20 BULLETIN 723, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
to dispose of this seed, which was found to be infested by the pink 
bollworm. 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 -1,000 bags of seed was placed in 
sulphuric-acid vats within four days from the time the presence of 
the seed at Xewport Xews 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 guard 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 Xewport Xews, which are at 
a distance of about 10 miles. Xo 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 Xew York City, Mr. Harry 
B. Sh^.w, 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 Xew York and Boston fully 
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, 1916, providing for the inspection and, 
where necessary, disinfection of all burlaps or other fabrics offered 
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 
bollworms or 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. 
