ANNUAL REPORT, 1929 377 



Among the reasons for failure to eradicate pullorum disease the fol- 

 lowing were found to have been operating in some Massachusetts flocks: 

 not all birds on the premises were tested, retcsting at intervals during the 

 season was not practised, chicks which were hatched before the test had 

 been completed were raised, positive birds were not removed from the 

 flock (109 reports studied showed 84 positives left in 26 flocks), infertile 

 eggs from untested flocks were fed, custom hatching with no discrim- 

 ination against untested flocks was practised, and purchases were made 

 without careful investigation regarding the pullorum disease status of the 

 flock of origin. 



The progress of this work has been due to no one particular factor. 

 Poultrymen, extension workers, administrative oificers, and members of 

 the laboratory staif have appreciated the value of cooperative effort. 

 During the year the laboratory has received 188 visitors, who wished either 

 to discuss their own individual problems or to prepare themselves to 

 assist other poultrymen. The Seventeenth Annual Poultry Convention, 

 during the 1929 Farm and Home Week, gave an entire afternoon to this 

 subject, and over 250 persons showed that close, personal contact of all 

 concerned improves the service. 



At this time no definite conclusions can be made regarding the 1929-30 

 season. The month of October, \vith over 100,000 tests, surpassed the 

 record of any single previous month in the laboratory's history. The 

 advantages of this early testing, to both the poultrymen and the laboratory, 

 are so evident that no discussion is required. 



Farm and Station Bang's Disease. The laboratory, in assisting this 

 project, has recorded 972 agglutination tests. 



^ 



PUBLICATION 

 General Bulletins 



247 Biennial Report: For the Fiscal Years Ending Nov 30, 1927 and 

 1928. 55 pp. February, 1929. 



The main purpose of this report is to provicU" an opportunity for presenting in 

 published form, recent results from experimentation in fields or on projects 

 where progress has not been such as to justify the general and definite conclu- 

 sions necessary to meet the requirements of bulletin or printed manuscript. 



248 Tomato Leaf-Mold: The LTse of Fungicides for Its Control in Green- 

 houses. Guba, E. F. 24 pp. March, 1929. 



The culture of greenhouse tomatoes is an important industry in ^Massachusetts, 

 and the area devoted to this crop has increased considerably in recent years. 

 Leaf-mold is the most serious disease affecting the crop. The loss of one to two 

 months of pickings of the fall crop and one month of the spring crop as a re- 

 sult of this disease is common. Past recommendations regarding the proper 

 choice of fungicides for its control are conflicting and not based on experimental 

 evidence, and growers who have used fungicides have not obtained control. 

 This investigation has considered the merits of different types of fungicides. 



/An effective materifil, and a practical method of application, have been discov- 

 ered which are recorded in this bulletin. 



249 The Plum Curculio in Apples in Massachusetts. Whitcomb, W. D. 

 28 pp. March, 1929. 



The plum curculio is the most injurious insect pest of apples in Massachusetts, 

 frequently damaging more fruit than all other insects together. As a result of 



