BUREAU OF ENTOMOLOGY AND PLANT QUARANTINE 53 
part, because they contained prohibited material, 1.GG4 were diverted to 
another port for disposition, and 1.3G1 were released under permit. 
MEXICAN BORDER SERVICE 
In 1944 a total of 67,755 freight cars from Mexico were inspected, a 
decrease of 1,429, or 2 percent, from the 1943 total. It was necessary 
to fumigate 12,985 as a condition of entry into the United States. 
This represents an increase of 813, or 7 percent, over 1943. Coupons 
valid for the fumigation of a freight car were sold, at $4 each, in the 
amount of $52,196. During the year search continued for possible 
ways to expedite railroad traffic from Mexico by eliminating fumiga- 
tions when possible to do so without increasing the risk of introducing 
foreign plant pests. By using certain railroad records, which were 
caref ully compared with other sources of information and confirmed by 
actual inspections of the cars themselves, it was possible, during the 
last half of the year, to reduce materially the number of cars requiring 
fumigation at Nogales, Ariz., without additional risk of pest entry. 
In addition, 4,620 Pullman and passenger coaches were inspected 
upon entry into this country. A total of 4,569,545 other vehicles and 
806,809 pieces of baggage were examined in cooperation with cus- 
toms officials, a decrease of 3.5 percent in the number of other vehicles 
examined and an increase of 44 percent in baggage examinations. 
INSPECTION IN HAWAII AND PUERTO RICO 
The predominant activities carried on in the enforcement of Federal 
plant quarantines governing the movement of plants and plant prod- 
ucts from Hawaii to the mainland were preflight inspection of aircraft 
and the inspection of mail, baggage, and express. The local demand 
for all fresh fruits and vegetables left little for shipment to the main- 
land. Inspections and certifications decreased accordingly. Pre- 
flight aircraft inspections and the examination of express increased 
approximately 600 percent over 1943, and necessitated the assignment 
of additional personnel from the mainland. Mail and baggage in- 
spections continued in volumes approximating 1943 figures; however, 
conditions surrounding the handling of mail from the armed forces 
in Hawaii were such that it could not all be made available for inspec- 
tion prior to dispatch to the mainland. By the close of the year over 
60.000 parcel-post packages were being inspected monthly at mainland 
ports, thus adding materially to the work load of maritime inspectors 
at Pacific coast ports. The inspectors continued to cooperate with the 
censors in the examination of mail and express in Hawaii. 
In Puerto Rico also the demands for local consumption resulted 
in very little call for the inspection and certification of fruits and 
vegetables for shipment to the mainland. Emphasis there is on the 
inspection of surface vessels and aircraft to prevent both the intro- 
duction of foreign plant pests and the spread of injurious pests of 
Puerto Rico to the mainland. The insular inspectors, acting as 
collaborators, assist in these activities, all of which have been adjusted 
to meet the needs of wartime commerce. 
DEPARTMENTAL PLANT MATERIAL AND DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA INSPECTION 
A total of 411 shipments of incoming domestic material (51,163 
plants, cuttings, bulbs, etc., and 2.237 lots of seeds) and 1,793 ship- 
ments of outgoing domestic material (200,947 plants, cuttings, bulbs, 
etc., and 10,730 lots of seeds), including.material shipped by the United 
