PINK BOLLWORM ERADICATION HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Monday, April 2, 1928. The committee proceeded, at 11 o'clock, a. m., to the consideration of H. J. Res. 237, Hon. Gilbert N. Haugen (chairman) presiding. Mr. JONES. Mr. Chairman, by special order of the committee, we have H. J. Res. 237, introduced by Mr. Buchanan, and he would like Doctor Marlatt to appear first in behalf of that bill. STATEMENT OF DR. C. L. MARLATT, CHIEF, BUREAU OF ENTOMOLOGY, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Mr. MARLATT. I have here a number of maps which indicate the pink-bollworm situation in the United States. [Maps distributed.] The CHAIRMAN. First state the aim of the bill. Mr. ASWELL. Doctor, tell us what the pink bollworm is and where it came from. Mr. MARLATT. The object of this joint resolution is to provide for the eradication of the pink bollworm. The CHAIRMAN. It is for the establishment of noncotton zones, is it not? Mr. MARLATT. It provides for the establishment of noncotton zones for that purpose. The CHAIRMAN. How is that to be accomplished? Mr. MARLATT. I suppose most of you are familiar with the pink bollworm; it has been a subject which has been before committees of Congress for a good many years and, if you would like to have me make a general statement about the insect itself, I would be glad to give it. Mr. CLARKE. Yes; and differentiate it from the boll weevil. Mr. MARLATT. The pink bollworm is a native of India. It was first recognized as a cotton pest there in 1842. Early in this century, 1906-7 it was introduced into Egypt from India by means of seed cotton. It attacks particularly the seed and usually remains in or with the seed over winter and the chief means of its progress around the world has been with shipments of seed. The early record of its occurrence and damage in India had been overlooked and no precautions had been taken to prevent the entry into Egypt with seed cotton or with cottonseed, and starting from the original introduction it has now invaded practically all of the Nile Valley. I can best indicate its economic status in Egypt by reading you a short paragraph from the latest publication by the Ministry of Agriculture of Egypt, which came to my desk only a few days ago, published this year (1928). The publication is a general discussion of cotton in Egypt and in its brief summary on insect pests, says this of the pink bollworm: The pink bollworm (Gelechia gossypiella) is by far the greatest cotton pest in Egypt, as much as one-quarter of the crop being rendered unpickable annually through its ravages. Appearing in small numbers in June it increases at a rapid rate until 90 per cent or more of the unopened bolls on the plants toward the end of the season are damaged by it. The damage is frequently increased by subsequent attack of the bolls-infected either by the pink or the spiny bollworm-by the fungus Rhizopus nigricans. That is the latest statement from Egypt on the subject and you notice they estimate the annual loss from this pest at 25 per cent of their cotton crop. Along with that statement I should say this, that in Egypt, with cheap labor, they are able to do control work which would be impossible under our methods of growing cotton. For example, under the law and rules of Egypt, all of the cotton is removed from the fields every fall-pulled up by the roots. The cotton stalks so removed are drawn through a comb or machine which removes all of the bolls, and the insect is only found in the boll, and these are destroyed. The stalks are then kept for use as fuel during the winter. This gives a clean-up away beyond anything we can hope for under our agricultural and labor conditions. In addition to that the Government requires treatment by heat of all planting seed throughout Egypt. By these drastic means, which we could not fully duplicate, the cotton grower in Egypt is able to keep the damage down to that indicated in the statement which I have read. The seriousness of this pest to the cotton crop of the United States is clearly indicated by this statement. Mr. MENGES. Is it known how it was introduced into this country? Mr. MARLATT. Yes. I have already indicated that its spread from India has been through the agency of cottonseed. We know now that in 1911 two importations of Egyptian seed were brought into Mexico and planted either in or near the principal cotton district of that Republic, known as the Laguna district, some two or three hundred miles south of our border. These were obtained subsequent to the introduction of the pest into Egypt and undoubtedly the seed was more or less infested with larvae of this pest. The department was early advised of the occurrence of this pest in Egypt and in 1913, a year after the passage of the plant quarantine act, promulgated a quarantine prohibiting the entry of cottonseed from all countries except Mexico. The fact of the entry of this pest into Mexico was learned by the department in 1917, following the transmission in that year of samples of injured bolls for examination and report, and while an immediate stop was placed on the further entry of cottonseed and lint from Mexico, it developed in the fall of that year that some of the seed which had previously come over from Mexico had resulted in an initial establishment of this pest at Hearne, Tex. Later on, in the same year, it was discovered that the pest had a very considerable foothold in the Trinity Bay region. This much more widespread infestation resulted from a large shipment of Mexican cotton lint which was landed at Galveston for transshipment to Europe. During the period that it was held at Galveston, the big hurricane or storm of 1915 took large quantities of this baled cotton and broke the bales and scattered the lint along the coast of Texas, and particularly along the shores of Trinity Bay which opens into |