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STORED~PRODUCT INSECT INVESTIGATIONS 
E, A. Back, Senior Entomologist, in Charge 
Mr. Rechad, who has been employed as a technical agricultural 
adviser to the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture, and is connected with 
the Agricultural Experiment Station at Bournabat (Smyrna), sailed from 
Naples for New York on February 8. He intends, after conferences in 
Washington, to make an investigation of the dried-fruit industry in 
California and Australia. According to the American Consul at Smyrna, 
the coming of Mr. Rechad is "An evidence of the serious concern caused 
locally by the additional restrictions being imposed by the United States 
upon dried-fruit imports and the rigid sanitary control being exercised 
by the Consulate. In both business and governmental circles apprehen— 
sion is felt as to the future of the local dried-fruit industry in view 
of these restrictions, and every effort is being made to meet the re—- 
guirements of the Department of Agriculture so as to insure the admis-—- 
sion of Turkish products." Importers of Turkish or Smyrna figs are having 
difficulty in reducing the insect tolerance to that permitted by law. 
According to a new Stanislaus County, Calif., ordinance, effec- 
tive April 15, all bean straw and stored beans must be destroyed or 
treated. A survey of the Turlock district was begun February 17 to locate 
such stocks as are likely to become sources of infestation for the 1928 
crop. This work is in charge of C. R. Pearl, County Horticultural In- 
spector, A. 0. Larson of the Bureau of Entomology, and Henry Sylvester 
of the County Farm Bureau. 
Dr. H. G. Knight, Chief of the Bureau of Chemistry and Soils, 
arrived in Fresno February 25. At the request of E. M. Chase, in charge 
of the Fruit and Vegetable Laboratory at Los Angeles, Perez Simmons, in . 
charge of the field laboratory at Fresno, assisted Dr. Knight in getting 
an insight into the dried-fruit industry as it is being conducted in and 
about Fresno. 
Miss Marion T. Van Horn, Junior Scientific Aid, was burned out 
of house and home on February 25, when fire totally destroyed the build— 
ing in which she was living. Owing to the rapidity with which the fire 
spread, Miss Van Horn lost all her more precious possessions in the form 
of heirlooms. Neighbors aided in removing some of the furniture from 
the ground floor. Unfortunately, the books and insects belonging to 
J. @. Bridwell, formerly of this Division, which he had left in an up-— 
stairs room, were all lost, with the exception of a collection of bruchids 
loaned for study by the Mysore State and the Madras Presidency. All of 
this bruchid material appears to have been saved through Miss Van Horn's 
presence of mind. 
The Furniture Manufacturer for January carries an article by Back 
and Cotton, entitled "How cotton batting prevents moth damage." This 
article is illustrated with 21 photographs showing injury caused by moths 
to upholstered furniture. One thousand separates have been presented to 
the Bureau of Entomology for use in correspondence. 
