Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture of the State of Georgia, year ending December 31, 1906

REPORT
OF THE
Commissioner of Agriculture
OF THE
State of Georgia
FOR THE
Year Ending December 31, 1906
T. G. Hudson, Commissioner R. F. Wright, Assistant
Atlanta, Ga. The Franklin-Turner Company
1907

REPORT
OF THE
Commissioner of Agriculture
OF THE
State of Georgia
FOR THE
Year Ending December 31, 1906
T. G. Hudson, Commissioner R. F. Wright, Assistant
Atlanta, Ga. The Franklin-Turner Company
1907

REPORT
To his Excellency, J. M. Terrell, Governor of Georgia.
In compliance with the law I beg leave to submit the follow ing report of the transactions of the Department of Agriculture from January i, 1906, to January i, igoy.'
cnERiCM, force.
The clerical force consists of the following named persons: R. F. Wright, Assistant Commissioner and General Corre spondent; J. F. Johnson, Commissioner's Clerk; J. T. Derry, Shipping and Mailing Clerk; E. F. Williams, 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 par tially affected with contagious diseases, this department has co-operated since the year of 1900 with the United States Government and with the authorities of the States of Ten nessee and North Carolina, looking to the suppression of con tagious diseases caused by the cattle tick.
Under the provisions of the Act just referred to, the sum. of $500.00 was set aside from the fees arising from the inspec tion of fertilizers for the payment of four cattle inspectors for the counties of Rabun, Union, Fannin and Towns. The Com missioner, therefore, has appointed and commissioned four cattle inspectors annually to do this work.
In connection with this work we issued a number of bulle tins, outlining the laws governing the quarantine regulations of this State as a guide not only for the inspector, but also for the people generally. The work of these inspectors has been as faithfully and effectively performed as could be expected under the circumstances.
After my appointment as Commissioner of Agriculture in
(3)

4
August, 1905, in looking over the great advantages and re sources of our grand old State. I was soon convinced that one of the greatest possibilities of North Georgia was her live stock industry. Her rich valley lands, her abundance of pure water, her hills and mountains covered with native grasses, her energetic and progressive people, all go to make this an ideal country for dairying, sheep husbandry and beef cattle business. But I found one great barrier in the way of these industries. The cattle tick, which produce the Texas fever, knocked out the profits of these industries. Therefore, a more determined and, systematic work of tick eradication was neces sary in our State. Hence, I delegated my assistant, Mr. R. F. Wright, and Col. R. J. Redding, Director of the Georgia Ex periment Station at that time, to appear before the national legislators, along with other representative men from other Southern States, with the result that an appropriation of $85,000 was promptly made. Dr. A. J. Payne, of the Bureau of Animal Industry at Washington, was given charge of this work, representing the National Government, and with the hearty co-operation of the State Department of Agriculture this work has progressed very favorably up to date.
The preliminary work consisted of holding mass meetings at the county sites. At these meetings subjects were discussed by tpth the State and national representatives, with a view of enlightening the people of the diseases produced by the cattle tick, methods employed and benefit to be obtained by its eradi cation. Hearty approval met these efforts, and petitions were signed by seven out of eight of the counties visited, and the work has proceeded satisfactorily in most of the counties, with the result that on November 6th there had been inspected in the seven counties 16,480 cattle. Of this number 6,365 cattle were found to be infested with the cattle tick (Boophilus Annulatus). The remaining 10,053 were found upon inspection to be free of infestation, which showed about 60 per cent, of infestation. Of the seven counties, two have laws preventing live stock from running at large, three have partially stock laws, and two without any laws of this nature.
We find the eradication of tick much easier where the stock law obtains.

5
We recommend to the national authorities three counties to to be placed above the quarantine line, after a little over three months' active work, with the result that White, Habersham and Stephens are now above the quarantine line. Union, Towns, and Rabun are also above the line. So much for what has been done.
We now propose to place six more counties above the quar antine line during the year 1907.
In response to our frequent requests for a State veterinary surgeon, a law was enacted by the Legislature of 1905 em powering the Commissioner of Agriculture to employ the serv ices of such a surgeon upon application of the ordinary or the county commissioners of any county under certain restrictions. Under the provisions of this law we have from time to time employed veterinary surgeons in response to calls from almost every section of the State, our expenses for this item being $1,171.15 up to January 1, 1907.
PUBLICATIONS.
The department has sent out through the weekly press-- monthly, with a few exceptions--six columns of printed mat ter, which has been published in about 185 county papers.
We have issued and distributed about 25,000 copies of the Conmiercial Fertilizer Bulletin, No. 43, of the season of 19051906. This bulletin was in the main prepared by our effi cient State Chemist, John M. McCandless, Within its pages are found the tables of analyses of commercial fertilizers sold in the State of Georgia during the season of 1905-1906.
The number of brands on the market for this season is 3,545, as against 3,'329 for the previous year. There are also found in this bulletin letters on agricultural chemistry, fertilizer for mulas for all kinds of crops, feeding formulas, and tables of analyses of commercial fertilizers, etc.
We call especial attention to the report of State Entomolo gist, Prof R. I. Smith; also to those of Dr. W. C. Bryant, State Oil Inspector, and of A. T. Dallis, State Superintendent of Fisheries.

6
REPORT OF STATE OIE INSPECTOR.

State oe Georgia, Department of Fertilizers, Atlanta, Ga., December 31, 1906.

Statement of fertilizer fund for year ending December 31, 1906:

1906.

Dr.

January 1st, to balance ........................................ $ 2,020 61

To amount received from sale of tags.................... 68,365 60

To amount bulk tax .............................................. 190 05

$70,476 26

Cr.

By amount paid for tags...................................... $ 3,512 11

By amount paid vet. surgeon ................................ 1,171

By amount expenses, bottles, corks, labels and

stationery............................................................. 652 13

By amount paid inspector expenses..................... 3,397 36

By amount paid inspectors salaries..................... 22,465 64

By amount paid State Treasurer......................... 30,000 00

By balance on hand.........................

9,377 87

$70,476 26

State OF Georgia, Department of Agriculture.
Atlanta, Ga., June 1, 1907.
Hon. T. G. Hudson, Commissioner of Agriculture, Atlanta, Ga.
Dear Sir : Since my last report there has been paid into the State Treasury, as shown by the Comptroller-General's books, $12,602.15 as fees due the State from the inspection of illu minating oils.

There have been a few violations of the oil law by agents in other States shipping oil to dealers in the border counties by failing to request an inspection of their oils, but in most cases this oil has been caught by our inspectors and held for inspec tion--the shippers and dealers being warned as to violation of the law, and so far as I know the result has been that the offense has never been repeated. I desire to again call your attention to the necessity of amending the oil law by the addi tion of a section requiring that "all oils shipped into the State for illuminating purposes be inspected by a legally authorized inspector, and that a specific gravity test be required."

Yours truly,

W. C. Bryant, State Oil Inspector.

8
REPORT OF STATE CHEMIST.

State of Georgia, Laboratory oe State Chemist. Atlanta, Ga., January i, 1907.

Hon. T. G. Hudson, Commissioner of Agriculture, Atlanta,
Ga.
Dear Sir: Reviewing the work of the laboratory for the past year I have to report that each succeeding year for the last eight years has established a new high record figure for the number of tons of commercial fertilizer inspected in the State, also for the number of new brands put on the market, and by consequence the number of analyses representing these brands. Tags were sold for more than 838,000 tons during the season, and the number of brands rose from 1,352 to 1,917. The great number of analyses required of the small laboratory force compelled us to work much later than usual before we were able to prepare the bulletin, which, in consequence, was later in appearing than ever before, and consequently many complaints were received from different sections of the State, where fertilizer notes had already been paid before the pur chaser of the goods could learn from us what the analysis showed. It is very necessary 'to increase the laboratory force and remedy this state of affairs. For full details of the work accomplished by my department during the past year, expos ures of adulteration in commercial fertilizers, etc., I refer you to Bulletin No. 43 covering the season of 1905-1906.
I have expended in the maintenance of the laboratory the whole of the sum, one thousand dollars, appropriated for that purpose.

Respectfully submitted.

Jno. M. McCandeess, State Chemist.

REPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST OF GEORGIA FOR 1906.
Atlanta, Ga., January 20, 1907.
To T. G. Hudson, Chairman Georgia State Board of Ento mology.
I have the honor, as State Entomologist and Secretary of the Board, to submit herewith a report on the work undertaken and carried out by the members of the State Board of Ento mology for the year 1906.
No changes have been made in the working force of the board, and this fact has been some advantage over past years, when changes have made it difficult to arrange all work to the best advantage. Our regular work, as mentioned in last year's report, about which more will be said in the following pages, has been carried on as usual. Our experimental and research work has, during the past year, been given more attention than formerly. In many respects your Secretary feels that the im portance of the efforts of the State Board of Entomology .is becoming more evident each year, and that the work done by the board is coming to be more and more valuable to the fruit growers and farmers of this State.
An extensive report would be required to give the details of the work of the board, but only a summary of the work is submitted herewith. The different lines of work undertaken by the board during the past year, as well as matters con nected with the management of the office, publications, corre spondence, etc., are mentioned under separate heads in the following paragraphs:
APPROPRIATION POR I906.
During the past year the State Board of Entomology has been run on a total appropriation of $10,503.80. The regular appropriation for the year was $ro,ooo, but in addition to that amount we had $503.82 left over from the appropriation of:

10
1905- Hence we had practically $1,000 more to expend this year than last, and the fact that we used all but two cents of the total amount shows that the money was badly needed. We might even go further and state that the sum of $10,503.82 proved to be inadequate for the needs of the board, as it was necessary to carry over bills amounting to over $200, which will have to be paid out of the appropriation for 1907.
Prom the above statements the reader will understand that the board now needs an annual appropriation of more than $10,000 to properly carry out the work in the future as it has been conducted in the past two years. In the interest of the fruit growers and farmers of the State your Secretary respect fully suggests that the Legislature of ipop be requested to in crease the annual appropriation. To what amount the increase should reach depends on the wishes of the people of Georgia, We are confident that an annual appropriation of $15,000 could be expended to good advantage, as there are several problems confronting the fruit growers and farmers that need careful and painstaking investigation,
publications.
An important feature of the work of the Board of Bntomology is the publication of bulletins and newspaper articles relative to the control of insects and plant diseases. During 1906 four bulletins have been issued covering a. variety of sub jects, as follows:
Bulletin No. 19.--"Spraying to Control Insects and Plant dis eases--Insecticides and Fungicides-- Spray Calendar." March, 8,000 copies.
Bulletin No. 20.--Part I--"Report of the State Entomolo gist for 1905. Part II--Crop Pest Law of Georgia and Regulations of the Board." September, 9,000 copies.
Bulletin No. 21.--"Spraying to Control the San Jose Scale." October, 12,000 copies.
Bulletin No. 22.--"Black Root Disease of Cotton."--A re port on investigations conducted during 1905-1906. December, 10,000 copies.

11
We still have a few thousand of the above bulletins on hand for distribution during the present year. As all the subjects included in the above publications are ones that are of general interest, the numbers now on hand may be used to good ad vantage for distribution among farmers whose names will be obtained within a short time.
In addition to the bulletins, we have sent out the following circulars and special articles in numbers as follows:
February 10.--"Revised Regulations of the Board Relative to Quarantine against the Mexican Boll Wee vil." Sent to all leading newspapers and to transportation companies operating in Geor gia, Texas and Louisiana.
February 14.--"Hessian Fly in North Georgia." Sent to all newspapers in North and Midddle Georgia.
April 24.--"Peach Leaf Curl Disease." Sent to all newspapers in North and Middle Georgia.
July 10.--Circular to all Georgia nurserymen relative to nur sery inspection, and inspection of orchards from which their stock would be taken.
August 1.--"Summary of the Nursery Laws of all the States." 500 copies.
August 1.--"Regulations of the State Board of Entomology Relative to Shipment of Nursery Stock into Georgia from Other States." Sent to nursery men who ship stock into Georgia.
August 27.--"Instructions to Transportation Companies Rela tive to Accepting only Nursery Stock Bearing Proper Certificate of Inspection." 4,000 copies sent to transportation companies in Georgia.
In addition to the above special circulars and articles, over 2,000 circular letters were sent to fruit growers and cotton growers, with blank sheet for list of parties who would be in terested in our bulletins. Our mailing list has been greatly in creased by this means alone.
During the year a number of special papers, in addition to the ones mentioned above, have been furnished Georgia news papers.

12

NURSERY INSPECTION.

Inspection of nurseries was commenced August 6th and con

tinued actively until about November 15th, and a few small nurseries had to be inspected after the latter date. Three men were employed most of the time on nursery inspection. In a

few instances it was necessary to make a second inspection of

nurseries. Ninety-five nurseries were visited and inspected, and of this
number three were found to be out of business. Certificates

were issued to 88 nurserymen, and certificates were withheld

from four nurserymen on account of their failure to comply

with the requirements of the board relative to fumigation or

other matters. Only four nurseries were found infested with the San Jose scale. Of this number three were granted certifi cates after the infested portions of the stock had been cleaned

out, and a second inspection showed the remaining stock to

be apparently free from scale. One nurseryman was refused certificate entirely, as his stock was all in one block and could not be cleaned out sufficiently to pass inspection.

Total number of trees and strawberry plants contained in the

88 nurseries receiving certificates is as follows :

Peach, 1 and 2 years old. ........................................... 993,600

Peach, June buds......................................................... 1,252,250

Pear.................................................................

270,000

Plum............................................................................ 126,420

Cherry.........................................

153,050

Apple, 1, 2 and 3 years old....................................... 1,646,000

Grapes.......................................................................... 86,300

Pecans (over half of this number are seedlings) .... 731,800 Miscellaneous (including poplars, maples and other

shade and ornamentals).......................................... 901,200

Total............................................

6,160,620

Strawberry plants (estimated by growers)............... 1,100,000

Nurserymen outside of Georgia, before selling stock in this

State, are required to file a copy of their nursery inspection

certificate, and also a signed agreement to fumigate all stock shipped into the State. Up to- December 31, 1906, 87 out-of-

13

State nurserymen had complied with our requirements and received Georgia certificates. This is only one less than last year at same date. Three additional out-of-State nurserymen received certificates before January 12, 1907, making in all 90 nurserymen in other States who have prepared to sell nursery stock in Georgia.
ORCHARD INSPECTION.
During the past year orchard inspection has been conducted in the usual manner. More orchards have been inspected than ever before, the total number being 382, containing 2,482,775 trees of all varieties. This shows an increase of 33 orchards over the number inspected last year, and an increase of over 500,000 trees inspected. Inspection of orchards constitutes one of the most useful lines of work undertaken by the board. In a majority of cases the inspections have been made at the request of fruit growers, but in some localities where we had reason to believe that the orchards might be infested with San Jose scale the inspection was made on our own initiative.

ORCHARDS INEESTED WITH SAN JOSE SCARE.

Of the 382 orchards inspected, 137 were found infested with the San Jose scale. The infested orchards contained 882,898 trees. This does not mean that 800,000 trees, or more, were actually infested in the orchards visited, but it does mean that infestation was found in portions of orchards containing the above number of trees. The owners of all such orchards were given instructions regarding the best method of treating the trees to control the scale. In most cases our instructions have been followed, and in those cases where the work has been done thoroughly the scale is in good control.
The different classes of orchard trees inspected, and number of trees of each, are given below :

Apples....................................

55-975

Peaches ..............................................................

2,401,083

Pears...........................................................................

650

Plums.......................................................................... 24,965

Cherries.......................................................................,

102

Total

2,482,775

14
SPECIAL, FEATURES OE ORCHARD INSPECTION.
As mentioned under nursery inspection, the nurserymen are requested to advise us about the orchards from which they would secure buds and grafts. We received requests to inspect 56 orchards of this class. This inspection had to be made be fore June, in order that the nurserymen might known the con dition of the orchards. Among the 56 requests we were able to comply with 43, the remainder not being visited because of lack of sufficient assistance. Only four of the 43 orchards were found infested. To one who understands the past and the present situation, the above report is significant. It shows that the nurserymen are becoming more careful in the selection of orchards, and consequently more careful about keeping their nurseries free from the San Jose scale.
Experiments.
Experimental work during the past year has received more attention than formerly. The work has been confined mainly to six different subjects, namely, brown rot of peaches, peach leaf curl, apple coddling moth, woolly aphis of apple, San Jose scale and black root disease of cotton.
Brown rot of peaches is one of the worst diseases affecting the peach orchard. Much careful work is necessary in order to demonstrate the value of spraying, if, indeed, the spraying method of control is really of value. The result of this ex periment for the first year is reported in the Horticultural Re port for 1906. Spraying proved to prevent brown rot to an extent of fifty per cent, on some plats, but the general result was not entirely favorable. This work will be continued on a more extensive plan in 1907.
Peach leaf curl experiments were started at Adairsville and Mount Airy in November, 1906, and duplicate sprayings will be made in February, 1907. The object of this experiment is to test the comparative value of fall spraying for the leaf curl disease. We already know that spring spraying in February with Bordeaux or lime-sulphur wash will prevent the disease.
Apple coddling moth experiments were started at Cornelia in February, 1906. Remedial measures were tried, but owing

15
to small amount o-f fruit the year previous the insects were not abundant. Consequently the spraying experiment did not give definite results.
Woolly aphis experiments, which were first started in 1905, were continued this past summer at Cornelia. The work has shown the undoubted value of kerosene emulsion at 15 per cent, to 20 per cent, as a treatoent for the root-inhabiting form of this insect. The result of the past two years' work will be published in bulletin form.
Lime-sulphur wash has proved itself to be a good remedy for the San Jose scale, but within the last few years certain soluble oil preparations have been put on the market and widely advertised. Knowing that the fruit growers should learn the true value of these insecticides, we planned extensive spraying experiments at Fort Valley. The first work was done in Oc tober and additional sprayings were made early in December. Duplicate work will be conducted next spring, during Feb ruary. The result of this work will be of great value, and will be reported as soon as the results justify the publication.
Cotton black root disease has been studied during the past two years, and the result of the investigation has now been published as Bulletin No. 22. This investigation has required a considerable portion of Mr. Lewis's time during the past two years. During this period he has grown a large quantity of black root resistant cottonseed that will be distributed to cot ton growers in South Georgia. A few bushels of seed were distributed last year, but now we have on hand about twentyfive bushels that will be sent to cotton growers who have fields affected by the black root disease.
In addition to the principal experiments mentioned above, we have made numerous trips of investigation of insects and diseases of cotton, fruit trees and general farm, crops.
Cotton anthracnose, a disease that caused the loss of thou sands of bales of cotton last year, will receive our attention this coming season. Last fall Mr. Lewis investigated many fields affected by cotton anthracnose, and prepared for starting an experiment this year by collecting seed from the resistant plants in a field at Jackson, Ga.

16
farmers' institute work.
During the past year either myself or A. C. Lewis, assistant entomologist, attended twenty-one institutes between the dates of June 20th and October 3d. At all the meetings we gave talks- relative to the control of insects and plant diseases which attack the crops and orchards in Georgia.
Our attendance at Farmers' Institutes requires a great deal of time, more, indeed, than the number of institutes attended would indicate. This is true because of the fact that consid erable time is lost traveling to and from, the meetings. As the meetings are now arranged the time spent on the road amounts to more than the meetings themselves.
BOLE WEEVIL quarantine.
The Legislature of 1905 passed an amendment to the boll weevil law allowing oats to come into Georgia without restric tion. The quarantine was also raised on all products with the exception of cotton in all forms and com in the husk. In accordance with this amendment the regulations of the board were amended at a meeting held January 26, 1906, and on February 10, 1906, copies of the revised regulations were mailed to all transportation companies in Georgia, Texas and Louisiana, and to all leading newspapers in the States named.
We are endeavoring to keep the transportation companies well informed about the boll weevil quarantine and by their cooperation prevent any boll weevil being shipped into the State. In addition, we investigate all reported cases of boll weevil. Correspondents frequently send in specimens of in sects supposed to be the genuine boll weevil, but up to the present time all the specimens received have proved to be some other insects. At the present time the boll weevil has not been found on the east side of the Mississippi river; still we must be constantly on the lookout for its first appearance in Georgia. Some provision should be made by the Georgia Leg islature whereby the State Board of Entomology might have the pozver to destroy entire cotton fields if the boll weevil is

17
discovered in small areas where there seems an opportunity to exterminate the pest by the prompt destruction of a suffi cient number of fields.

OFFICE AND CORRESPONDENCE.
Each year the people of the State are liecoming better ac quainted with the work of the State Board of Entomology. This fact is evidenced by the letters received asking for infor mation concerning the control of insects and plant diseases.
The mailing list has been increased by one means or another until now it numbers over 6,000 names. When bulletins are published it is necessary to- print large editions to supply the growing demand. During the past year we adopted the plan of sending letters to representative men in the diffemt parts of the State, asking for the names of all parties who would be interested in some particular bulletin. We found that all this cost considerable for postage and time required for ad dressing and mailing letters and bulletins. Still the fact that we were following a plan to- benefit the farmers directly seemed to fully justify the expenditure.

FINANCES.
Expenditure of the appropriation for 1906. To annual appropriation for 1906.......................... $10,000 00 To unexpended balance for 1905.......................... 53

To total appropriation ...................................... $10,503 $2

By salaries and expenses as follows: Salary of State Entomologist, at $1,500 per annum Salary of Assistant Entomologist, at $1,200 per
annum . . ............................................................. Salary of Field Assistant, January 1st to February
20th, forty-three days, at $3 per diem.............. Salary of Field Assistant, February 25th to Decem
ber 31st, at $1,050 per annum.......................... Wages paid Deputy Inspectors.............................. Salary of stenographer ..........................................

1,5 00
1,200 00
129 00
883 73 1,455 00
720 00

18

Traveling expenses State Entomologist .............. Traveling expenses Assistant Entomologist.......... Traveling expenses Field Assistant ...................... Traveling expenses Deputy Inspectors.................. Printing and engraving.......................................... Postage..................................................................... Telegrams................................................................ Office supplies and expenses.................................. Library (including agricultural papers, fruit jour
nals, etc.)............................................................... Laboratory expenses and equipment...................... Field work and experiments.................................. Express,- freight, etc................................................ Expenses board meetings........................................ Stereopticon equipment for Farmers' Institutes . . Monthly talk (paid for the Georgia Department of
Agriculture) ........................................................

521 67 389 37 295 84 737 67 1,096 03 6x7 00
1181 325 92
37 84 101 69 167 23 57 92 39 38 40 72
176 00

$10,503 80

Balance unexpended December 31, 1906..............

02

Respectfully submitted.

$10,503 82
R. I. Smith, State Entomologist.

19
REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT OF FISHERIES.
LaGrange, Ga., December 21, 1906.
To Hon. T. G. Hudson, Commissioner of Agriculture, State of Georgia.
Dear Sir: The Superintendent of Fisheries, for the State of Georgia, herewith presents his annual report for the year 1906. The effort of this department to restock the most favor able waters of our State with fish has only been met with lim ited success. Our citizens have given their aid in maintain ing the closed season and with their future cooperation in the prevention of illegal fishing it is hoped that much good will result. The fish wardens throughout the State are vigilant, but it is obviously impossible to apprehend all violations of the laws, as our waters are so scattered.
It has been found that the establishment of private ponds is disappointing, save under the most favored conditions.
Our coast fishing and oyster business is becoming more ex tended and profitable each year and from that source less com plaint was made this year than heretofore that there were infractions of our laws. During the entire year there has been no request for additional laws and none is recommended by this department.
New laws are confusing and pressure should be brought to bear which will cause those laws already on our statutes to be observed rather than additional legislation.
Enclosed herein marked exhibit "A" is an itemized expense account of this department for the year 1906, the total of which is one hundred and nineteen and 87-100 dollars.
Respectfully submitted.
A. T. Daiais, Superintendent of Fisheries, State of Georgia.