1920] EDITORIAL. 105 



tion and ojieration of the experiiiu'iital kelp potash i)laiit at Suiunier- 

 hmd, Cal. This plant has been producing potash and its l)y-products 

 in commercial quantities for some time, and it is estimated that the 

 receipts in the fiscal year 1921 will more than cover all expenses of 

 operation. 



An increase of $5,500 in the funds for the investigation of other 

 fertilizer resources is to be used in the development of a process for 

 the production of more concentrated phosphate fertilizers from low- 

 grade raw materials. A modified blast furnace of semicommercial 

 size is in course of construction at Arlington, Va. 



The allotment for soil surveys was reduced from $198,200 to 

 $178,900. Other activities of the bureau were continued without 

 material change. 



The funds allotted to the Bureau of Entomology aggregate 

 $1,123,460, and in addition $400,000 (an increase of $150,000) is 

 provided elsewhere in the act to combat the spread of the European 

 corn borer, and $488,560 for the campaign to eradicate the pink boll- 

 worm of cotton. This is a net increase of $34,860 over the cor- 

 responding items in the previous act, some projects being curtailed 

 and others extended. For instance, $75,000 additional is provided 

 to extend the campaign for the control of the Japanese beetle, a 

 serious enemy of orchards, vineyards, truck crops, ornamentals, 

 shade trees, and many other plants, now established over an area of 

 about 15,000 acres in Burlington and Camden Counties, in Xew 

 Jersey. Another increase of $24,600 is for experiments in the control 

 of the cotton boll weevil by the use of calcium arsenate in dusting. 



On the other hand, a reduction of $7,590 in the amount provided 

 for forest insect investigations will compel the abandonment of 

 field stations in Colorado, Oregon, and California, and of all work 

 in the Xorthwestern and Southeastern States on insect infestation 

 of forests, cut timber, and forest products. The allotment for insects 

 affecting truck crops and stored products was cut $21,760, and 

 $10,000 of the remaining funds is to be diverted to a new project on 

 the grain moth, so that considerable curtailment is necessitated on the 

 project for the control of the sweet-potato weevil, and the closing 

 of field stations for studies of sugar beet and potato insects in Colo- 

 rado and berry and cabbage insects in North Carolina. Other re- 

 ductions include $10,000 for miscellaneous investigations, notably 

 some of the systematic work and studies of pests affecting man and 

 domestic animals; $2,000 for the studies of tropical and subtropical 

 plant insects; and $52,650 for the campaign against the gipsy and 

 brown-tail moths. Likewise the pink bollworm fund, administered 

 by the Federal Horticultural Board, is reduced $100,000, although 



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