulu and San Francisco. As already stated there are two steamship companies which carry passengers on steamers sailing between the Hawaiian Islands and San Francisco. The horticultural quarantine officials search hand baggage of passengers traveling on these ships, and yet these officers have no national law to give them the power to do so. The privilege was acquired through the coöperation of these two steamship companies with the California quarantine department. On each ticket. good for passage from Honolulu to San Francisco, an agreement is stamped whereby the purchaser of the ticket agrees to submit all of his baggage to the inspection of the horticultural officers before leaving the docks at San Francisco. This agreement went into effect on June 17, 1911.

When I arrived in San Francisco on June 6, 1912, from Honolulu on one of the steamers sailing between these domestic ports, all passengers' hand baggage was searched by the horticultural quarantine officers but not a single trunk was inspected by these officials. A passenger could have taken to any city in the United States, 350 pounds of Hawaiian grown fruit in his trunk, or even more if he cared to pay excess baggage. The greatest danger then, of introducing the pest into almost any place in the United States rests with the travelers, making a trip from the Hawaiian Islands to the United States and who may carry Hawaiian grown fruits in their trunks into California and out of this state. In most cases, fruit would be carried by passengers not familiar with the danger of introducing this pest but from reports that I have received in Honolulu, there are some people who have returned to Honolulu from the mainland and who delight to say they have "beaten" the horticultural quarantine officers and have taken fruit to their friends, or for their own use, in the United States. This of course, is second-hand data but Maskew, chief deputy quarantine officer of California, in his April report, 1912, writes, "In the matter of passengers' baggage, fruit fly material was detected and destroyed in fifteen instances among those arriving by the various lines during the month," from Honolulu.

In Honolulu an inspector visits the fruit markets daily and he is empowered to seize any fruit, melon or vegetable that is infested by the fruit fly and offered for sale. This reduces somewhat the danger that tourists, coming from the Orient and stopping for a day or two, will buy infested fruit during their stop-over; but this does not prevent travelers, who remain in the islands for some time, or individuals who live in Hawaii and occasionally visit the mainland, from buying infested fruits from peddlers. Every day a Chinaman carrying two large