INSECTICIDE AND FUNGICIDE BOAED. 609 



many of the shipments of calcium arsenate contained so much water- 

 sohible arsenic that they Avould seriously injure or kill the cotton 

 plants on wliich they were used, and some shipments contained much 

 less than the standard amount of total arsenic pentoxid, the con- 

 stituent which measures the insect-killing power of the article. A 

 considerable nunil)er of seizures were made, tluis preventing the use 

 of this substandard material, and the manufacturers were, or are, 

 being prosecuted. 



During the 1920 cotton-growing season it is estimated that fully 

 10,000,000 pounds of calcium arsenate have been shipped to the 

 South for cotton-boll-weevil control. In the earl}^ summer of 1920 

 all the inspectors who could possibly be spared were directed to give 

 their entire attention to the calcium-arsenate situation, working in 

 cooperation with the field agents of the Bureau of Entomology. 

 They have covered all the Southern States where calcium arsenate is 

 sold and have sent in samples for chemical analysis in order to deter- 

 mine its standard and purity and for test in the field bj^ the Bureau 

 of Entomology in order to determine its burning properties. The 

 calcium-arsenate inspection work up to date clearly indicates that a 

 very extensive and complete control will have to be maintained over 

 all the calcium arsenate sent to the South. While, as a whole, this 

 commodity appears to be less seriously adulterated and misbranded 

 than it was in 1919, j-et a considerable number of shipments, in 

 whole or in part, are below standard in some respect. It is the 

 intention of the board to continue its practice of inspecting ship- 

 ments of this insecticide with a view to recommending the seizure 

 of all such as are found to be injurious to the cotton plant or inef- 

 fective against the weevil. 



INTERSTATE SAMPLES. 



During the fiscal jear the board reported to the Solicitor of the 

 department 124 cases presenting alleged violations of law, with rec- 

 ommendation that the facts be transmitted to the Attorney General 

 to institute criminal action or seizure proceedings. Disposition was 

 made of 120 cases by correspondence with the manufacturers. These 

 cases presented violations Avhich were technical only, not flagrant, 

 or cases in which the manufacturer gave reasonable and adequate 

 explanation of his failure to conform to the provisions of the act. 

 Action was taken to place in abeyance 524 samples wliich, upon ex- 

 amination and test, were shown to be in compliance with the pro- 

 visions of the hiAv or were from shipments of the same goods made 

 prior to shipments for whicli the manufacturer had been convicted 

 and had, after citation, conformed to the requirements of the law. 

 On June 80, 1920, 79 cases were pending preliminary hearings or 

 before the board for final action, 251 were held in temporary abey- 

 ance pending the receipt of further information or the outcome of 

 prosecutions based on the same product or correspondence with the 

 manufacturers, and 415 samples were undergoing analysis and test. 



The inspectors and sample collectors of tlie board, operating 

 throughout the United States, collected 717 samples during tlie year. 

 A general classification of th; articles represented in tlie collection 

 is as follows: 



