United States Department of Agriculture-Estimate of appropriations, 1922-Continued. Appro- Total........ 55, 000, 000+5, 000, 000+ 5, 000, 000+5, 000, 000 31, 712, 784 53, 029, 384 33, 668, 009 39, 529, 704 +5, 861, 695-13, 499, 680 +7, 816, 920 This bill consolidates the Bureau of Markets and the Bureau of Crop Estimates. *Supplemental estimate. Added by the Senate Committee. Includes $11,040,000 supplemental estimates. NOTE.-In addition, the committee has included in the bill an authorization for the Secretary of the Treasury to purchase farm loan bonds $100,000.000, during the fiscal year 1921 and $100,000,000 during the fiscal year 1922 OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY. STATUTORY SALARIES. 15,000 15,000 15,000 100,000 100, 000 50,000+ 100,000 5,000 25,000 100,000 [Page 2, line 3.j The statutory roll of the office of the Secretary carries a decrease of $5,000 below the House bill, as indicated below: Place dropped: Director of regulatory work..... S R-66-3-vol 1-14 $5,000 WEATHER Bureau. GENERAL EXPENSES-FRUIT FROST SERVICE WORK. [Page 7, line 12.] This is a new item and carries an appropriation of $9,000. Fruit growers suffer enormous losses annually from frost damage which can be avoided through heating and other protective methods, if they have reliable frost predictions and information as to minimum temperatures that may be expected. The Weather Bureau is the only source from which such information can be obtained. This appropriation will enable the bureau to advise orchardists when protective measures should be applied, and the methods of heating required to counteract frosts. BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. ERADICATION OF TUBERCULOSIS. [Page 11, line 3.] To correct an error, the figures $978,800 have been substituted for $978,000 in line 11, page 11. The clause limiting expenditures under this item for administrative and operating expenses and for the payment of indemnities was not included in the bill as reported to the House. It was inserted through an amendment when the bill was under consideration in the House, but through error the amount for administrative and operating expenses was fixed at $978,000 instead of $978,800. Unless this error is corrected the department might be deprived of the use of $800 of the total appropriation carried by the paragraph. ANIMAL HUSBANDRY INVESTIGATIONS. [Page 13, line 19.] The following proviso has been added to this paragraph: Provided further, That of the sum thus appropriated, $8,000 is hereby made immediately available for the erection of necessary buildings at the United States sheep experiment station in Clark County, Idaho, to furnish facilities for the investigations of problems pertaining to the sheep and wool industry on the farms and ranges of the Western States. It was recommended in the department's estimates in order that necessary construction work at its sheep station in Clark County, Idaho, may be begun as early as possible and completed before winter. BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. STATUTORY SALARIES. [Page 16, line 5.] The statutory roll of the Bureau of Plant Industry has been increased by $3,000 over the House bill, as indicated below: New place: 1 executive assistant in seed and plant distribution. $3,000 GENERAL EXPENSES. INVESTIGATIONS OF PLANT DISEASES. [Page 18, line 1.] The amount of this item has been increased $9,980 over the House bill to permit the inauguration of research work in connection with brown rot and kindred diseases of peach trees, which cause large losses annually to peach growers, especially in the South. The following proviso specifically authorizing this work has been added to the paragraph: Provided, That $10,000 of this amount shall be used for research in brown rot and kindred diseases of peach trees. BLISTER RUST CONTROL. [Page 19, line 10.] The increase of $114,000 in this item over the House bill merely restores the appropriation to approximately its present status. This increase will be used to continue, in cooperation with the State authorities in the Eastern and New England States, the cooperative eradication of currants and gooseberries in the control of the spread of the white-pine blister rust in sections where pine for timber is an important crop. Its protection is essential if the future timber supply is to be preserved. The continuance of this work is strongly urged by State and local authorities who provide funds somewhat in excess of the Federal expenditures. COTTON, TRUCK, AND FORAGE CROP DISEASE INVESTIGATIONS. [Page 20, line 1.] The amount of this item represents an increase over the House bill and current appropriation of $4,600. Potato diseases, like mosaic and leaf-roll, which affect the quality of seed potatoes grown for interstate shipment, and potato decays which cause heavy losses in shipments arriving in the large markets of the country from southern and western sources, should receive greater attention. Increased costs of maintaining potato investigational work at the field stations in Maine and Colorado have made it necessary to practically suspend these activities. This work has been yielding important results and should be continued. CROP PHYSIOLOGY. [Page 20, line 4.] There is an increase in this item over the House bill of $5,000. The amount allowed ($56,860) represents a total increase over the current appropriation of $10,000, but a decrease of $10,000 below the department estimates. This increase will be used for enlarging date-culture investigations. The date industry is fast becoming established in this country. At the present time nearly a quarter of a million dollars a year is being invested in new plantings. The industry is centered upon the culture of the Deglet Noor variety, a date of highest quality, which, however, deteriorates in storage, so that it is desirable that other varieties be established. Offshoots of an Egyptian variety, the Saidy, which improves in storage, and of the Hayany variety, a soft date suitable for home use in Arizona, have been secured and should be tested out. As the result of a bag method of ripening dates, the percentage of fancy dates of the Deglet Noor variety as grown in the Coachella Valley of California, has been more than doubled and the number of pickings reduced from 12 to 2. In addition, the final curing of the fruit is greatly simplified, being accomplished by proper handling in a moist, warm chamber for only a few hours. With the new introduction of offshoots and the discovery of this bag-ripening method, it becomes essential to conduct demonstration gardens in the more promising localities in southern California, Arizona, and Texas. SOIL-BACTERIOLOGY AND PLANT-NUTRITION INVESTIGATIONS. The amount of this item has been decreased $10,000, your comto being of opinion that an expansion of this work is not urgent s time. The amount allowed is an increase over the current opriation of $960. CEREAL INVESTIGATIONS. [Page 21, line 18.] There is an increase in this item of $32,000 over the House bill. As indicated in the proviso which has been added to the paragraph, this increase will be used for investigating the wheat scab. Wheat scab or blight is one of the most serious cereal diseases in the central and eastern United States, and during the 1919 season was unusually severe, especially in the winter-wheat regions east of the Great Plains area. From practically all of the States in this territory reports were received of great reductions in yields from earlier estimates and, while climatic conditions and other diseases were partly responsible for these decreased yields, by far the greater portion of the enormous losses was unquestionably due to scab. In a large number of fields the loss was 100 per cent. Investigation to date shows that the problem is complex. At least five species of fungi are found to cause scab on wheat. Very little investigation of the disease has been possible with the limited funds available, although the opportunity for effective investigation is very favorable. CEREAL DISEASE CONTROL. [Page 22, line 7.] The language of this item has been amended so as to provide for cooperation in this important work with any State in which these diseases are prevalent. The language of the House bill providing for cooperation with control authorities of the several States, in the opinion of the committee, precludes cooperation with States not having control authorities. TOBACCO INVESTIGATIONS. [Page 22, line 17.] The amount of this item has been increased $9,000 over the House bill. In recent years there has been a progressive increase in the extent of the area of "tobacco sick" soils in the Connecticut Valley, both under artificial shade and in the open fields. The yield and quality of tobacco on these diseased fields are greatly affected; frequently there is almost a total loss of the crop. In addition to the Thielavia root rot, which has been recognized for some time, it now seems certain that a second parasitic disease is present. The situation calls for aggressive action. Facilities are required for conducting systematic field tests with a view to develop methods of control, but the funds at present available barely suffice for preliminary study and observation of the nature and extent of the disease. Since this disease occurs also in other tobacco-growing districts, results obtained as to methods of control would have wide application. More adequate facilities are also desired for developing root-rot_resistant strains of Pennsylvania broadleaf suitable for culture in Lancaster County, Pa. Further information is also needed with reference to the cultural requirements of tobacco in the section of southern Georgia centering around Coffee County, which is fast becoming an important producing region for flue-cured tobacco. SUGAR-PLANT INVESTIGATIONS. [Page 22, line 22.] An increase of $5,885 is allowed in this item. For the proper study of sugar-cane diseases it is necessary that provision be made for the erection at Arlington farm of a greenhouse of substantial construction and special design. It is estimated that this can be done at an outlay of about $7,000. It is essential to carry on part of the experimental work at a point outside the sugar-cane area, so that it may be under control conditions and under the close personal supervision of the pathologist in charge of the investigations. The makeshift greenhouses in which the work has been conducted up to this time have been shown to be unsuitable for special work of this kind. The following proviso authorizing the construction of this greenhouse and making $7,000 immediately available therefor has been added to the paragraph: Provided, That of this amount $7,000 shall be immediately available for the purpose of constructing a special greenhouse for sugar-cane investigations to be located on the Arlington Farm, Virginia. DRY LAND AGRICULTURE. [Page 23, line 6.] The amount of this item has been increased $10,000 to provide an additional implement storage building at the Mandan (N. Dak.) field station, for minor repairs and for structures of a similar character required at other dry land stations. |