20 BULLETIN 723, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTUEE. 



to dispose of this seed, which Avas found to be infested by the pinlv 

 bolhvorm. A provisional sale had been made by the admiralty board 

 to the proprietor of an oil mill in South Carolina. This was set 

 aside as soon as the danger of introducing the pink bollworm was ex- 

 plained. After considering a number of methods of disposing of this 

 seed, it was finally decided to have it treated with sulphuric acid and 

 thus made available as a fertilizer. Through the cooperation of one 

 of the largest manufacturers of fertilizers this was done with the 

 utmost dispatch. The entire lot of 4,000 bags of seed was placed in 

 sulphuric-acid vats within four days from the time the presance of 

 the seed at Newport News became known to the department. As an 

 additional precaution the two holds of the Appam. which contained the 

 seed were fumigated with a heavy dose of cyanid, and the docks, 

 lighters, and trucks, as well as floors and platforms, were thoroughly 

 cleaned of any scattered seeds. 



To giuird against the possibility that the pink bollworm had escaped 

 prior to the treatment which has been described, repeated inspections 

 were later made of the cotton fields near Newport News, which are at 

 a distance of about 10 miles. No traces of infestation have been 

 found, and it now seems certain that the establishment of the insect 

 from this seed was prevented. 



The chief inspector of the Board in New York City, Mr. Harry 

 B. Shaw, reported in February, 1916, that there appeared to be con- 

 siderable risk of introduction of the pink bollworm or other cotton 

 insects with old burlaps which had been used for coverings of cotton 

 and to which, as a rule, considerable cotton and occasional cotton 

 seeds remain attached. Such burlaps are imported in large quanti- 

 ties for paper manufacture and other uses, and an investigation 

 which was made of such imports in New York and Boston full}^ 

 confirmed the risk of the introduction of cotton and cotton seed with 

 such materials. An amendment was therefore added to the rules 

 and regulations governing the importation of cotton into the United 

 States, effective August 1, 191C, providing for the inspection and, 

 where necessary, disinfection of all burlaps or other fabrics oifered 

 for import which had been used for covering cotton and to which 

 cotton was adhering. 



The possibility of entry of uncrushed seeds containing living pink 

 boll worms oi- other cotton insects with cottonseed products, such as 

 cake and meal, became evident after careful examination of such 

 imports, and to safeguard their entry an order restricting the admis- 

 sion of cottonseed cake, meal, and all other cottonseed products, ex- 

 cept oil, from all foreign countries was promulgated June 23, 1917, 

 and regulations under this order were issued June 29, 1917, effective 

 on and after July 16, 1917. 



