N.J. Stat. tit. 4, ch. 7

in effect

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-1 Determining existence; declaring epidemics; quarantine

The state board of agriculture may: a. Determine the existence of dangerous plant diseases and of dangerously injurious insects and declare the same to be epidemic; b. Establish and enforce general or local quarantine. These powers and duties are in addition to and not in limitation of any similar powers and duties conferred upon the board by the specific provisions appearing elsewhere in this title.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-2 § 4:7-2

All powers and duties conferred upon the board with reference to any specific dangerous plant disease or to any specific dangerously injurious insect, the board shall have and perform with reference to any other such disease or insect not specifically referred to in this chapter but determined by the board to be a dangerous plant disease or a dangerously injurious insect.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-3 Penalty for violating orders of board

A person who shall violate or fail to comply with an order of the board, or its constituted agent, made pursuant to sections 4:7-1 and 4:7-2 of this title, shall be liable to a penalty of not less than fifty nor more than one hundred dollars for each violation or failure to comply, to be sued for and recovered by and in the name of the secretary of agriculture in the manner provided in article 2 of chapter 23 of this title (s. 4:23-11 et seq.).

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-4 "Department" defined

As used in this article the word "department" means the department of agriculture.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-5 § 4:7-5

No person shall import into the state or distribute by sale, gift or otherwise within the state, any plant material, cuttings, seeds, bulbs, tubers, trees, shrubs or vines known to be infested with any disease which by transmission to another plant would cause the death or mutilation of the latter.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-6 § 4:7-6

The keeping or maintenance, sale, gift or distribution of any plant material, cuttings, seeds, bulbs, tubers, trees, shrubs or vines after notice of such infestation is hereby declared to be a nuisance subject to abatement as described in this article, and an offense punishable as provided in section 4:7-14 of this title.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-7 § 4:7-7

The department shall examine as often as may be necessary all nurseries and other establishments or places within the state where plants are grown for sale, or from which plant material of any kind is distributed, to determine the condition as to freedom from disease of the plant stock grown for sale or distribution.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-8 Treatment or destruction of diseased or suspected plants; prohibiting shipment

If upon examination as provided in section 4:7-7 of this title, the department shall find evidence of the presence of any disease dangerous to plants commonly grown within the state it shall at once notify the owner or manager of the nursery, establishment or place of the character of the disease and shall forthwith require the spraying, fumigation or other treatment necessary to free the plants of the disease. The department may prohibit the shipment of any diseased or suspected plants until satisfied that the disease no longer exists in dangerous form. If the department shall discover in a nursery, or elsewhere within the state, any plant infested with a virulent disease that cannot be eradicated by treatment, the department shall forthwith order it to be destroyed.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-9 § 4:7-9

All notices, orders or directions issued by the department in connection with this article shall be in writing, supplemented by such printed matter as may be needed to explain the written orders. They shall be served personally upon the owner or manager of the nursery or other establishment or place where the diseased plants are found, or, if no owner or manager can be found in such place, the notice may be delivered to any person found on the place, or may be attached to some conspicuous object on the place. The notice or order shall specify a time, not less than three days from its date, within which it must be complied with.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-10 Notice to department of importation of plant material

Every person who imports plant material of any kind from without the state and every carrier for hire that brings plant material from without the state for delivery to any person within the state, shall notify the department of such shipment prior to, or within twenty-four hours after, its arrival. The notice shall state the kind and quantity of plant material, the name and address of the shipper, the date of shipment, and, if from a foreign country, the name of the country or district in which the shipment originated, the port of entry and the approximate date of arrival at such port.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-11 Inspection of imported plant material

If the department has any reason to suspect the presence of a dangerous disease in any shipment of plant material imported from without the state, it may order the examination of every package of such material, in transit or at the point of delivery, and shall not authorize its acceptance or delivery until satisfied that no dangerous disease is present. When inspection is considered necessary the department shall at once notify the carrier for hire to that effect, which carrier shall thereupon hold the material subject to the further order of the department. The department shall make any necessary inspection of material in transit or at point of destination as promptly as possible after notice of its arrival within the state. The department may in its discretion authorize the delivery of any plant material to the consignee, subject to inspection at unpacking. If no inspection is considered necessary the department shall at once notify the carrier for hire and the consignee, to that effect, which notice shall serve as an authority for the delivery and receipt of the material.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-12 § 4:7-12

The department shall, unless it has knowledge of the presence of a dangerous disease precluding such action, issue to any nurseryman or other grower of plants who may request the same, and who may wish to ship plants from one part of the state to another, or from this state to outside territory, a certificate stating that the specific nursery or other plantation is, in general, apparently free from dangerous disease or that it is apparently free from specific diseases which might affect the plants in question, or that a specific shipment is apparently free from dangerous disease. The certificate shall be accepted by any carrier for hire as its warrant for transporting and delivering the material or shipment.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-13 Right of entry to inspect; interference with inspectors

To make the inspections, investigations and examinations provided for in this article and to enforce the provisions of the same, the inspectors and agents of the department may enter upon lands open or inclosed, upon which such inspections, examinations or investigations are necessary, or where any nuisance as defined in section 4:7-6 of this title is maintained or charged, or into any storehouse or building containing plant material, cuttings, seeds, bulbs, tubers, trees, shrubs or vines, which they are directed or authorized by this article to inspect. Any interference with or obstruction made to any such inspector or agent while engaged in the performance of the duties imposed by this article, shall subject the offender to punishment as a disorderly person under the general laws of this state upon a charge made against him by the inspector or agent interfered with.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-14 Penalty for violation, recovery

4:7-14. A person who shall violate any of the provisions of this article shall be subject to a penalty of fifty dollars ($50.00) for each sale, shipment or delivery in violation of this article or for each failure to obey the order or direction of the department made by authority of R.S.4:7-8 and R.S.4:7-9. Penalties shall be sued for and recovered by and in the name of the department in the manner provided in article one of chapter twenty-three of this Title (R.S.4:23-1 et seq.), in the Superior Court or municipal court of any municipality. Amended 1953, c.5, s.7; 1991,c.91,s.160.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-14.1 Disease public nuisance

The Dutch elm disease (Graphium ulmi, Schwarz) is hereby declared a public nuisance, and the protection of the susceptible host plants (elm species) is deemed to be a subject of public welfare. L.1935,c.56,s.1.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-14.2 Control by state board of agriculture

The state board of agriculture, hereinafter in this article referred to as the "board" , may issue orders pertaining to the control, eradication and prevention of the Dutch elm disease and issue regulations and orders for the destruction and removal of diseased trees and of other trees involved in the spread of the disease and for the disposition of the wood therefrom.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-14.3 § 4:7-14.3

Duly authorized representatives of the board may enter upon any lands or premises, public or private, within the state for the purpose of making necessary inspections, for the removal of condemned trees, and for the disposition of the wood therefrom.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-14.4 § 4:7-14.4

No damages shall be awarded for the destruction of infected or condemned trees nor for the wood resulting therefrom.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-14.5 § 4:7-14.5

The board may enter into agreements with the United States department of agriculture or the department, bureau or other state agency of any other state in the Union, or any or all of them, for the purpose of establishing co-ordinating plant pest control eradication work in New Jersey in so far as deemed desirable by the said board to further the purpose of this article.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-14.6 Penalty for violations; jail for nonpayment

Any person who shall interfere with the representatives of the board while engaged in the performance of any of the duties imposed by this article or in the enforcement of any of the provisions hereof or of any of the regulations or orders of the board issued pertaining hereto, shall be deemed a violator of this article and shall be liable to a penalty of one hundred dollars for the first offense and two hundred dollars for the second and each subsequent offense, which penalty shall be sued for and recovered by and in the name of the secretary of agriculture in the manner provided in article 1 of chapter 23 of this title (s. 4:23-1 et seq.). If judgment is rendered for the plaintiff the court shall cause a defendant who may refuse or neglect to pay the judgment rendered against him, and all costs and charges incident thereto, to be committed to the county jail for a period of thirty days for the first offense and for a period of sixty days for the second and each subsequent offense.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-15 Definitions

As used in sections 4:7-16 to 4:7-35 of this title: "Department" means the department of agriculture. "Nursery" includes all lands, premises and buildings upon, on or in which plants, trees, shrubs or vines of any kind, whether for fruit, shade or ornament, are grown for sale within the state or for shipment to other states or countries. "Nurseryman" includes any person, firm, copartnership or corporation growing plants, trees, shrubs or vines for sale, or dealing in such stock, whether he or they be owners, lessees or tenants of or on the premises upon which the stock is grown or offered for sale. "Nursery stock" includes all plants, shrubs, trees and vines grown for sale, as well as buds, grafts, stocks, cions and other parts of plants, shrubs, trees and vines that may be sold for propagation; but shall not include herbaceous annuals or plants, flowers, vines or cuttings grown under glass and commonly known as florists' stock.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-16 Plants infested with insects likely to spread, as nuisance

All growers of or dealers in plants of any kind, upon their own or upon leased lands or premises, shall free and keep freed all plants, shrubs, trees, vines, cuttings, cions, buds, stocks or other plant parts grown, cultivated or dealt in by them, from all injurious insects that might spread from the plants infested to others on the public highways or upon lands adjoining or belonging to others. All plants, shrubs, trees or parts of such so infested, are hereby declared to be a nuisance, to be abated as prescribed in sections 4:7-17 to 4:7-35 of this title, and their maintenance after notice given as set forth in section 4:7-17 of this title shall render the grower or dealer liable to the penalty prescribed in section 4:7-18 of this title.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-17 § 4:7-17

Whenever complaint is made to the department that a person is maintaining a nuisance as defined in section 4:7-16 of this title, the department shall investigate the truth of the charge, or cause the same to be investigated, as soon as conveniently possible. If after investigation the department decides that a nuisance exists, it shall notify the owner or occupant of the premises of the fact, in writing. The department shall include in the notice a statement of the conditions constituting the nuisance, an order that the same be abated within a specified time, which shall not be less than ten days from the date of the notice nor less than eight days from the date of its service, and a direction written or printed pointing out the methods which should be taken to abate the nuisance. The notice and order may be served personally or by depositing the same in the post office, properly stamped, addressed to the owner or occupant of the land or premises upon which the nuisance exists. The directions for treatment may consist of a printed circular, bulletin or report of the department or of the agricultural experiment station or an extract from the same.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-18 Penalty for failure to obey order

4:7-18. A person who shall fail to obey an order of the department made and served as prescribed in R.S.4:7-17, within the time therein specified, shall be liable to a penalty of fifty dollars ($50.00) to be sued for and recovered by and in the name of the department in the manner provided in article one of chapter twenty-three of this Title (R.S.4:23-1 et seq.) in the Superior Court or municipal court of any municipality. Amended 1953, c.5, s.8; 1991,c.91,s.161.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-19 § 4:7-19

If the order of the department, made and served as prescribed in section 4:7-17 of this title, commanded the destruction of any trees, shrubs, plants or nursery stock, the judgment of the court imposing the penalty shall include an order to the officer enforcing its judgment to seize and destroy the specified trees, shrubs, plants or nursery stock, in accordance with the order, which the officer shall thereupon be fully authorized to do.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-21 Inspection of nurseries; fee

The department shall examine and inspect, or cause to be examined and inspected, at least once in each year, at such time or times as it may determine, with or without notice to the nurseryman, all nurseries or establishments of all dealers in nursery stock and shall investigate the sources of nursery stock dealt in by dealers within the state, to ascertain whether the stock grown thereon or sold therefrom is free from dangerously injurious insects and from such as in its opinion are likely to become so when the stock is transplanted or set out into orchard, vineyard, field or garden; and every nurseryman within the state may demand that such inspection be made, in case his nursery has not been inspected prior to the first day of October in any year. A fee may be charged to cover the cost of such inspection, and all fees collected under this section shall be paid into the state treasury, which fees are hereby appropriated to the department for use in carrying out the provisions of sections 4:7-15 to 4:7-35 of this title.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-22 Certificate of inspection

After any nursery has been inspected, the nurseryman may demand of the department a certificate stating the condition of the stock on the inspected premises, and the department shall issue a certificate in accordance with the facts found. If the inspection shows freedom from dangerously injurious insects, or from such as are liable to become so, the department shall issue a certificate to that effect, specifying in such certificate the date up to which it shall remain valid; but the department may impose as a condition that the nurseryman comply with the requirements of section 4:7-28 of this title, and this condition must be accepted in writing by the nurseryman.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-23 Treatment and reinspection where inspection shows infestation

If the inspection shows the presence of dangerously injurious insects or such as are likely to become so, the department shall require the nurseryman to destroy the infested stock and to treat that exposed to infestation in the manner necessary to render the insects harmless and the stock safe. After complying with the requirements of the department, any nurseryman may apply for a reinspection of his stock, and the department shall, if it finds the conditions fulfilled and the stock apparently clean, issue a certificate to that effect upon such conditions as may be deemed necessary for the protection of purchasers. Such conditions shall be in writing and must be accepted by the nurseryman in writing.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-24 Inspection as a prerequisite to sales, penalty

4:7-24. No nurseryman within the State shall sell or offer for sale any nursery stock or shall deliver the same within the State until it has been inspected by the department and until a certificate has been issued to him in accordance with the provisions of section 4:7-22 of this Title. For every sale or shipment to a point within this State in violation of this section, a nurseryman shall be liable to a penalty of fifty dollars ($50.00) to be sued for and recovered by and in the name of the department in the manner provided in article one of chapter twenty-three of this Title (R.S.4:23-1 et seq.) in the Superior Court or municipal court of any municipality. Amended 1953, c.5, s.10; 1991,c.91,s.162.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-25 Attaching certificate to goods delivered or shipped

Every nurseryman growing stock within this State, and every dealer in nursery stock, shall attach to every car, box, bale or parcel of stock sent out or delivered by him, a written or printed copy of the certificate issued to him by the department. Amended 1941, c.111, s.1.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-26 Misuse of certificate, penalty

4:7-26. Any nurseryman to whom a certificate has been issued, who shall: a. Use the same on stock not actually inspected; or b. In any way fail to comply with the conditions upon which the certificate was issued or the requirements of sections 4:7-15 to 4:7-35 of this Title -- Shall be liable to a penalty of one hundred dollars ($100.00) for each offense, to be sued for and recovered by and in the name of the department in the manner provided in article one of chapter twenty-three of this Title (R.S.4:23-1 et seq.) in the Superior Court or municipal court of any municipality, and the certificate of such nurseryman may be canceled in the discretion of the department. Amended 1953, c.5, s.11; 1991,c.91,s.163.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-29 § 4:7-29

A nurseryman or dealer may, under the certificate issued to him, ship nursery stock grown for him elsewhere or purchased by him from other states or countries, if such stock was received under a certificate, satisfactory to the department, that it had been inspected where grown and found to be apparently free from dangerously injurious insects and such as were liable to become so; and no such stock shall be sold within the state or shipped until the certificate accompanying it has been submitted to and approved by the department.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-30 Certificate of inspection to accompany nursery stock shipped in

All nursery stock shipped into this state from any foreign state or country must be accompanied by a certificate, dated not more than six months prior to the date of the shipment, or by a written or printed copy of the certificate, attached to each car, box, bale or parcel thereof, stating that the stock to which the certificate is attached has been inspected by an officer duly authorized by the laws of the state where the stock was grown, and that the same was found to be free from dangerously injurious insects and from such as might be liable to become so when introduced into nursery, vineyard, farm or garden. Every such certificate shall be accompanied by a written or printed statement from the nurseryman shipping the same, declaring that the stock is part of that which was inspected by or under the direction of the officer signing the certificate, and he shall further state whether or not the stock has been fumigated with hydrocyanic acid gas.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-31 Inspection of nursery stock entering state; disposition of infested stock

The department may inspect nursery stock entering this State that might be capable of disseminating or carrying injurious insects. If, upon inspection, any such stock is found to be infested, it may be destroyed, returned to the point of origin or submitted under supervision of the department to the treatment necessary to destroy the pests that may be in or on it. The disposition of such cases shall be within the discretion of the department. Amended by L.1941, c. 111, p. 254, s. 4.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-32 Nursery stock shipped in unaccompanied by certificate

A car, box, bale or parcel of nursery stock shipped into this state unaccompanied by a certificate as required by section 4:7-30 of this title, may be seized and detained by the department wherever found, whether in the hands of a common carrier or in the hands of the consignee or his agent. Such stock may be detained until it has been inspected and found free from dangerously injurious insect pests and from such as in the judgment of the department are liable to become so. The department shall destroy any stock so examined which is found to be so infested and shall require such as may not be actually infested to be submitted to the treatment necessary to make it safe and the insects that may be harbored in or on it, harmless.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-33 Carriers to refuse transportation, penalty

4:7-33. Every carrier for hire maintaining offices or stations within this State for the receipt of nursery stock for transportation to points within or without the State, and the agents and servants of every such carrier, shall determine, before accepting stock for transportation to points within or without the State, that the stock offered for shipment at any such office or station is properly provided with a certificate as required by R.S.4:7-15 to R.S.4:7-35, signed by authority of the department and valid by its terms at the date on which the shipment is offered. Every such carrier for hire and the agents and servants of every such carrier shall refuse for transportation in and delivery to points within this State, all boxes, bales, or parcels of nursery stock which are not accompanied by a certificate of inspection as required by R.S.4:7-30; but shipments of nursery stock from countries foreign to the United States, and bearing a certificate signed by a proper official of the country from which the stock was received, may be accepted at any port of entry within the State for transportation to points within or without the State. For every violation of this section, and for every bale, box, parcel or package accepted or transported without such certificate, the carrier shall be liable to a penalty of fifty dollars ($50.00), to be sued for and recovered by and in the name of the department in the manner provided in article one of chapter twenty-three of this Title (R.S.4:23-1 et seq.) in the Superior Court or a municipal court of any municipality. Amended 1941, c.111, s.5; 1953, c.5, s.12; 1991,c.91,s.164.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-34 Inspection of fruit bearing trees or plants at request of grower

A farmer, horticulturist or other grower of fruits within this state may request an examination of his trees or other fruit bearing plants, to determine whether or not they are infested by any dangerously injurious insect pest and the department shall examine the trees or other fruit bearing plants with all convenient dispatch. The department shall inform the owner as to the best methods of treating trees or plants, which are found to be so infested, in order that they may be preserved if possible and the spread of the insects checked. This section shall apply only to such insects as may endanger the life of the infested trees or plants and may spread from such as are already infested to others in their vicinity.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-35 Right to enter premises for inspection; interference or obstruction

For the purpose of making the inspections, examinations and investigations specified in sections 4:7-15 to 4:7-34 of this title, and to enforce the provisions of the same, the department by its authorized officers or agents may enter upon any lands, open or inclosed, upon which such inspections, examinations and investigations are necessary or where any nuisance as defined in section 4:7-16 of this title is maintained or charged, and into any storehouse or building containing nursery stock which the department is directed or entitled to inspect. Any interference with or obstruction made to any such officer or agent while engaged in the performance of the duties imposed by sections 4:7-15 to 4:7-34 of this title, shall subject the offender to punishment as a disorderly person under the general laws of this state upon a charge made against him by the officer interfered with.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-36 § 4:7-36

The gipsy moth (Porthetria dispar L.) is hereby declared to be a public nuisance and the protection of vegetation or plant life therefrom is deemed to be a subject matter of public welfare.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-37 Inspection of lands and premises

At such times as the department of agriculture, hereinafter referred to as the "department" , may deem necessary, its officers or agents may enter and inspect any public or private lands and premises within this state to ascertain whether the plant life or vegetation found thereon is free from the gipsy moth and its preliminary stages.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-38 § 4:7-38

Whenever, as a result of inspection as provided in section 4:7-37 of this title, the department shall find evidence of the gipsy moth or its preliminary stages, it shall have recourse to such recognized measures as it may deem advisable to abate and suppress the gipsy moth and its preliminary stages and to protect therefrom surrounding vegetation or plant life.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-39 Notice of proposed action

Before entering any lands and premises and starting the work of abating and suppressing the gipsy moth in its preliminary stages and protecting surrounding vegetation or plant life therefrom, the department shall cause a notice to be given to the occupants of all affected lands and premises, setting forth the nature of the action that it is proposed to take and fixing a time therefor, in the following manner: a. By two separate insertions in a newspaper qualified to accept legal notices published in the county of the proposed treatment or other action and circulating in the affected area. The two insertions shall appear at least 7 days apart, the first of which shall be not earlier than 21 days prior to the proposed date of treatment or other action and the second of which shall be not later than 7 days prior to the proposed date thereof, and b. By mailing a notice by regular first class mail to the occupant of each affected parcel of property no later than 10 days prior to the proposed date of treatment or other action. Amended by L.1975, c. 69, s. 1, eff. April 14, 1975.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-40 § 4:7-40

On the day stated in the notice of the department or on any subsequent day or days convenient to it, the officers or agents of the department may enter the lands and premises, and there use such recognized measures as the department may deem advisable to abate and suppress the gipsy moth and its preliminary stages and to protect surrounding vegetation or plant life therefrom.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-41 Tenant to notify landlord; penalty

Every tenant in possession of lands and premises on whom the aforesaid notice is served by the department shall forthwith give notice thereof to his landlord, or the agent of his landlord, and in default of so doing he shall be liable to any person aggrieved thereby to a penalty of fifty dollars ($50.00) to be recovered by a civil action in any court of competent jurisdiction in this State. Amended by L.1953, c. 5, p. 30, s. 13.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-42 Interference with officers; penalty

A person who shall interfere with the officers or agents of the department while they are engaged in the performance of any of the duties imposed by sections 4:7-36 to 4:7-41 of this Title, shall be deemed a disorderly person, and shall be proceeded against under, and subject to the penalties provided in subtitle twelve of Title 2A of the New Jersey Statutes. Amended by L.1953, c. 5, p. 31, s. 14.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-43 Disposal of cornstalks, corn stubble and weeds in infested areas

Whenever the state board of agriculture shall find that the European corn borer exists in any political subdivision of this state, it may, in any political subdivision or part thereof which is infested: a. Order that every person in possession of land on which corn of any kind has been grown, shall, not later than December first of the year of its growth, plow, or cause to be plowed, the field in which it was grown, so as to bury the stubble to a depth of at least six inches, or pull up the stubble or cause it to be pulled up and destroy it, or cause it to be destroyed, by burning; b. Order that every person having in his possession cornstalks which are suspected by the state board of being infested shall, not later than April tenth of the year following that of their growth, completely dispose of such cornstalks by using them as fodder, and if used as fodder that they be shredded, or by burning them; c. Order the destruction or cause to be destroyed, on or before April tenth of each year, all weeds in the infested areas.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-44 Penalty for violations; jail for nonpayment

A person who shall violate any of the provisions of section 4:7-43 of this Title shall be liable to a penalty of fifty dollars ($50.00) for the first offense and one hundred dollars ($100.00) for the second and each subsequent offense, which penalty shall be sued for and recovered by and in the name of the department in the manner provided in article one of chapter twenty-three of this Title (s. 4:23-1 et seq.) and in such proceeding the defendant may be arrested upon the institution of the action. If judgment is rendered for the plaintiff the court shall cause a defendant who shall fail to pay forthwith the amount of the judgment rendered against him, and all costs and charges incident thereto, to be committed to the county jail for a period of not less than five nor more than ninety days in the case of a first offense, and not less than ten nor more than two hundred days for a second and each subsequent offense. Amended by L.1953, c. 5, p. 31, s. 15.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-54 Permitting Canada thistle to ripen; penalty

A person owning, possessing or having charge of lands in this State, whether improved or unimproved, inclosed or uninclosed, who shall knowingly permit any Canada thistle to stand thereon until its seeds ripen, shall be liable to a penalty of twenty-five cents ($0.25) for every stalk or branch thereof, to be sued for and recovered in a civil action, with costs, by any person, in his name, in any court of competent jurisdiction. Amended by L.1953, c. 5, p. 32, s. 17.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-55 § 4:7-55

A person who shall knowingly and willfully bring into this state a bale of hay containing Canada thistle, or seeds of the same, or any grass or grain seeds with which the seeds of Canada thistle are mixed shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars, or to imprisonment in the county jail, workhouse or penitentiary of the county in which such conviction shall take place, or both fine and imprisonment may be imposed, in the discretion of the court.

N.J. Stat. § 4:7-56 § 4:7-56

A person who shall knowingly and willfully sell any manure containing any Canada thistle, or seeds of the same, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be liable to the fine and imprisonment as provided in section 4:7-55 of this title.

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