438 



Yearbook^ of Agriculture 1949 



Forest Service and those of the Bureau 

 of Entomology and Plant Quarantine. 



Most of the area in need of treat- 

 ment was in Idaho. An area of about 

 4,000 acres just over the line in south- 

 eastern Washington also had to be 

 treated because otherwise the prevail- 

 ing winds would make it a source of 

 reinfestation in Idaho. An area of 

 about 14,000 acres in the Blue Moun- 

 tains in Oregon was listed for treat- 

 ment if funds were sufficient. 



Cooperative agreements with all the 

 States concerned were essential to set 

 up authorities and responsibilities for 

 various phases. A formal agreement 

 with the State forester and the Land 

 Board of Idaho was signed on April 

 17, 1947. The most important items 

 of the agreement were: The regional 

 forester at Missoula was designated as 

 agent of the State of Idaho to con- 

 duct all phases of the control opera- 

 tions; the Bureau of Entomology and 

 Plant Quarantine was to be responsible 

 for the entomological phases ; the State 

 was made responsible for collections of 

 contributions of funds for control from 

 private landowners; the United States 

 was relieved of any public liabilities 

 arising from application of spray on 

 State and private lands; a general 

 formula was set up for sharing costs 

 among private landowners, the State, 

 and the Federal Government; and the 

 spray formula was established as "not 

 more than 1 pound of technical DDT 

 in solvent and fuel oil to make 1 gal- 

 lon of spray, to be applied at the rate 

 of 1 gallon per acre." 



Less detailed agreements were made 

 with the State foresters of Washington 

 and Oregon. 



Aerial maps were essential for use 

 of the pilots, for the delineation of in- 

 fested areas, and for various other con- 

 trols. Contact prints scaled to about 

 3J/2 inches to the mile and enlarge- 

 ments to 6 inches to the mile were 

 assembled and prepared for use. Their 

 value was increased by adding section 

 lines. 



Surveys to determine suitability and 

 location of temporary airstrips were 



made, and seven such strips were con- 

 structed by the Division of Engineer- 

 ing in the Forest Service. The surveys 

 and construction work were hampered 

 by snow and wet ground. The last of 

 the strips was completed shortly after 

 spraying operations began. 



The award on bids for aerial-spray- 

 ing contracts had to be made far 

 enough in advance of the scheduled 

 date of initial spraying operations to 

 allow the flying contractors time to 

 construct and install the spraying 

 equipment. The preparation of bids 

 was difficult because there were no 

 previous contracts to serve as a guide 

 and no definite specifications for spray 

 apparatus for such a job existed. The 

 invitation to bid stipulated that the 

 spray apparatus must regulate appli- 

 cation to 1 gallon to the acre and 

 would be subject to flight tests before 

 the start of control operations. Bids 

 were opened on April 14, but were not 

 finally accepted until immediately 

 after the appropriation of the Federal 

 funds. The contractors, despite the 

 short period available for construction 

 and installation of spray apparatus, 

 were ready to fly on May 20. 



Procurements of DDT and the fin- 

 ished insecticide were handled by the 

 Washington offices of the Bureau of 

 Entomology and Plant Quarantine and 

 the Forest Service. The quantities of 

 insecticide (350,000 gallons) and the 

 time limit heavily taxed available sup- 

 plies of DDT and the capacity of the 

 mixing equipment of the contractors. 

 Arrangements were made with traffic 

 managers of the railroad companies to 

 red-tag manifest the spray tank cars 

 and deliver the spray on a schedule 

 which would minimize loss of the 

 limited flying time. 



Truck tractors and tank trailers for 

 delivery of spray from the railhead to 

 the airfields were essential. The only 

 source from which these were obtain- 

 able was the Army Air Force, which 

 lent the equipment it had at the 

 Spokane Army Airfield. 



Arrangements were made with the 

 Weather Bureau to establish a 24-hour 



