ACJKICULTI'IIAI. ArrUorUlATloN MII.I,, UKU. 195 



MuNDAV. NOVKMUKIC J7. 1022. 



STATEMENT OF DR. G. ItL. COONS. PLANT PATHOLOGIST. 

 MICHIGAN AGRICULTURAL COLlEGE. 



Doctor (\k)NS. I want t(» say. first, ^rutli'inrn. that thr rciiiarks 

 that those mon who roprosmt farm huroaiis havo iiunh* for their par- 

 ticuhir Stnti's hohl ("snccially Inn' also for Muhi<;aii. It is not al(mr 

 thr men who an' on tlic farms who arr intrrrsfiMl in this projiositiorj, 

 hut I lind from my confai-t with hiisiness mm, who have sonicthinj; 

 to (h) with a<xri»ultiirr and wlio have sonictliin^ to (h» with tJio hij; 

 husincss cnttMpriscs of Michi*:an. that they arc 100 prr ccn( liack of 

 this proposition. 



I'his is not nuM'oly foll«)winj; out some futile dream, hut this is n 

 fijjiit. hacked i)y tin* host technical advice tinit wc <'rtn {jot hold of. lo 

 <'lTect stal)ility in the production of the NMlion's foo<| croj)s. 



Micliii^an is especially concerned with the prosperity ol tlio wheat- 

 j;n»win«j re<rions of Minnesota. Xortli Dakota, South Dakota, and so 

 <»n. Selfishly. Michijian wants those |)(M)j)le to continue in tlie wheat 

 proposition and stay out of the p(»tato l)nsiness. let us say. so tliat 

 NliclHi;an can produce the |)otat(»es. We have seen, as a result of 

 these years of lailurc of the sprinj; wheat crop in those Northwestern 

 States a tendency to jjo into the potato busiru»ss, which is viewed 

 with a threat deal of distrust and fear by the l):iid;ers. })y the produce 

 handlers, hy tlie business men. and hy all the airricultural interests of 

 Michijjan. 



I merely mention tliat as a side lijjht to show that here is a proposi- 

 tion which appeals not ahine to farmers. Barberry eradication to 

 prevent black stem rust is intensely jjopular with the farmers in our 

 State, but it is also a thing wbich appeals to our business men as a 

 necessary, stabilizinfj thin«; to do. 



I wisii, however, to speak chiefly as a technical man and as a plant 

 pathologist viewing this eradication program. Congress has put its 

 hand to the plow and there is no turning back. If the job is worth 

 doing it is well that the jol) be d(ni(> (piickly. 



You may be interested in a table of statistics on barberry from 

 our State, reduced to the form of averages per county. I fin<l there 

 are on an average of 38 city barberry locatu^ns per county and that 

 there are 43 rural locations per county, so that this is more of a farm 

 problem than it is a city problem. 



Mr. Andkr.son. You mean existing locations ? 



Doctor Coons. The locations have been found in the 10 counties 

 which have been surveyed and all have been destroyed. The figures 

 show the average situation. There are also in the counties which 

 have been surveyed an average of 10 escaped areas per county, with 

 an average of 518 bushes per escaped area. Now, then, if eradica- 

 tion is to go on and if tlie money which has been |)oured into this 

 campaign is to accomj)lish its purpose, it is necessary, it is vital, that 

 all haste be made and that great emphasis be placed on the (piiik 

 handling of this situation before these esca|)ed areas become so 

 num(>rous and so large that tlie job of cleaning them up becomes too 

 large for us. 



If this job of eradication is not done in the next two to five years it 

 is going to be a propositicm that will cost one hundre<l times, at the 



