516 ANNUAL EEPOETS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTUEE. 



oiiglily impracticable and useless, and that any quarantine in respect 

 to this insect to be of value and at all efficient must include New Eng- 

 land and New York as a whole. Such quarantine, if established, 

 could be graded with respect to the areas known to be infested as 

 opposed to the areas not known to be infested. It was manifested 

 also that the restrictions should cover not only corn, but all other 

 articles of common commerce for food purposes, such as spinach, 

 celery, beans, beets, etc., which have been shown to be capable of car- 

 rying the insect. This determination as to the area to be covered 

 was further shown to be necessary by the fact that much of New 

 England is dependent for its important elements of food supplies on 

 the products of the infested area, and the representatives of the sur- 

 rounding States were not willing to have these sources of food shut 

 off. A quarantine taking in the area as a whole, therefore, would 

 leave opportunity for the normal movement of food within the quar- 

 antined area to meet the needs of the summer and native populations 

 of these States. 



The rapid development of the knowledge of the distribution of 

 the insect has served to \^ithhold action on a further Federal quar- 

 antine until the results of the fairly wide survey which is now in 

 progress shall be available. 



The work with respect to this insect as now j^lanned under the 

 Bureau of Entomology in cooperation Avith this board has for its 

 object: First, the determination of the present distribution of the 

 insect as a basis for quarantine and other control measures; and, 

 second, a demonstration on a large scale of such control measures. 

 The area to be surveyed is large, including New England, New York, 

 and in a general wa}^ all the States east of the Mississippi. The 

 object of the proposed control experiments is to determine whether 

 such control looking even to extermination is feasible and practicable 

 under the conditions of infestation as they are seen in both Massa- 

 chusetts and NeAV York. In the meantime tests will be continued to 

 determine the possibilities of damage which this insect ma}^ have to 

 the coarser ancl stronger kinds of field corn which represent the pre- 

 dominating elements of the corn crop of the United States. 



For the prosecution of the work for control and enforcement of 

 the quarantine against this pest, Congress was asked last year for 

 an appropriation of $500,000. Of this sum, $250,000 was granted by 

 Congress and became available July 24, 1919. This fund, assigned 

 to the Bureau of Entomology, is now being used by that bureau in 

 carrying out the program of work just outlined, in cooperation with 

 the board as to quarantine matters. 



The exploitation which has been given to this insect and the un- 

 warranted forecasts of future losses from it have led to widespread 

 fears of damage to the corn crop of the country. These fears were 

 reflected in a called meeting of the National Association of Conunis- 

 sioners of Agricultui-e. held at Albany, N. Y., and Boston, Mass., on 

 August 28 and 29, respectively, of this year. The outcome of this 

 meeting Avas a series of resolutions urging Congress to appropriate 

 $2,000,000 to carry on the corn -borer work. The department's views 

 with respect to the immediate and future needs for the purpose of 

 carrying out the program described is that an additional ap])ropria- 

 tion at this time of $500,000 will enable this department fully to de- 

 termine the status of the pest as an enemy of corn and other crops, 



