182 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 14 



ture of 200 degrees Fahrenheit for five minutes. In either case the 

 work was to be done under the supervision of an inspector of the Board. 

 None of the corn was ground but steriHzers for treating it were installed 

 at El Paso, Laredo, and Piedras Negras, opposite Eagle Pass. The 

 machine at Piedras Negras works on the theory of exposing the corn to 

 currents of air which have been previously heated by passing them over 

 a core of steam pipes ; while the machines at Laredo and El Paso func- 

 tion on the principle of heating the corn by exposing it to confined steam. 

 Through the above agencies a much needed product was allowed entry 

 into the United States without endangering in any way the agricultural 

 pursuits thereof. 



The last but in no way the least important or interesting duty which 

 has evolved itself on the shoulders of the Federal Horticultural Board 

 is the performance of the foot bridge and passenger inspections. The 

 one takes place at the footbridge and pertains to local resident people 

 and tourists who go back and forth between the towns situated on either 

 side of the boundary; while the other, the passenger inspection is 

 confined to travelers from the interior of Mexico. The latter work is 

 relatively simple because there is no attempt ordinarily to conceal, 

 hide, or smuggle prohibited material. It is mainly through ignorance 

 on the part of the traveler that quarantined products are offered for entry. 

 Nevertheless, it has been proved that this ignorance might have been the 

 means of adding more trials to the already many agricultural tribula- 

 tions of the United States had not inspection been practiced. It is 

 recalled that on one occasion some ninety weevil-infested avocadoes 

 were confiscated from a tourist who was taking them to California to 

 experiment with growing Mexican avocadoes in the avocado growing 

 section of that state. On several occasions numerous live Pink Boll 

 Worms have been taken from immigrant passengers who were using 

 seed cotton for filling pillows. These are only a few classical examples; 

 there is never a day that many confiscations are not inade. 



The local footbridge traffic is quite a problem. The greatest offenders 

 are the Mexicans who live on the American side or pioneer residents 

 who have developed a seemingly unmanageable appetite for Mexican 

 fruits. They may be likened to an ungovernable child and the inspec- 

 tion at the footbridge resolves itself into a contest of matching wits with 

 them. In some cases where attempts to smuggle have been made, some 

 rather unique methods of concealment were resorted to. On one 

 occasion a party of four women presented themselves at the foot bridge. 

 For some reason their deportment excited the suspicion of the Customs 

 Inspectress, who detained them. No prohibited material was found in 

 their hand baggage, but when their clothing was searched two cloth bags, 



