Show chemical gases to kill ir 71 pe pests ats chemical warfare service cooperates with agricultural and interior departments WAR ON RODENT AND INSECT artillery against the boll weevil and other pests hoped for research work since the war has been fruitful washington the war department lias has recently asked tile the secretary of agriculture and the secretary ot of the interior to operate cooperate co with fill the chem chemical leal warfare sen s en ice fee of the army in devising pence tinto timo gases to com coin 1 bat the bolt weevil find and other civic clel fin and Indu industrial pests it Is the belief of the army that so ninny many new chemical gases and other chemical products have been developed us its a result of 0 research work since the lie war that at last the government Is in a position to extend the hope that it may be able not only to exterminate the rodents that infest the disease breeding quarters of cities but be able its as well to cope with and destroy the rodents and insects that destroy the agricultural crops the developments of war must be the hp implements of pence according to brigadier general amos A fries chief of chemical caf mical warfare of the army accordingly the chemical warfare service has begun a campaign to develop gases that will attack find and exterminate not only the rats that infest sewers but the bugs and worms that eat up the leaves and fruits of various agricultural products blackbirds a pest at present the army Is 1 working on ft request from representative philip D swing of imperial valley california in tile the hope of finding something that will exterminate the blackbird pest in that community congressman swing was a recent vill visitor tor at the edgewood Ed sewood arsenal at edgewood Edg maryland where the chemical warfare gas research Is being carried on lie he had already asked the government to devise some preventive against the blackbirds he complained that the lie blackbirds bred in in the delta of the colorado river just below the grand canyon and came over in midsummer mid summer to devastate the kaflik corn fields sowed bowed by the farmers of the famous imperial valley As if result of tits ills visit he was assured that the chemical warfare service could devise a poison that would bould kill some of the birds and drive off the others ile he was told however that to use it the farmers would have to content themselves alth ith using their products for food and fodder alone ns as the chemicals would mould destroy the re seeding value of the fruit in response sp olise the congressman pointed out that as things stand the farmers get neither food nor feed mr air swing was assured that the government would undertake a I 1 new series of experiments to attempt to develop something that would both protect the grain and its re seeding qualities the c effectiveness ol of chemical warfare against rodents had already heen been proven the army recently sent a group of experts to cuba with chemicals and instruments for destroying rats and other vermin the result of their efforts Is reported to have been most satisfactory come from coal tar many of the chemicals used by the go governments synthetic chemists in making up the formulas torin ulas tor for wiping willing out these nuisances come from basic products developed from coal tar it Is because of the importance of tills product lit in chemical warfare that hat the government Is inclined d to encourage the new american dyes industry which has grown up in this country since the war prior to the war practically till nil ot of the aniline dyes were german made pro products ducts the german gel mail research chemists had the secret formulas nee fenry to develop such products tind find there was tio no industry in the united states able to cope with them equally in addition to the SD of the dye industry to the tha first products byproducts by that go to make up both belligerent and pence time chemical warfare the government Is greatly dependent upon the personnel of the lye factories and other such industries for its wartime war time personnel in war time as well as in III pence peace it Is a question not only of getting chemists who enn can master such problems of compost composition fon but also of getting trained labor that can handle tile hie great manufacturing processes it has been an experience of f the government as well its as of commercial industries that in chemical work trained labor can save what are some times dangerous losses of material and in addition can make practical suggestions to tile the chemists that they never before had thought of the present plans of tile the war department part ment tire are to get irom the department of agriculture and tile the department of the interior such suggestions as they may care to make on tile peacetime work to be done against rodents and pests and then turn the wartime war time fline forces of the array army to work against thorn them both the agriculture and interior departments are working g on the new problems and efforts are being made to get from the farmers of the country and from the heads lieada of city governments suggestions as to the best problems against which to use the new chemical developments |