Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1883-09-06
REMEDIES FOR INSECTS.

Isssa o thursday each week sa csss IN EssIs ssilaiae
REMEDIES FOR INSECTS.
DIR. Sturtevant, of the State Expert
mcnt Station of New York, writes as
follows In a recent bulletin:
I'VE have found tobacco water q
satisfactory remedy for the cabbage
flea beetle. This is the spry little
black bug, or flea, which is so destruc-
tive to young plants Of cabbage, rad
ish and tnrnip. We find that unless
the tobacco water is made as strong as
IL can be made by soaking tobacco
leaves in cold water il will not avail.
We also found that by sleeping the
tobacco in warm water we obtained
stronger decoction.
sour experience with the striped
bug or cucumber beetle indicates that
tobacco water is of but little avail
with this insect. We also tried placing
corncobs dipped in coal tar among the
vines. As will appear from the re-
suits noted, this noxious substance
apparently drove away the greater
part of the beetles. Thus, we found
twenty-eight beetles on twenty-nine
plants of the squash on which no pre-
ventive had been used, while on forty
two plants about which cobs dipped in
coal tar had been placed we could find
but sixteen beetles. Turpentinc and
kerosine oil used in the same way as
the coal tar gave about parallel results.
"Last season we destroyed the nests
of the tent caterpillar by rubbing with
a swab wetted in turpentine. This
liquid destroys the worms as it touches
them, and it is usually not difficult 10
reach the nests by using a pole of mod
crate length.
"The asphides, which appeared upon
the apple trees in the spring and
threatened the destruction of the en-
tire crop, were destroyed by a timely
rain. These insects can be killed by
an application Of strong solution of
tobacco, and when they appear in
abundance the orchardist must endure
the expense and inconvenience of
sprinkling his trees if he would check
their ravages. The protection of in
sect-eating birds should be considered
duty by all. But whatever remedies
may be applied, the farmer must ever
remember that in dealing with most
insects eternal vigilance is the only
safety"
A correspondent of the Boston
journal, writing on the same subject,
claims that common Dalmatian insect
powder will slaughter the Colorado
potato bug rs cfiectually as Paris
green. II is not so cheap, but cultiva-
tors of home gardens will find the cost
but trifling. Ii may be purchased in
loose bulk for about fifty cents per
pound, and a single pound would be
sufficient for small patch if carefully
applied. IL has, moreover, the advan-
tage of not being a poison, and may
be kept on hand without anxiety.
He says:
"My own method of applying it is
10 use can with perforations like a
pepper box. but larger and fewer. A
less extravagant method would be to
use the powder bellows, but the appli-
cations would then need TO be more
frequent. What remains on the leaves
would not he wasted, for the bug that
orawls through il is doomed. lex
peci equal success with the old-fash-
toned squash bug when he makes his
appearance, but shall not wait 10 re-
port, because 1 wish others to he ex-
perimenting now while potato bugs
are doing their best work. Iwould
suggest TO such that decoction of the
powder in hot water might be effect
i've and economical.
81 trust that this remedy will be
faithfully tried by amateur farmers,
and am not without hope that it win
eventually compete with poisons even
in the hands of large producers. Paris
green loses its poisonous properties
very slowly by exposure to the air,
and its constant use cannot but have
injurious results. A horse eating two
tons of hay from land formerly crop
ped with potatoes must swallow a
quantity of arsenic in the dust adher-
ing lit, possibly enough to have a
cumulative poisonous effect.
"The United States Agricultural
Department is making efforts TO en-
courage pyrethyTm roseum in our
warmer States, and the cost of the
powder will be much reduced.
81 would say, in conclusion, that
this powder viii externinate water
bugs If properly used. The powder
bellows destroys those which il
reaches, but if the powder be placed
where they are compelled TO crawl
through It when crawling from their
hiding places in search of food, none
will escape. Ii applied on the same
principle under the Stats and in the
cast-iron sockets of bcdsteads, no cor
rosiye sublimate or kerosene will be
needed. ! have used it with good sue
cess for small red ants. Possibly 1t
may be of use TO your correspondent
who desires to check black ants, if he
will discover their hiding places and
compel them to crawl through the
powder. The ravaees of carpet moths
may be checked by layer Of powder
on the floor an inch or two from the
edge of The carpet, but the remedy
loses some Of its efficacy before the
carpet is taken up again"
FARM coLT-TRAInIN6.
Farmers i'm general do not realize
how large proportion of the value