REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA Year Ending June 1st, 1903 O. B. STEVENS, Commissioner ATLANTA, GA., Geo. W. Harrison, State Printer, 1903. REPORT To His Excellency, J. M. Terrell, Governor: In compliance with the law I beg leave to submit the following report of the transactions of the Department of Agriculture from October 1, 1902, to May 31, 1903. CLERICAL FORCE. The clerical force consists of the following named persons; R. P. Wright, Assistant Commissioner and General Corre spondent ; J. P. Johnson, Commissioner's Clerk; O. B. Morris, Recording Clerk ; J. T. Derry, Shipping and Mailing Clerk; Prank Wilson, Stenographer. Under the provisions of an Act approved December 20, 1899, which provides for the establishment of quarantine lines for the protection of cattle in those sections not affected or partially affected with contagious diseases, I took up the matter early in the year of 1900 with the United States Government and with the authorities of the States of Ten nessee and North Carolina. We agreed upon the line so far as it affected the State of Georgia. Under the provisions of the Act just referred to, the sum of $500.00 was set aside from the fees arising from the inspection of fertilizers for the payment of four cattle in spectors in the counties of Rabun, Union, Fannin and Towns. I, therefore, appointed and commissioned the fol lowing inspectors, for said counties at $25.00 per month. M. C. Canup, of Burton, Rabun, Co., Ga. J. W. Foster, Osborne, Towns, Co., Ga. Thomas M. Duncan, Blairsville, Union Co., Ga. E. W. Skelton, Cratonia, Fannin, Co., Ga. In connection with this work we issued a number of bul letins, outlining the laws governing the quarantine regula tions of this State as a guide not only for the inspector but also for the people generally. The work of these inspectors has 4 been as faithfully and effectively performed as could be ex pected under the circumstances. For more effective work the State is greatly in need of a veterinary surgeon. We have been very materially aided in our quarantine work by the Department of Agriculture at Washington. Dr. W. P. Ellenberger was detailed by the department and re mained for several weeks of the summer of 1902 in north Georgia, cooperating with the inspectors and with the de partment in the suppression of the tick and in extending the free area of north Georgia. He was succeeded in the spring of 1903 by Dr. Wm.D. Shaw who is nowin charge of the entire work and who is located at Blue Ridge, Fannin county. PUBLICATIONS. I have sent out through the weekly press--monthly, with a few exceptions--six columns of printed matter, which has been published in about 185 county papers. We have issued and distributed 20,000 copies of the Com mercial Fertilizer Bulletin No. 39 (b) of the season of 19011902, and also a considerable number of copies of Bulletin No. 37 on Texas Fever and The Cattle Tick, in which are embraced the laws, rules and regulations concerning the quarantining of cattle, so far as they relate to Georgia ; also many copies of Bulletin No. 39 (a), containing the laws reg ulating the sale of illuminating oils and other matters of information to inspectors, oil dealers and the general public. In addition to the above named bulletins, we have issued a number of smaller leaflets containing special instructions to the inspectors of commercial fertilizers, also extra copies of the new fertilizer law. We have also issued Bulletin No. 40, being the most complete crop report ever sent out by us, containing a full statement of the crop conditions for May, 1903, and embracing reports of the leading agricultural and horticultural products of Georgia, together with information as to stock conditions, labor supplies, etc. Recognizing the fact that the taxes of our State have been growing more burdensome from year to year, we have by 5 strict economy during the past four years saved $4,000.00* from our annual appropriation of $10,000.00, known as the State Fund, although during that time we have published and distributed 10,000 copies of the largest and most com prehensive work on Georgia ever issued from the State De partment of Agriculture. FERTILIZER FUND. The following is a statement of the receipts and disbursements from October 1, 1902, to June 1, 1903: DR. To amount on hand Oct. 1, 1902 ___ $ 1,633 22 To amount received from sale of tags__ 62,543 79--$64,177 01 CR. By inspectors' salary and expenses___ $15,876 21 By expenses of office, including freight, bottles, corks, labels, etc_________ 1,177 85 By amount paid for tags____________ 2,500 00 By amount paid State Treasurer . 41,000 00 By amount on hand.__ _____________ 3,622 95--$64,177 01 FERTILIZER FUND. The following is a statement of the receipts and disbursements for the season of 1901-1902 : DR. To cash on hand Oct. 1, 1901---------- $ 499 98 To cash received from sale of tags_____51,812 80 To cash received from taxes on cotton seed meal, penalty for iailure to pur chase tags______________________ 196 50 To cash in hand (J. T. Derry)________ 10 60--$52,519 88 * Since writing the above report we have turned into the State treasury this $4,000.00 ; $2,500 on June 2, and $1,500 on June 12, as will appear from the records of the State Treasurer. 6 CR. By inspectors' salary and expenses, in cluding salary for Sept., 1901------$18,631 12 By expenses------------------------------------- 507 73 By amount paid for tags_____________ 1,747 81 By amount paid Treasurer----- ------------ 30,000 00 By cash on hand____________________ 1,633 22--$52,519 88 Respectfully, O. B. Stevens, Commissioner. 7 REPORT OF THE GENERAL OIL INSPECTOR. State of Georgia Department of Agriculture. Atlanta, Ga., June 18,1903. Hon. 0. B. Stevens, Commissioner of Agriculture, Atlanta, Ga. Dear Sir :--I herewith submit to you my report of the amount of business done by this department from October 1, 19C2, to June 1, 1903 : Total gallons of illuminating oils inspected........... Total amount of fees received by inspectors.......... Total amount paid local inspectors............................. Total amount paid State .............................................. 4,840,239. $24,246 12. $15,707 17. $ 8,538 95. It will be seen that the amount of business done this year will exceed that of last year. There has been, as is always the case, some complaint as to the illuminating quality of some of the oil. I have, together with the local inspectors, investigated these complaints, and in almost all cases local conditions were found to be the cause. I have visited a num ber of oil stations in different sections of the State and have found the local inspectors in charge to be competent, con scientious gentlemen, and I feel that the lives and property of the people are safe from accidents caused by impure and inflammable oils which at one time was a menace to our peo ple. Respectfully submitted, W. C. BRYANT, General Oil Inspector. 8 REPORT OF THE STATE CHEMIST. Atlanta, Gta., June 18,1903. Hon. 0. B. Stevens, Commissioner oj Agriculture of the State of Georgia. T)eak Sib :--The analytical work of the season of 19021903 having not yet been completed, I am unable to accom pany this report as usual with the tables of analyses show ing the composition of the various brands of fertilizers sold in the State. However, judging from the work thus far com pleted, I am confident that this season's work when finished will be the greatest in the history of the department. The new fertilizer law of the State, consolidating all of the old fertilizer laws, retaining all that was good in them and add ing some new features, has been in operation for the first time during the present season. The new system of uniform branding, giving in the short est and simplest manner possible the essential ingredients of plant-food in the fertilizers, has been inaugurated, though not without some friction with the manufacturers and some extra expense to them in changing the forms of brands to which they have been accustomed. Two results of impor tance to the farming interest will accrue from this change. In the first place, as the State of Alabama has already adopted our new law practically unchanged, and as I under stand the States of Tennessee and North Carolina are about to adopt it, a great saving will be effected in the matter of sacking and resacking and branding and rebranding fertili zers shipped from one State into another, as the various laws will require precisely the same brands and guarantees on all the sacks. This expense the farmer would doubtless have to meet in the end, and therefore this useless expense is saved to him by the form of brand prescribed by the new law. The second result of importance flowing from the style of brand under the new law is this, that it does away with the old "sliding scale" of percentages of plant-food 9 almost uniformly adopted by the manufacturers under the old law. For instance, when a manufacturer intended to guarantee 8 per cent, available phosphoric acid, 2 per cent, ammonia and 2 per cent, of potash, under the old law, he would brand his sacks thus: Available phosphoric acid . . . 8 to 10 per cent. Ammonia........................................ 2 to 4 " u Potash............................................. 2 to 4 " " Under the new law the guarantee must be branded on the sack in the minimum percentage only which he intends to guarantee; the result is that in order to be on the side of safety the manufacturer is obliged to give a little more of each ingredient than he actually guarantees, and the pur chaser is no longer deceived into thinking that perhaps he is getting 3 per cent, ammonia, or 3 per cent, of potash, un der the old sliding scale guarantee of 2 to 4. Section 4 of the new fertilizer law of Georgia prohibits the sale of any commercial fertilizer in this State containing less than 12 per cent, of total plant-food, viz., available phosphoric acid, ammonia and potash, when the percentages of the three are added together, as against 10 per cent, min imum under the old law. We thus have a 20 per cent, com pulsory increase in the minimum amount of plant food al lowed by law. It will be impossible to tell just what the average actual increase in grade over past years is until it is figured at the end of the season, when the work is completed. It will not be 20 per cent., for manufacturers in this State have generally, as a rule, given much more plant food in their fertilizers than the minimum allowed by law. Still the fact remains, and it is one on which the farmers of the State are to be congratulated, and that is, that the minimum guarantee permitted by their new law is 20 per cent, above that permitted by the old law, and that it is now as high as expediency would warrant, considering the grades of the various fertilizer materials from which commercial fertilizers are now manufactured. In spite of the increased compul sory minimum grade of the fertilizers put on the market this year, the predictions of those who prophesied a correspond 10 ing increase in price have not been verified. On the con trary, the average selling price this year has been from 25 cents to $1 a ton less than the preceding year, working un der the old law. IN KEGAKD TO FILLERS. In this connection I beg to insert a portion of a letter written to a Georgia farmer oil "fillers," as being appropri ate : " A ` filler ? may be defined as being any substance put into a fertilizer, or existing there naturally, which is not phosphoric acid, nitrogen or potash. Fillers are of two kinds, natural and artificial. I have just given you an in stance of a natural `filler,' in the complete analysis of the fertilizer made out of acid phosphate, cotton seed meal and kainit, and in this mixture only twelve and eighty-three hundredths pounds per hundred consisted of phosphoric acid, nitrogen and potash ; the rest was all filler, put there by nature in the original making of these materials. It is true, man did put in some sulphuric acid, but that was necessary to make phosphoric acid available or soluble, so it can scarcely be considered as an artificial filler. "The artificial ` filler ' is the filler put in by man for the purpose of reducing the total percentage of plant-food in a fertilizer. The materials used as artificial ` fillers ' are nu merous ; they may be sand, powdered cinders, graphitic slate, shale, pyrites cinder, marl, gypsum, etc. All of them are practically without any value as fertilizers. How is it, then, you inquire, that such substances can be put into our fertilizers, if we have an efficient inspection by the Depart ment of Agriculture. I will explain how that is. Suppose that a manufacturer, instead of having on hand only South Carolina acid phosphate, cotton seed meal and kainit when you call on him for an 8-2-2 goods, has on hand some of the highest grade materials known to the trade. "He has, say, acid phosphate made from Tennessee or Florida rock, which contains twenty per cent, of available phosphoric acid ; also nitrate of soda with sixteen per cent, of nitrogen, dried blood with fourteen per cent, nitrogen, 11 sulphate of ammonia with twenty per cent, nitrogen, muriate of potash with fifty per cent, of potash ; with these materials on hand he receives your order for a fertilizer, guaranteed to contain as small an amount of plant-food as the law will permit, viz.: twelve per cent., made up of eight per cent, available phosphoric acid, two per cent, nitrogen, two per cent, potash. Considering the materials he has on hand, he figures out this formula : 825 pounds of 20 per cent, acid phosphate 215 " 14 per cent, dried blood 75 " 16 per cent, nitrate of soda 85 " 50 per cent, muriate of potash 1200 " Now is this 1,200 pounds of high-grade materials he has all the plant-food you called for, with a small margin for safety. You called for eight per cent, of a ton in available phosphoric acid or one hundred and sixty pounds, and in his 825 pounds of twenty per cent, acid phosphate he has given you one hundred and sixty-five pounds of available phosphoric acid ; you called for two per cent, of a ton, or forty pounds of nitrogen, and in his 215 pounds of dried blood, containing fourteen per cent, nitrogen and seventyfive pounds nitrate of soda with sixteen per cent, of nitrogen, he has given you forty-two and one-tenth pounds of nitrogen. In like manner you called for forty pounds of potash, and in eighty-five pounds of fifty per cent, muriate of potash he has given you forty-two and a half pounds of actual potash. Now the best thing both for you and the manufacturer, the cheaptest thing for both of you, would be for him to send you that twelve hundred pounds put up in six sacks, which upon inspection and analysis would show : Available phosphoric acid . . . 13.75 per cent. Nitrogen......................... 3.50 per cent. Potash......................... 3.54 per cent. But no, you won't have it that way, you must have a ion, ten sacks of 8-2-2; so the manufacturer rather than enter upon a campaign of education with all his customers, obligingly freights into his factory eight hundred pounds of powdered slate mined some hundred miles away, utterly 12 worthless as fertilizer, and mixes it in with the twelve hundred pounds of good fertilizer making one ton. This mixture on inspection and analysis shows : Available phosphoric acid . . 8.25 per cent. Nitrogen .... 2.10 per cent. Potash .... 2.12 per cent. A SMALL QUANTITY OF HIGH GRADE FERTILIZER BETTER THAN A LARGE QUANTITY OF LOWER GRADE. Now suppose you had exercised a little common sense and bought the six sacks, analyzing 13.75, 3.50 and 3.54, you would bave been saved the cost of mining, pulverizing and freighting of the artificial "filler" to the factory, and the freight on four sacks of it from the factory to your rail road station, and the wear and tear on your mules hauling that extra eight hundred pounds ten miles to the farm. Wouldn't it have been much better to have bought the six sacks, and when you got home, if you wanted it in the pro portion of 8-2-2, which is a good proportion, to have mixed up the six sacks yourself with wood's earth, or compost, or even sand, before distributing ? I think I hear you say, well that's true, but why don't you fix the law and raise the grade so these fellows can't put in all this artificial "filler." My dear friend, there never yet was, and there never will be, a law framed which can meet all the conditions of a great social and industrial problem, or which will compen sate for the failure to exercise his own intelligence on the part of the individual citizen. Think for a moment, suppose we should pass a law making it impossible to use any arti ficial "fillers" in the manufacture of commereial fertilizers, by raising the grade to a very high point. Do you not see that by so doing we should at once paralyze this great in dustry, and cut short the cotton crop of the State, since we would at once bar the use of South Carolina acid phosphate, cotton seed meal and kainit and a number of other good materials of similar grade, and thus at once raise the price of the high-grade materials to an unheard of degree by greatly increasing the demand for them ? 13 No, the conditions have been very thoroughly studied in every particular by the Commissioners of Agriculture of the various States, aided and advised by those best qualified by experience and training to understand the matter in all of its details, and the result of their deliberations is embodied in the new Georgia fertilizer law printed in this bulletin. This law raises the grade of commercial fertilizers from a total plant food of ten per cent, minimum under the old law to twelve per cent, minimum, and protects the farmer in every way that a good and just law can protect him. It will give him the highest grade of fertilizers he has ever bought, it will protect him against fraud, it will guarantee that he gets every pound of fertilizing value that he pays for ; in fine it is the best fertilizer law now on the statute books of any State, but even such a law cannot prevent the use of "fillers." Only education on the part of the farmer, and a demand on his part for the higher grades of fertilizers will eliminate the use of "fillers." When you and your brother farmers study the percentages of plant food in a fertilizer, and pre fer to buy five or six sacks of a high-grade goods to buying ten sacks of a goods containing only the same quantity of actual plant food, then there will be no more ""filler" put into high-grade fertilizer materials, but the capital of the manufacturer, and the skill of the chemist will be exerted in the effort to take out of the present low-grade fertilizer materials as much as possible of the "filler," which God and nature have put there. SUGGESTION'S AND EECOMMENDATIONS. In the matter of suggestion and recommendation for the future, I know of nothing more important to the people of the State at large and the farmers in particular, than the passage of a general pure food law, with provision for its enforcement; as covering my ideas on this subject and as showing the necessity for such legislation, I beg to present below a copy of an address delivered by me at the Sugar Growers' Convention held in Macon last May. Respectfully, J. M. McCandless, State Chemist. 14 ADDRESS DELIVERED BY STATE CHEMIST m'CANDLESS BEFORE THE SUGAR GROWERS' CONVENTION AT MACON, GA., MAY 6, 1903. Mr, President and Gentlemen : Being requested a few days since by your President to read a paper at this Convention, I suspended temporarily the steady work we have been doing for months past on commercial fertilizers, and decided that I could perhaps help the cane growers and sirup boilers of the State more effec tively by analyzing carefully some of the sirups on the market than in any other way--I therefore sent out and bought samples of sirup from retail stores in various parts of Atlanta. The instructions to the buyer were in all cases to ask for Georgia cane sirup and also to inquire the price per gallon. With the aid of Messers. Williams and Bunton the Assistant State Chemists, the work has just been completed with the fol lowing results : I .Number. I Price Per Gallon. Reading of Polariscope Direct. Invert. Per Cent. Per Cent. Sucrose. Glucose. i 2 60f 3 60,^ 4 50j> 5 50? 6 60? 7 50? 8 60? 9 50? 10 60? 11 50? 12 50<* 13 50? 57.0 21.3 59.4 57 0 -- 15 0 54.5 104.2 + 74.8 22.3 46 8 66.0 + 14.5 31.6 20.4 51.6 20.9 54.5 88.8 + 49.8 29,4 33.9 59.4 17.2 57.6 130 3 + 115.5 11.1 68.1 54.8 -- 21.3 57.2 52.2 -- 19.4 53.8 55.0 -- 20.9 57.1 107 2 + 77.4 22.4 48.4 63.2 4- 10.8 39.4 13 6 Thus we have practically fifty per cent, of the samples of Georgia cane sirup purchased at random in the retail grocery stores of the Capi tal City of Georgia, adulterated with glucose. Now, glucose of itself is harmless, is in fact a perfectly wholesome sweet, if well made, but it is the fraud of which I complain, of which the consumer has a perfect right to complain, of which the cane grower has a just right to complain. Here is an article famous the country over for its peculiar flavorous sweetness, 15 which a citizen of Georgia in the Capital City of his own State, calling for Georgia cane sirup and paying the price asked and a good one for a genuine article, can not obtain with certainty. We will pass over the fraud on the consumer, what this Convention is more vitally interested in is the fraud upon the cane grower. Does not the fact that there is such adulteration show that there is a great and growing demand for the genuine article which cannot be met at the ordinary price, under the present conditions of supply and demand, without resort to fraudulent practices. Does it not show that if the State only exercised a rigid su pervision over the food supply of her citizens, and enforced a fixed stan dard of purity, that the cane grower would profit by it. If the adul terated stuff now on the market were forced off, would not the demand exceeding the supply raise the price from 60 cents now asked and ob tained for the fraudulent compound, to 75 cents or more for the genuine article ? But you will say, is there not a law prohibiting the adultera tion of sirup? Yes, a law was passed at the last session of the General Assembly making it a misdemeanor to adulterate any sirup after the first day of September, 1903. So under the laws of Georgia it is at present perfectly legal to do all the adulteration you want. But suppose we have reached the first day of September, 1903, what good is the law then ; there is no provision made to enforce it, no funds provided for car rying it out. It simply says : "Hear, oh Israel, this is the law," and rests confident in the sweet conviction that Israel will hear and obey. In like manner, gentlemen, we have various laws on the statute books directed against the adulteration of foods and food products, special laws against the adulteration of milk and cheese and butter, and other articles, but making no provision for their enforcement. Gentlemen, we have one law on the statute books against adulteration which is enforced, and that is the law directed against fraudulent fertilizers. You have a Department of Agriculture devoted heart and soul to this end; you have inspectors traveling the length and breadth of the State taking samples of fertilizer at every railroad station and in many instances on the farms themselves, and you have a small force of chemists working steadily on the thousands of samples sent out by these inspectors ; you have a law prescribing a minimum per cent, of plant food, below which a fertilizer shall not fall, and you have a Commissioner of Agriculture who publishes the results of all these analyses, so that the comsumer may read for himself and see what he buys. You have, in consequence, one great industry honestly conducted. More than a half million tons 16 of commercial fertilizers have been and will be sold this year in Georgia, and the harvests of corn and cotton and oil and meal, not to mention sirup, will proclaim in the most unanswerable manner the honesty with which that great industry is conducted. The majority of men in all industries are honest, but there are also rogues whom we must watch and expose for the benefit of the honest men and the general public. Gentlemen, you have a State Department of Agriculture which turns into the State Treasury every year from the fertilizer tax $40,000 in excess of the sum required to run it and pay all its expenses. This $40,000 is a special tax, levied on a special class, the farmers, and spent for the benefit of the general public and all classes. Why can not your association, and the Dairymen's Association and the other agricultural associations of the State see to it that a general pure food law is enacted in Georgia, a law drawn both by the chemists who are to execute it as well as legislators who are to pass it, which will give us pure foods for our bodies, as well as pure foods for our soils. Give the Department of Agriculture back a part of the money which it now turns into the State Treasury to aid in the education of the white, brown, black and yellow boys and girls of the State. Give us a little less education of every body's children with this $40,000 of special tax pai 1 by the farmer only, and give us a little more pure food by means of a well-drawn and rigidly-enforced law. This will benefit everybody in general and the farmer in particular, by driving adulterated foods from the market and increasing the demand for pure milk, butter, cheese, sirup, and the other products of the farm. I do not believe in being extreme, nor in driving wholesome foods out of the market simply from prejudice. If a merchant wants to sell a mixture of glucose and cane sirup, let him so brand the compound and put the world on notice what he is selling, and in like manner with oleo margarine or other wholesome but cheap products of the factories. Let every " tub stand on its own bottom." One word more and I am done; you already have the organization in your Department of Agriculture necessary to accomplish all this. Al ready the Department earns more money than is needed to carry out such a law as I have outlined, but it is taken from it and a bare suffici ency doled out to it to carry on its present work. My advice to you, gentlemen, if you want this done and done well, is to model your De partment of Agriculture after that of the United States Department of Agriculture at Washington, and take it out of politics as far as possible. 17 Let your Commissioner of Agriculture be appointed by the Governor just as the Secretary of Agriculture is appointed by the President. Then let the Commissioner of Agriculture appoint his lieutenants, who are to help him execute the laws upon the faithful execution of which so much depends with a view to their fitness for the work to be done, and not with an "eye single" to the result of the next election. That being done make it impossible for him to remove 'those lieutenants from office, ex cept for good and sufficient cause. Gentlemen, I am firm in the con viction that if you can accomplish that you will have done a great and glorious day's work for Georgia. 18 REPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. Atlanta, Ga., June 1,1908. To Hon. 0. B. Stevens, Chairman of the Georgia State Board of Entomology : Sir:--In accordance with your request, I have the honor to submit herein a brief general statement of the work en trusted to me as State Entomologist for the ensuing year to date. The regular annual report giving details of the work cannot be prepared until the end of the year. The marvelous growth of the fruit industry of the State for the past few years, and the consequent increase in the inspection work required by law, precluded the possibility of doing little more than the regular police duties set forth in the regulations of the board. Judging from the sales made by the nurserymen to their Georgia customers, I would say that about 3,000,000 young peach tr ees were planted in this State last season. Although accurate statistics are not at hand, it appears that the acreage in peach trees has doubled since 1898, the year this department was estab lished. The duties devolving upon us have, therefore, been unusually heavy, and our working force has not been suffi cient to cover the field satisfactorily. However, the law has been enforced without any material opposition, and the fruit growers and nurserymen have generally given us hearty cooperation. INSPECTION AND FUMIGATION OF NURSERY STOCK. The extensive planting of orchards during the past few years has been a great stimulus to the nursery business, and the unprecedented demand for peach trees has resulted in the establishment of new nurseries and the enlargement of the old ones. Our list now shows 109 nurseries operated in the State, all of which were inspected at the proper time last fall. Certificates were issued for such as were found appar ently free from dangerous insects and diseases. The San Jose scale was discovered in eight nurseries, and from these 19 the regular certificate was withheld. After the plants found actually bearing scale were destroyed, and the remainder fumigated under our supervision, the owners of the infested nurseries were allowed to dispose of their stock, but not in the open market, and only under such restrictions as to avoid dissemination of the pest. The Crown gall disease was present in a number of nur series on peach and apple trees, more particularly the for mer. The owners were required to withhold from the market all plants visibly affected with this trouble. The Woolly Aphis of the apple was not so prevalent as in former years, and the fumigation now practiced by all the nurserymen of the State overcomes this trouble to a large extent. However, trees so badly affected as to show deforma tion of the roots were discarded as unfit for market. The new requirement of the board that all nursery stock grown in the State must be fumigated was enforced last season. The enforcement of this new regulation was accomplished with very little opposition, but the additional amount of work required was considerable. Fumigation is of un doubted value as a precaution against dissemination of in sects, and, as ruled by the board at its last meeting, this requirement will hereafter be enforced on stock shipped in from outside nurseries. XUBSEKYMEN IX OTHER STATES AXD COUXTRIES DOIHG BUSI NESS IN GEORGIA. The shipments of stock from other States and countries were perhaps greater during last season than any previous year. Upon complying with the inspection regulations 107 outside nurserymen were granted free admission of their stock into the State under the tag system. It was necessaay to refuse the admission of some stock, owing to lack of proper certificates, but, upon the whole, this feature of the board's rules was enforced without material difficulty. INSPECTION AND TREATMENT OE ORCHARDS. The work of inspecting orchards for the San Jose scale and other fruit tree pests has been continued as vigorously 20 as the means at hand would admit. Three deputy inspec tors were employed for about three months last fall, and the sections where the conditions indicated the greatest need for work of this kind were given first attention. The re cent rapid growth of the peach industry in North Georgia has necessitated a large amount of inspection work in that section. As this industry is now so well distributed over the State comparatively little time can be spent in any one county. The natural spread of the San Jose scale from the in fested centers has continued and the inspections have re vealed a number of newly infested orchards. However, treatment has been quite vigorously enforced, and in most cases the pest has been so controlled as to prevent any material damage. Spraying is now generally practiced in the infested areas and the growers that have practiced thorough treatment no longer look upon the scale with such dread as formerly. During the present season the scale has been found in several localities hitherto not known to be infested. These cases were of long standing ; being more or less isolated and confined to small orchards, they had not previously been brought to attention. In two instances where eradi cation was thought possible the infested orchards were destroyed after making a thorough inspection of the neigh boring premises. In most cases, however, extermination is not practicable and the infested premises are being treated under our supervision. EXPEEIMEXTS FOR THE CONTROL OF INSECTS AND DISEASES. Our experiments with remedies for the San Jose scale have been running for several years, and it is our purpose to continue this important work so long as there is promise of gaining additional knowledge concerning the best and most economical treatment of infested orchards. The more recent results of these experiments have been published in bulletins Nos. 4 and 5 of this office, and the growers are kept informed as to the most promising lines of treatment. 21 The lime, salt and sulphur wash has for two years beengiven a very thorough test and the results so far indicate that in the future this wash will play an important part in the treatment of the scale. Spraying with this wash was included in our recommendations for last winter's work and a number of growers adopted it with good results. The oil treatment has been in use in Georgia for five years, and when applied as recommended has, as a rule, given quite satisfactory results. Last season, however, owing to defective spray pumps, unfavorable weather and other adverse conditions, a few growers in the Fort Valley section experienced more or less injury to their trees from the use of oil. This trouble does not appear to be sufficient to condemn the oil treatment, particularly when considered in connection with the fact that numerous orchards in the State have been so treated for several years in succession without injury. In our experiments with the use of oil on peach trees no such injury has ever resulted ; but fearing a possible repetition of this trouble we are now recommending the lime, salt and sulphur wash. These experiments are being carried through the present summer in the hope of developing a much-needed summer remedy for this pest. Results so far show that lime, salt and sulphur can be used with much effect in holding the scale in check until winter applications can be made. The Asiatic lady-bug, imported from China and furnished us last year by the United States Department of Agriculture, is now thriving in our experiment orchard at Marskallville. It is a voracious feeder upon the San Jose scale and appears to be breeding rapidly. We hope to begin distributing it within a few months, but its value as a factor in controlling the San Jose scale in this country is yet uncertain. Last spring further experiments in the treatment of the peach leaf curl disease were made. Bordeaux mixture, the lime, salt and sulphur wash and the lime, bluestone and sulphur wash were used in the tests. Each preparation was entirely effective in preventing the disease, and Bordeaux mixture, the generally accepted remedy, showed no supe 22 riority over the other two. These results are very gratifying in that the treatment of orchards having both scale and leaf curl is simplified. The lime, salt and sulphur wash can be used effectively for both troubles, and this means much to the orchardists of northern Georgia where the leaf-curl disease is so prevalent. Directions for the treatment of this disease were published in bulletin No. 6 of this office which was distributed among the peach-growers in the leaf-curl area. A series of experiments against the Brown Rot of peach is being carried on this season, but it is too early to report results at this time. OTHER INSECTS AND DISEASES. Aside from those mentioned above various insects and diseases affecting fruit trees, nut trees, vegetables and general farm crops have had more or less attention accord ing to their prevalence. Many inquiries pertaining to such troubles have been received and considerable time has been devoted to this feature of the work. conclusion. The fruit-growers and nurserymen of Georgia are, as a rule, wide awake, and the interest that they have taken in the work of this department is very gratifying. By their active support the enforcement of the law and regulations has been made comparatively easjT. In most cases it has only been necessary to point out the troubles and give directions for procedure against them. Compulsory measures have been necessary only in rare cases. In the resignation of my former assistant, Mr. W. F. Fiske, which took effect on March 1, the department lost a valuable man. Mr. Wilmon Newell who was recently appointed by the board to succeed Mr. Fiske is expected to report for duty on June 10. Messrs. A. D. Williams) J. C. Bridwell and G. R. Casey served as deputy inspectors during the fall months of last year, and Mr. Casey has been employed for special work at intervals since. 23 It is scarcely necessary to call attention to the pressing need of additional funds for accomplishing the enormous amount of work now accruing from the rapid development of the horticultural interests of the State. The work now in hand, as outlined above, should be more thoroughly exe cuted and other much needed lines of investigation should be taken up. Respectfully submitted, W. M. SCOTT, State Entomologist.- 24 REPOKT OF A. T. DALLIS, SUPERINTENDENT OF FISHERIES, STATE OF GEORGIA. OCTOBER 1, 1902 TO MAY 31, 1903. LaGrange, Ga., June 17, 1903. Mon. 0. B. Stevens, Commissioner of Agriculture, Atlanta, Ga. : Dear Sir:--Herewith I submit my report as Superinten dent of Fisheries for the months beginning October 1, 1902, and ending May 31, 1903. The work of this department has consisted chiefly of cor respondence with the fish wardens and others in regard to the propagation of fish and the enforcement of the laws re garding this, distributing copies of the fish laws and in per sonal visits. We are glad to report a generally good condition and an increasing number of fish in our waters. The enforcement of the laws protecting fish is largely de pendent on the citizens chosen as fish wardens and the work done by them. Their very presence exerts a good influence, and they are of great usefulness in disseminating informa tion concerning the law. They are the ones most directly interested, and unless they see that the laws regarding fish are observed these laws are often overlooked. It is their duty to encourage the propagation of fish, to circulate liter ature and information, and to prosecute offenders. Reports of all this work are made to this office at various times. We have distributed over the State one hundred and twelve of these wardens. I wish to commend the good work done by these officers. To their efficient efforts and aid a very great deal of the good done is attributable. In this connection, however, I wish again to call attention to the absence of any provision for the payment of these officers for their services when they prosecute an offender to 25 conviction, but no fine is paid. When the sentence sends the defendant to the chaingang directly, or alternately, upon failure to pay a fine, the warden gets no compensation. A great deal of the work done by these wardens is without expectation of remuneration. It would certainly seem just that when they have gone further, and expended labor, time and money in securing the prosecution and conviction of offenders, compensation should be given them. This poor compensation renders it difficult often to secure the men most desirable, though they have sometimes been chosen therefor by their Grand Juries. The men elected decline because they cannot afford to give the time, attention and money necessary and secure no reimbursement. These wardens prove the most potent factors in enforcing the laws and arousing public sentiment. Their compensa tion should be fixed so that we can secure the officers we need. Permitting seines to be dragged over the beds during the spawning season destroys many eggs, catches many matured fish, and seriously hinders the propagation of the fish. At present the only protection during this season is for the land owner to post his land and forbid fishing. In a good many instances this is being done. This is one among several evi dences that there is a growing sentiment in favor of estab lishing a closed season for about sixty days during the time of spawning. As a result of the various efforts of those in connection with this department and others, through the distribution of literature, the prosecution of offenders and otherwise, I find much less complaint of the violation of the laws regarding oysters, terrapins and shad. The expenses of this department are shown by a state ment hereto attached, and aggregates $35.55. Respectfully submitted. A. T. DALLIS, Superintendent of Fisheries, State of Georgia. 26 Expense Account of A. T. Dallis, Superintendent of Fisheries, State ot Georgia, from October 1st, 1902 to and including May 31st, 1903. 1902. October 6th. "" October 7th. Expenses in Atlanta.............................................. Postage.................................................................. Expenses in Macon ............................................... $1.00> 1.14 2.00 " 11th. Expenses in Atlanta.............................................. 1.00. " 13th. Postage ................. 92 November 6th.Expenses, 2 days in Atlanta................................. 2.60 " 10th. Postage.........................................................................75 December 1st. Stationery............................................................. 1.00 " 31st. Postage............................................. 64 1903. January 31st. Postage..................................................................... 104 February 28th. Bottle Glue.....................................................................10 " " Postage.................................................................. 1.22 March 31st. Postage.................................................................. 1.91 April 30th. Postage......................................................................... 1.60 May 14th. Carfare to and fr m Atlanta................................... 4.26 " " Expenses in Atlanta............................................................. 50 " " Postage.......................................................................... .97 May 31st. Office rent, 8 months .................................................. 8.00 Paid Hatton Lovejoy for legal services...................................... 5.00 Total ......................................................................................... $ 35.55 A. T. DALLIS, Supt. of Fisheries, State of Georgia,.