602 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



serving the results on trees and crops which have been sprayed by 

 growers with proprietary insecticides and fungicides. The vakie 

 of the insecticide act to the fruit growers was well illustrated in 

 the case of two preparations recommended for use against insects 

 and plant diseases and which were widely advertised and sold dur- 

 ing the past year. Both of these preparations were very badly 

 adulterated and misbranded. In one case scientists of the board 

 visited, within a day's drive of Washington, D. C, orchards in which 

 damages estimated at not less than $5,000 had resulted from the use 

 of the material exactly as directed on the label. In the same terri- 

 tory the second article had caused the death of over 400 young apple 

 trees. -In neither case did the preparations control the insects and 

 diseases against which they were recommended. Prompt action was 

 taken by the board against these preparations and they are now 

 being sold under labels which conform to the provisions of the 

 insecticide act. 



The scientific workers of the Bureau of Animal Industry branch 

 of the board, in cooperation with the Zoological Division of that 

 bureau, have investigated the value of various ingredients frequently 

 found in insecticides recommended for lice. In this connection 

 tests were made with crude mineral oil, kerosene, paraffin, formalde- 

 hyde, sabadilla seed, and quassia powder. Efforts to develop a 

 satisfactory treatment for dermodectic mange are in progress and 

 more work is being done experimentally on certain substances in 

 the control and removal of intestinal parasites of domestic animals, 

 with the view of enabling the board to intelligently classify as inert 

 or active various ingredients which enter into the composition of 

 preparations used in the treatment of the conditions mentioned. 



