28 ANNUAL BEPOBTS <>F DEPARTMENT: OF AGRIOULTUBE, 1940 
percent of the seeds produced by the few remaining aoeitillo or West 
Indian satinwood 1 rees. The wood of this tree very valuable, selling 
for as much as $90 per cubic foot. Most of the mature trees have 
been cut, and there is great difficulty in obtaining L r, ><>d seed for 
replanting. 
Over TOO tree species of commercial value occur in Puerto Rico. 
Many of these are specially desirable for the manufacture <>f cabinets 
and furniture 1 . There is. however, only a very limited supply of 
timber of merchantable size, and there is urgent need of replanting 
the more valuable species and <rivin<r them adequate protection ajrainM 
insects. The cost of forest products shipped into the Island in 1939 
was approximately $4,750,000. A considerable proportion of these 
products can be grown locally if methods of controlling the insect 
pests can be devised. It is hoped that provision can be made in the 
near future for detailed sttidies of the important forest insect pests 
in Puerto Rico. 
GYPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTH CONTROL 
Considerable delay was experienced at the beginning of the year 
in resuming field operations on the gypsy-moth project, principally 
because of delay in the allotment of "Work Projects Administration 
funds, and the work was not well under way until after September 1. 
The funds made available by the Work Projects Administration 
throughout the year amounted to $777,845, and the allotment- were as 
follows: Vermont. $80,000: Massachusetts, $105,000: Connecticut. 
$120,000: Xew York, $100,000; and Pennsylvania, $282,845. This is 
a reduction of 18 percent from the funds allotted for the previous 
year. There was available from the regular Bureau appropriation 
Sl ; ~5.000 for control work in the Xew England State-. New York. 
New Jersey,and Pennsylvania. 
The reduction in funds, together with the decrease in administrative 
allotments, made it necessary to curtail salaried personnel, and 13 
agents on the supervisory force were furloughed about the ls( of 
September. The requirement providing for the discharge of Work 
Projects Administration workers who had served for 18 months seri- 
ously affected not only the volume hut the quality of the work, a- 
experience is important in successfully carrying through many field 
details that are essentia) on this project. Limitation of expenditure 
of funds for nonlabor purposes also made it impossible to purchase 
essential supplies, particularly spraying materials and equipment of 
various kinds which are necessary for doing the Work in a satisfac- 
tory manner. This caused a reduction in the volume of spraying, and 
it was impossible to treat some areas that should have received careful 
attention. The necessity of furnishing work within reasonable driving 
distance of the location- where men could be conveniently assembled 
also made id impossible to examine many area- that should have re- 
ceived attention in a systematic program of scouting, or to treat all 
infestations throughout the barrier /one. 
Ninety -one percent of the Work Projects Admiuist rat ion fund- were 
paid in wage- to an average daily force of approximately 1,000 work- 
er-, and more than ( .»s percent <>f these were certified relief cases. In 
many of the industrial sections where unemployment had been par- 
