The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1872-05-23
The Colorado Poroto Bug.
BY G. S. JENNIs.

As plenty Is this bug was in Cen
tral Ohio, last year, it needs no de
scriptiOn except, perhaps, to say it is
heavy looking, dark eOlOred bug
about the size of mans little fingel
nail, aud will fall over as though
dead when touched. This is the per
feet insect, the one that causes all tn,
mischief, though itself as innocent a.
any lamb. 1t never eats anything
or If il does / have never seen the
effects of il. But It lays nyriads o.
eggs, and thus produces a number o.
raveuOus progeny. You will see
them sitting on the top leaves Of thE
potato vines, and upon looking on
the undeTside of the leaves a lot O
. yellOwish eggs will be discovered.
/ These will hatch out in about five
days, and are then very ravenOus.
They eat right through the leaves,
and are then a speck about the size Oi
the head of a pin. Then is the time
to kill them, before they have done
much harm. Take Paris green, one
T pound, common wheaL flour fifteen
/ pounds, mix thoroughly, and with a
can holding about one quart, with lid
and handle, and having the bottom
I perforated like a common pepper
box lid, sprinkle all the vines where
these young bugs are, as lightly as
I possible, so as to cover the leaves and
especially the center Of the potato
tops, for here, right in the heart OF
the tops, is where these young pests
delight to live and grow.
This must be done i'm the morning
early, so the dew will form a paste
with the -four. Il will stick for sew
eral days. Some object to using
Paris green because it Is poisonous.
This is Just what makes it valuable.
Were it good food it would make the
bugs grow instead of killing them.
Some writer in tO-day's Farmer says
poisonous remedies should be discOur-
aged by every friend of humanity.
If he said by every friend of these
miserable pests, would have agreed
with him at once. I used about five
or six barrels of flour and Paris green
in proportion last year, and have yet
TO see the least deleteriOus effects
from its use. It Is true il must be
handled with care, and when mixed
with flour, not left where domestic
animals will get it. There are aeei-
dents happening with it through
carelessness, so there are with fire
arms, yet no one will contend that
the latter shall not be used by man
when attacked by venOmOus beasts.
Any one, too, that knows anything
about Agricultural Chemistry, knows
that plants take up food from the soil
only in solution with water, indeed it
don't require chemical research to
find this out, for every one knows
that plants will not grow in a soil en-
tirely devoid of moisture. Now any
practical painter or mixer Of paints,
knows that Paris green cannot be
mixed with water, it requires oil.
Then, if Paris green cannot be mixed
with water, and plants only take
their food in solution with water,
hhw can Paris green enter iIitO the
composition Of plants ? Nothing
short of Almighty or nature works
the other way. l find growing round
the stumps in some eOrnfields, not
in mine, thank the mattOek, the
poison ivy which is so poisonous that
some men dare not go near it, espec-
tally when sweating. Near this, and
deriving It's nOurlsnmenL from the
same soil, are healthy corn, good for
food for man or beast So likewise in
the fence corners of some gardens
find the wild parsnip, very poisonous.
Near this, in the. garden beds, are
healthy vegetables, all deriving their
nourishment from the same soil. So
in all nature each plant takes up its
proper food and diseards what is con-
trary to its nature.
Paris green has been used in the
West for years to destroy this pest,
and in almost unlimited quantity, and
in no instance have the least deleter-
ious effects been produced. Here then
we have philosophy, nature and ex-
perienee in favor Of its use, and only
the fears of the careless against it.
Let every ane decide for himself
ton.