27 



which may become infested, rather than against a list of certain 

 counties. 



A long list of other farm products have ))een quarantined I)}' various 

 States. This list includes hay. wheat, oats, cowpeas, fruit, vegetables, 

 rice, and rice products. The Department of Agriculture does not con- 

 sider that there is anj- appreciable danger in the shipment of these 

 commodities at an}' time of the year. Numerous examinations that 

 have been made have failed to reveal the presence of weevils, and 

 since from the- previous extensive shipping from infested portions of 

 Texas to all parts of the South no infestation has been found to have 

 resulted, it can not be considered necessary to extend quarantines to 

 cover these products. It is true that there ma}" ])e danger in such 

 shipments under certain circumstaiices, nevertheless there seems to be 

 no more danger in connection with these articles than there is in the 

 shipment of general merchandise or in the interstate movement of 

 empty box cars. The boll weevil does not feed upon any of these arti- 

 cles. Specimens niay possibly occur among them, but their presence 

 seems no more likely in such situations than in any articles of com- 

 merce which may l>o stored in the neighborhood of cotton fields, or 

 which may pass through regions where cotton fields from which wee- 

 vils might fiy at any time are situated in the vicinity of the railroad. 

 The work which has been conducted by the Bureau of Entomology, in 

 cooperation with the Louisiana crop pest commission, has given many 

 opportunities for determining whether certain farm products are 

 likely to convey the boll weevil. Every colony found in Louisiana 

 during 1904 has been studied carefully. In no case has there been 

 any suspicion that the pest was conveyed to new regions in any com- 

 modities except those against which a provisional absolute quarantine 

 is suggested. 



It does not seem feasible to allow the shipment of certain commodi- 

 ties during some months and exclude them during others. Some 

 of the rules and regulations now in effect quarantine hay, for instance, 

 except during July, August, and September. The supposition in these 

 cases has lieen that during those months the weevils will be found in 

 the cotton fields, while during the remaindcr^of the year they may 

 have taken flight to hibernation quarters, thus infesting a large num- 

 ber of commodities that would be uninfested during the other months. 

 As a matter of fact, it has been found that there is usually an extensive 

 flight of weevils as early as the middle of August. Shipment of hay 

 or moss wobid therefore be practically as dangerous during summer 

 as at any other time of the year. However, it is not considered that 

 such danger at any time is great enough to warrant the inconvenience 

 that is caused shipping interests by the enforcement of quarantines. 



Some of the States have also quarantined bedding used by common 

 carriers with shipments of live stock. The Department does not 



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