64 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [P. D. 4. 



in this work, a search for such men was begun, even before the 

 bill passed the Legislature, but so many were in demand for 

 crew managers in other States that only ten could be obtained. 

 Under these circumstances it was suggested that the district 

 superintendents in charge of the gyspy moth work under the 

 State Forester, eight in number, could take the other eight dis- 

 tricts, and could in part, at least, utilize the organization al- 

 ready in existence for work in their districts. 



No better solution of the difficulty being found this plan was 

 adopted, though it was necessary, as a result, for the experi- 

 enced superintendents to spend some time in training those 

 who were not already familiar with the work, before going to 

 their own districts. 



When this had been accomplished the selection and training 

 of the local men by the superintendents began, and by the mid- 

 dle of June local work was really getting under way. It was too 

 late in the season, however, to do much work on the pines, and 

 on June 25 orders were issued to turn attention to the currants. 



Each local man was required to send to his superintendent 

 each week a report showing what he had done, together with 

 special card reports for each infection. These, together with 

 bills for the work, were examined and checked by the superin- 

 tendent from his personal knowledge of the work derived from 

 visits to the place, and then forwarded to the head office. 



Soon after the organization had been completed, labor trou- 

 bles and difficulties due to war conditions began to appear. 

 Some men were drafted; others enlisted; everywhere the with- 

 drawal of so many men either for service or for work in facto- 

 ries made it difficult to find others to take their places, and it 

 often became necessary to engage one man to work in several 

 towns to meet this condition. 



One of the conditions of co-operation by the United States 

 Bureau of Plant Industry was that areas should be established 

 in and around which all Ribes should be removed, whether dis- 

 eased or not, in order to isolate pine growth and reduce the 

 likelihood of its becoming diseased. This work was done in 

 accordance with the resolution adopted at the Blister Rust 

 Conference, Albany, N. Y., in November, 1916, which recom- 

 mended "that Federal and State co-operative experiments be 



