Christmas tree pests and weeds required restrictions and requirements to be placed upon Christmas tree growers with plantations in "gypsy moth regulated areas". The restrictions and requirements included ongoing site monitoring, active moth eradication by the grower, accurate record keeping, and government directed moth eradication programs. Failure to abide by the rules could result in revocation of the "approved grower" status from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The major types of conifers cultivated, pines, Douglas-firs, true firs, and spruce trees, are all affected by some types of insect pests. Douglas-firs are most vulnerable to the Cooley spruce gall adelgid. The true firs are most susceptible
Henry Bloom Noble finding work as a customs official. His first connection with Douglas was due to his association with Alexander Spittall, father of James Spittall, a Douglas advocate. The elder Spittall was a wine and spirits merchant, whose principal place of business was Whitehaven, Cumbria, although he had a branch established in Douglas. Noble was employed by Spittall as a clerk, rising to the position of manager in 1835, moving to Douglas with his mother. The Nobles took residence in a house belonging to Spittall on the south side of St Barnabas' Square. Noble did not stay in the employ of Spittall