182 AGRICULTURAL APPROPRIATION BILL, 1924. 



understand that Secretary Wallace recommended to the Budget Com- 

 mittee practically the amounts that we requested should be recom- 

 mended, with, perhaps, one exception. In fact, we have a copy of 

 a letter here tnat Secretary Wallace -WTote to Congressman Griest 

 giving an outline of what was recommended. We had asked that 

 $5,000 be added to the appropriation for the ofiice of Soil Fertilitv, 

 which the Secretary, eviaently, did not see fit to approve. Jte 

 recommended $5,000 for the office of Entomology, whicn covers the 

 insect situation, and So, 000 additional to Doctor Corbett's oflice. and 

 $2,000 to the office of Plant Diseases. Now, we are here, gentlemen, 

 just to impress upon you, if we may, very briefly, the importance of 

 those items. W^e, perhaps, understand that tliere is little use in 

 talking about the addition to the oflice of Soil Fertility, inasmuch as 

 the Secretary did not see fit to recommend that in connection with 

 pecan culture. That additional appropriation was not so essential 

 to us. The office of Soil Fertility has been doing some splendid 

 work in connection with the pecan groves, and they have been point- 

 ing out to us the way of fertilizing to the best advantage in connection 

 with pecan culture. Therefore, we will not ask for any considera- 

 tion of that matter, 



The two things that are pressing for the pecan growers are plant 

 diseases and insects. The fungus or scab at first attacked only 

 one or two varieties of pecans, but in the last year or two it has 

 attacked every variety in some localities. It has not attacked 

 every variet}' in one locality, but when you inake a survey of the 

 pecan territory, so far as I know, there is not a single variety of 

 pecans that has proven to be immune to the scab. In our section 

 around Albanj- or Putney the Delmos variety was. it seemed to 

 me at first, the susceptible variety to the scab, the scab practically 

 eliminating the Delmos crop after three years. Doctor W^aite's depart- 

 ment has been experimenting with sprays, and has succeeded in 

 getting some control of the scab. As I understand it. to put it 

 brieflv, the appropriation that was in efiect last year was sunicient 

 to support one investigator on the scab, and with a small addition 

 to that appropriation of $2,000 they would have funds enough to 

 support two investigators, because they have the equipment that 

 the two men could use, and by that small additional appropriation of 

 $2,000 added to the $8,000 that they have now they could double 

 the efficiency of the work of the department in that one line of 

 investigation. The pecan nut case borer began its operations in 

 the Monticello district some six or seven years ago. Doctor Quain- 

 tance's department did some experimental work there, and then the 

 parasites came along and practically eliminated the case borer, and 

 the work was discontinued. In order to make it clear, 1 will say that 

 Monticello is about 00 miles south of where I am located, at Putney. 



That is in Florida, and the pecan nut case borer did not get up 

 into our district until this year. It seems that it travels somewhat 

 like the boll weevil, and we were congratulatiu'' oui-selves that it would 

 confine itself to the southernmost border oi Georgia and northern 

 Florida. We thought that it was not going to spread furtlier. but 

 that pest cam(> up into the Putney district this year. Our orchards 

 that were farliu^st south suH'criMl t icmcndiioiisly from that. To 

 give you some idea of the damage, I will say that we have nut groves 

 in our association from which we gathered last year between 40,000 



