500 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



insecticides used in the home and public places are also subject to 

 the provisions of this law, so that the food we eat, the clothes we 

 wear, and the homes we live in have all been affected bj the enforce- 

 ment of this act. The campaign of the Bureau of Animal Industry 

 to control the cattle tick has also resulted in an increased consump- 

 tion of insecticides for that purpose, and this has necessitated in- 

 creased activity on the part of this board. 



Investigations made by the board revealed the fact that ground 

 daisy flowers were being used to a considerable extent to adulterate 

 insect powder. A campaign made during the year against insect 

 powder adulterated with powdered daises resulted in the seizure of 

 shipments of the article and recommending a number of cases for 

 prosecution. The campaign against misbranded and adulterated dis- 

 infectants has been continued, and the board has acted on a com- 

 paratively large number of disinfectant cases. During the year spe- 

 cial attention has been given to Bordeaux mixtures and Bordeaux 

 lead mixtures which were recommended on the label for use at too 

 great a dilution to secure effective fungicidal control. Many cases 

 involving such faulty claims were either disposed of by correspond- 

 ence with the manufacturers or reported for prosecution. The recent 

 discovery of a remedy for the cotton boll-weevil has opened up a tre- 

 mendous new field for the use of insecticides. A campaign was in- 

 augurated during the last part of the fiscal year, in collaboration 

 with the Bureau of Entomology, to assure the delivery to farmers 

 of the South who use calcium arsenate for cotton boll-weevil control, 

 of calcium arsenate that will control the Aveevil and at the same time 

 will not injure the cotton plant. 



During the fiscal year 1918-19 a tendency was observed in the di- 

 rection of increased adulteration or misbranding of certain mate- 

 rials which, before this time, were for the most part shipped in 

 conformity with the provisions of the insecticide act. Investiga- 

 tions indicated that this increase was due largely to careless errors 

 in manufacture, caused by the employment of inexperienced and 

 low-grade labor, and to manufacturers changing their formulas 

 without changing their labels, such changes in formulas being made 

 because manufacturers could not obtain all the basic materials com- 

 monly used in their preparations or could obtain them only at a pro- 

 hibitive figure. It was also noted that a relatively large percentage 

 of the goods of certain new manufacturers was adulterated or mis- 

 branded. This is probably due to inexperience on the part of the 

 manufacturer in properly controlling his manufacturing operations 

 and inexperience in the branding of insecticides. 



By reason of the enlarged market and the consequent growth of 

 the industry, and the increased tendency toward adulteration and 

 misbranding, there should be a considerable expansion of the work 

 of the board, which can be secured only by the employment of more 

 inspectors, scientists, and clerks than it is possible to employ with 

 the present appropriation. 



INTERSTATE SAMPLES. 



During the fiscal year the board reported to the solicitor of the 

 department 104 cases presenting alleged violations of law with 

 recommendations tliat the facts be transmitted to the Attorney 



