The Fight Against 'Lousy' Nursery Stock
A state inspector battles unscrupulous Eastern nurserymen shipping pest-ridden trees into Washington, warning local farmers against being swindled.
The story, cleaned up
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I have had great trouble during the past year, said Insect Pest Inspector D. M. Jesse, yesterday, with Eastern nurserymen shipping lousy stock into the state. It is a waste of time to warn people against receiving uninspected stock, and the only way they can be made to realize their foolishness is by experience. They think they are buying cheaper from Eastern nurserymen than they can from those here at home, and even in this they are most times mistaken. I recollect one case where I made a trade with a salesman for an Eastern nursery, selling him a lot of young peach trees, of which he was short, at 25 cents apiece. Well, sir, the fellow went to my nearest neighbor and sold him those trees for $2 apiece. A short time afterward I visited this neighbor and he was bragging about his new trees, and he told me where he got them and how much they cost, etc. Well, you ought to have heard that man swear when I told him I had sold them to the agent and would have let him have them for 20 cents apiece.
“It is a waste of time to warn people against receiving uninspected stock, and the only way they can be made to realize their foolishness is by experience.”
The tension between local producers and globalized supply chains—often mediated by predatory middlemen—has been a constant in the Pacific Northwest economy for over a century. The Inspector’s warning about 'Eastern nurserymen' echoes modern concerns about agricultural biosecurity and the importance of supporting local growers to ensure product quality and regional resilience.
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