KEPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE. 27 



3, 1917, cooperated very materially in the work of extermination. 

 The small district at Hearne, Tex., and the important Trinity Bay 

 region, including Beaumont, involving in whole or in part eight 

 counties in Texas, were placed under quarantine by the State and the 

 growing of cotton in these districts prohibited for a period of three 

 years or longer. 



The eradication operations of last fall and winter included the in- 

 fested and noninfested cotton fields and were carried out, in coopera- 

 tion with the State of Texas, under special appropriations to the 

 Department of $50,000, available March 4, 1917, and $250,000, avail- 

 able October 6, 1917. All standing cotton was uprooted and burned, 

 and scattered bolls and parts of plants were also collected and burned. 

 The seed was milled under proper safeguards and the lint shipped 

 from Galveston to Europe. In the Trinity Bay and Beaumont dis- 

 tricts, a total of 8,794 acres of cotton land was cleaned at an average 

 labor cost of $9.94 per acre. 



In addition to these two quarantined areas a border district, 

 comprising the counties of Kinney, Maverick, and Valverde, was 

 placed under control by proclamation of the Governor of Texas. 

 This action was taken because of the infestation of cotton lands in 

 Mexico, nearly opposite Eagle Pass, within 25 miles of the Texas 

 border. The growing of cotton in these counties and its transporta- 

 tion from them are forbidden under the terms of the quarantine for a 

 term of three years or more. 



The most encouraging feature of the year's work is the fact that 

 not a single egg, larva, or moth of the pest was found within either 

 of the quarantined areas, or elsewhere in Texas, during the season 

 of 1918. This would seem to indicate the effectiveness of the opera- 

 tions of last year and furnishes reason for expecting the complete 

 extermination of the insect. If this result is achieved, it will be the 

 largest successful entomological experiment of the kind in history, 



TEXAS BORDER QUARANTINE SERVICE. 



The regulation of the entry into the United States from Mexico of 

 railway cars and other vehicles, freight, express, baggage, and other 

 materials, and their inspection, cleaning, and disinfection, was 

 continued during the year with a view to prevent the accidental 

 movement of cotton and cotton seed. This service covers the ports 

 of El Paso, Laredo, Del Rio, Eagle Pass, and Brownsville. During 



