to meet the fire-ant menace. Responding to a call sent out by County Agent F. K. Agee, scores of Limestone County farmers assembled last Friday morning at the Tanner Schol and conducted an acre-by-acre hunt on "beat 14," a strip of newly infested land south of Athens, Ala. Each mound of fire ants was staked with a red flag as it was found-signaling the location for quick treatment with insecticides. Noteworthy though such examples of local action as the Limestone County case may be, we cannot solve the problem of fire ants without effective Federal action. In my opinion H. R. 3476 and H. R. 5948 and similar measures point the way toward enabling the United States Department of Agriculture to enter upon the necessary cooperative program with the States to combat this menace. I want to urge your committee to expedite consideration and action on the measure now before you to combat the fire ant, and I trust that it will be possible for your full Committee on Agriculture to report out a bill on this subject within the near future. Time is of the greatest essence in getting an effective remedial program underway. This is the season of the year in which insecticides can have their greatest effect in exterminating the fire ant. If we do not take courageous action now and let another year elapse, our farmers and cattlemen will suffer increased damages totaling in the millions of dollars, and this peril will spread to other States and portions of the country. The farmers and cattlemen have already suffered undue hardship due to falling prices and a restricted production. We should not add to their burdens by permitting these insect pests to cause them further damage and loss of property. Let me urge you gentlemen to report out a bill to meet this problem with dispatch and united effort. Mr. ABERNETHY. Thank you for your statement. Our next witness will be Congressman Willis of Louisiana. STATEMENT OF HON. EDWIN E. WILLIS, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE THIRD CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA Mr. WILLIS. The imported fire-ant problem has grown increasingly serious in Louisiana and I cannot urge too strongly that action be taken by the Federal Government to cooperate with the States in combating this menace. As the owner of a farm in Louisiana I am personally familiar with the threat that the fire ant offers to agricultural crops, and the urgent need for a coordinated program to meet the situation. I am most hopeful that something can be worked out during this session of Congress. Certainly the problem is one which calls for prompt relief not only from an agricultural standpoint, but because of other circumstances and dangers involved. In stressing the conditions that have resulted from the depredations of this pest, I would like to insert in the record of these hearings the following telegram from the Governor and commissioner of agricul ture in Louisiana and resolutions adopted by the police juries (governing bodies) of the parishes (counties) of St. Martin, Vermilion, and Lafayette, by the Louisiana Sweet Potato Association, and the board of directors of the St. Landry Parish Cattlemen's Association. (The material referred to is as follows:) Hon. EDWIN E. WILLIS, Member of Congress, House Office Building, Washington, D. C.: BATON ROUGE, LA., January 28, 1957. The imported fire ant is now found in practically all Southeastern States and including Texas. It is now known to exist in some 18 parishes of Louisiana, principally in the southern, southeastern, and southwestern sections of the State. It is continuing to spread and populations are increasing in known infested areas. It is definitely a serious pest to agricultural crops and young animal life. It is also a menace to human health. Any financial assistance from the Federal Government will be appreciated and certainly will be devoted to a worthwhile cause. EARL K. LONG, Governor. S. J. MCCRORY, Commissioner of Agriculture, State of Louisiana. RESOLUTION Whereas the parish of St. Martin is being threatened by the ever-increasing invasion of hordes of what is commonly called the imported fire ant; and Whereas, these ants multiply with an astonishing rapidity and with equal rapidity spread over a large area within one season; and Whereas these ants build large hills, seriously interfering with proper use of our lands, and will kill young calves and lambs, as well as kill fruit, shade, and timber trees and nursery stock; and Whereas it seems evident that unless this ant menace is eliminated, the entire agricultural, dairy, and nursery industry of a great number of parishes now infested by the ants may face bankruptcy; and now, therefore, be it Resolved by the St. Martin Parish Police Jury in regular session convened, That the Governor and the members of the legislature be urged to use every effort possible to have some type of legislation passed at the next session of the Legislature in an effort to curb the ever-increasing menace of fire ants,; Therefore be it Resolved, That copies of this resolution be sent to Hon. Earl K. Long, Governor; Hon. Robert Angelle, speaker of the house; Hon. Rexford McCullough, State senator; Hon. G. A. Ackal, State senator; Hon. Sidney J. McCrory, commissioner of Agriculture; and to the police juries of the surrounding parishes. I, Carroll J. Fuselier, secretary of the St. Martin Parish Police Jury, do hereby certify that the foregoing is a true and correct copy of the resolution adopted by the St. Martin Parish Police Jury in regular session convened on January 2, 1957, at which meeting a quorum was present. Given under my official signature and seal of office, this 8th day of February, 1957. CARROLL J. FUSELIER, Secretary-Treasurer, St. Martin Parish Police Jury. RESOLUTION OF VERMILION PARISH FARM BUREAU, To Members of Congress and Vermilion Parish Legislators: Russell Long, E. E. Willis, T. A. Thompson, Senator Allen J. Ellender, State Senator Clifford Gaspard, State Representative Ferry Clark, and Louisiana Farm Bureau. Whereas during the past 7 years or more the imported fire ants have spread to virtually all sections of Vermilion Parish and the State of Louisiana and is causing severe property damage to crops, pasture, livestock, and is causing discomfort to humans and in many instances the infection caused by their bites require medical attention; and Whereas the presence of the imported fire ants interferes with cotton, and sugarcane laborers; their mounds make is impossible to mow hay or to mow pastures to control weeds; and Whereas the infestation of the imported fire ants appear along public roads, drainage ditches, in the marshes as well as in towns, on agricultural land, and wooded areas and are known to gather into a ball and float on water during floods or heavy rain; and Whereas the imported fire ant is so numerous and are found over such extensive areas and that the mounds are so close together and that the treatment necessary to effectively control this ant is so expensive to individuals due to the nature of the location of the mounds along public roads, canals, etc. and the cost of chemicals recommended to control them is too expensive for individuals to do a good control job; Therefore, we the board of directors of the Vermilin Parish Farm Bureau recommend that a State and Federal program be initiated immediately to take necessary action to put in an effective control program of the imported fire ants with the view to eventually eradicate this destructive pest. RESOLUTION Whereas the parish of Lafayette is being threatened by the ever-increasing invasion of hordes of what is commonly called the imported fire ant; and Whereas these ants multiply with an astonishing rapidity and with equal rapidity spread over a large area within one season; and Whereas these ants build large hills, seriously interfering with proper use of our lands, and will kill young calves and lambs, as well as kill fruit, shade, and timber trees and nursery stock; and Whereas it seems evident that unless this ant menace is eliminated, the entire agricultural, dairy, and nursery industry of a great number of parishes now infested by the ants may face bankruptcy: Now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Lafayette Parish Police Jury in regular session convened, That the Governor and the members of the legislature be urged to use every effort possible to have some type of legislation passed at the next session of the legis lature in an effort to curb the ever-increasing menace of fire ants: Therefore be it Resolved, That copies of this resolution be sent to Hon. Earl K. Long, governor; Hon. Robert Angelle, speaker of the house; Hon. Rexford McCullough, State senator; Hon. G. A. Ackal, State senator; Hon. Sidney J. McCrory, commissioner of agriculture; and to the police juries of the surrounding parishes. I, Mrs. Wilfred Lacy, secretary-treasurer, Lafayette Parish Police Jury do hereby certify that the above is a true and correct copy of a resolution adopted by said jury on January 24, 1957. Mrs. WILFRED LACY, Secretary-Treasurer, Lafayette Parish Police Jury. Congressman EDWIN E. WILLIS, LOUISIANA SWEET POTATO ASSOCIATION, Washington, D. C. DEAR CONGRESSMAN WILLIS : Quoted below is an extract from the minutes of the 20th annual meeting of the Louisiana Sweet Potato Association held on February 23, at Sunset, La. : "Whereas the imported fire ant is presenting a serious threat to the Louisiana sweet potato industry and other agricultural crops, and is spreading fast, and Whereas it is impossible to eradicate the pest on an individual farm basis: Therefore be it "Resolved, That the Louisiana Sweet Potato Association urge immediate consideration of a statewide program for control and/or eradication of the pest, and urge that the State and Federal funds be made available; be it further "Resolved, That a copy of this resolution be forwarded to the Louisiana delegation in Congress." Yours very truly, CLAUDE ARCENEAUX, ERADICATION OF IMPORTED FIRE ANTS (Resolution adopted by board of directors of St. Landry Parish Cattlemen's Association at regular meeting of November 13, 1956) Whereas the imported fire ant has spread to all wards of St. Landry and as time goes by it has become more difficult to control them on an individual basis due to public roads, drainage canals, adjoining properties upon which no attempt has been made to control them; and Whereas fire ant mounds get larger and higher each year and in pastures and hay fields make it difficult to use mowers, shredders or other types of pasture clipping and/or haymaking equipment, and in some cases has damaged such equipment; and Whereas there is danger to new born calves if dropped in close proximity to mounds; and Whereas it has become difficult to keep labor in cotton and sweet potato fields at harvest time because of the fire ants becoming disturbed and attacking persons disturbing mounds; and Whereas the number of mounds are increasing yearly making it more expensive to use control measures; and Whereas attempts by farmers on an individual basis has resulted in reinfestation within 2 years from adjoining properties untreated; and Whereas the program could be worked out perhaps along the same lines of operation as the late tick eradication program: Therefore be it Resolved, After full discussion of the subject above by the board of directors, and upon proper motion duly seconded, the board unanimously recommends: That the State of Louisiana do appropriate (with Federal aid) money to pay all expenses or cost of control or eradication of imported fire ants throughout the State, regardless of where and upon whose property in the State; it is also Resolved, That the United States Department of Agriculture be brought into this program with financial, personnel, and equipment help, and Whereas that this work be done by and under supervision of duly appointed State employees; be it also Resolved, That copies of this resolution be sent to all lawmaking officials of this State, all police juries, civic or business organizations, all agricultural agencies, educational organizations or groups and all others who may be in a position to assist in the program. OPELOUSAS, LA. DALTON J. COMEAUX, Secretary. Mr. ABERNETHY. The committee will now hear from Mr. Selden. STATEMENT OF HON. ARMISTEAD SELDEN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE SIXTH DISTRICT OF ALABAMA Mr. SELDEN. Mr. Chairman, I am appearing this morning in behalf of H. R. 5689 and similar legislation that has been introduced in an effort to give the Department of Agriculture the necessary authority to combat the imported fire ant. This insect pest is spreading at an alarming rate throughout the State of Alabama. As you know, the damage of the fire ant is fourfold: (1) They frequently attack germinating seed and young plants and newborn animals. (2) They build unsightly mounds that can damage farm machinery. (3) They interfere with the harvest of crops. (4) Their sting causes extreme irritation and may result in death. Here are three photographs you may be interested in seeing that shows mounds of the fire ant. These mounds vary in height from approximately 6 inches to nearly 2 feet. The ants themselves range in length from one-eighth inch to one-quarter inch. According to the Department of Agriculture, the imported fire ant is now reported to be in 47 counties in the State of Alabama. The infestation ranges from the southern part of the State to four counties in the northernmost part that have recently reported a few mounds. The total infested acreage in Alabama is over 13 million acres. In order to emphasize the rapidity with which the fire ant has increased in the State of Alabama within the past few years, I call your attention to a feature news item that appeared in the March 14, 1957 issue of the Montgomery Advertiser. The article states that only a few imported fire ant mounds were found at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery 2 or 3 years ago. Now, however, there are more than 150,000 mounds on Maxwell Field. The article further stated that three individuals now are in the base hospital suffering from ant stings. The facts in this newspaper article were supplied by officials at Maxwell Field. Almost one-third of the acreage infested by the fire ant in Alabama is located in the 8 counties of the 6th Congressional District which I have the privilege of representing. As of March, 1957 the affected part of my district totals 3,450,928 A county by county breakdown on this infested acreage is included in the following statistical table. acres. (The table follows:) Status of imported fire ant, 6th Congressional District of Alabama 1 1 Information secured from county agricultural agents of respective counties, Mar. 15, 1957. 2 Agricultural agent of this county would not make an estimate of damage but said that in 1956 fire ants had become a nuisance to a moderate extent and by 1957 had become an extreme nuisance. 3 Not yet severe. Classification of type of land affected in Congressional District 6, Alabama Cultivated.. Open pasture_ Wooded pasture_ Woodland City home premises_. Farm home premises-- Total... NOTE.-Road right-of-ways charged to type of land adjoining. Acres 629, 350 590, 290 426, 868 1,780, 970 11, 750 11, 700 3, 450, 928 All county agents of the eight counties of the Sixth Congressional District stated just last week that pastureland grazing has been reduced and that in many fields cloverseed cannot be harvested because of the prevalence of the ant mounds. Information was supplied that the wheat crop in Chilton County is so badly infested that workers may refuse to go into the fields to |