April, '21] deputy: federal inspection work, texas 181 



of the house. All of the generators, measuring tanks, and storage 

 tanks are inter-connected by pipe manifolds so that, if one of the various 

 pieces of machinery composing the battery becomes incapacitated, 

 another may be substituted for the same. 



There are four fumigation plants at the several border points : one at 

 El Paso with a capacity of fifteen cars, another at Laredo with the same 

 capacity, while those at Brownsville and Eagle Pass are smaller, they 

 permitting the fumigation of six and eight cars respectively. At Del 

 Rio such a house as will accommodate vehicles is maintained. All told, 

 it is now possible to fumigate on the Texas-Mexican Border two hundred 

 and fifty cars a day in these houses. Although, owing to the subnormal 

 conditions in Mexico, only about 15,000 cars are fumigated per annum, 

 the houses have an annual fumigating capacity of 60,000 cars. 



To carry on fumigation even on a 15,000 car per annum basis requires 

 large quantities of sodium cyanide and sulfuric acid. At present some 

 eighty or ninety tons of cyanide and ten or twelve cars of acid are con- 

 sumed yearly. To meet all expenses covering supplies, labor, and 

 miscellaneous materials incidental to fumigation, a self-sustaining 

 feature has been introduced into the work, in other words, the cost of 

 fumigation is assiimed by the Department of Agriculture but a charge 

 is made to cover the actual labor, other than supervision, and the 

 chemicals used. At first the fee for each car treated was five dollars 

 but later, owing to the elimination of wastage and the reduction of labor 

 required, this fee was reduced to four dollars. It is altogether possible 

 that further reductions in the cost of operation may be made. In fact, 

 there is a concerted effort on the part of everyone connected with the 

 work to practice every economy in keeping with good business that this 

 service may be rendered at the least possible cost to the shipper. 



Another problem presented itself for the consideration of the Board 

 when in the early part of 1920 Mexico commenced to export huge 

 quantities of com. Ordinarily the conditions are reversed and large 

 shipments of com are imported into Mexico but in 1920 the com crop 

 had been especially large and high prices prevailed in the States; hence, 

 this unusual movement of com out of the Republic. All of the com 

 was shipped already shelled and it soon developed that most of these 

 shipments were fouled with cotton seed, the theory of contamination 

 being that the shippers in Mexico had stored the com in the same bins 

 that they had previously used for storing cotton seed. It was im- 

 possible to eliminate this contamination by mechanical means and it 

 became necessary to prohibit the entry of the com unless certain condi- 

 tions were met. These conditions were that, either the com be ground 

 to fine meal or that it be sterilized by heating it uniformly to a tempera- 



