The progressive farmer and the cotton plant., 1905-01-17
BY b w. KILGoRE,
TALKS ON INSECT PESTS.
xIx.-As to Remedies for Insects.

very destructive it at once calls upon the market
a number of more or less Casually less) effective
patent remedies for its control. Thus I could
name half a dozen preparations which have been
rushed upon the market as remedies for the San
Jose scale, and a number have appeared as RENE
dies for the cotton boil weevil. One man was
quite persistent in writing me, by hand, special
letters explaining the virtue of his remedy for the
boil weevil-and not within 800 miles of the in
tested t~erritoryl One man is said to have had a
preparation which he claimed would be an eff
fective preventive against boil weevil-all you
had to do was to take a brush and paint over the
entire surface of each boil with his preparationl
Perhaps the man (who had probably never seen a
cotton plant) was entirely sincere, but it reminds
me of the "sure cure for potato beetles" which
consisted of two blocks of wood, the insect to be
laid upon one and struck with the other.
The roint 1 wish to make is this: do not trust
to the patent remedy for insect pests; as a rule,
they are not effective enough to be satisfactory,
and if efficient, they cost more than other ma
terials which you can buy in the open market.
There are a number of patent remedies on the
market for killing potato beetles, yet l do not be-
lieve that any of them are as good as paris green;
and paris green is perfectly safe is properly used.
And I am positive that none of these patent RENE
dies can begin to compare with the bordeaux mix
ture and paris Green combination on potatoes.
IF you use the patent remedy In sufficiently large
quantity to get effective protection, the cost Is
more than that of the naris green.
The extensive use of the lime-sulphur-salt wash
for the San Jose scale has called out several
ready-made preparations which are said to con-
tain all the ingredients in a concentrated form
all you have to do is to dilute the material with
water and spray ON the trees. Without exception,
these preparations prove to be less effective than
the true boiled lime-sulphur-salt wash.
Not long ago a moth-catcher" was being
much advertised through this State. Several
times we gave warning to The Progressive Farmer
readers not to buy this apparatus. 1t was adver-
tised to "~exterminate" many of the serious flying
insects. Testimonials, without number, were
quoted, and one would suppose that so far as in
sect pests were concerned, the millennium had
arrived. But what do you see of this much-ad-
v~ertised catcher" now? Its was an old principle,
hashed over into an attractive form, and offered
to a credulous public. and many were "taken in"
Every now and then the report bobs up that
by boring a hole in a tree and plugging it with
sulphur, it will be rendered immune from the at
tacks of insects. Sometimes the report says that
calomel should be used, sometimes salt, blue-stone,
etc. Now some of these materials have a real
value as insecticides when properly prepared and
applied, but any person with the slightest knowl--
edge of plants knows that they cannot be doctored
in that way. Did you ever notice that such views
and beliefs, like farming with the moon, are most
strongly believed In by those of least intelligences
We know of no method of successfully combat
ing insects that does not require some outlay of
time, money, brain and energy, any or all of these
and usually all. The man who is looking for
some magic remedy deserves, and will receive, dis
appointment.
FRANKLIN SHERMAN, JR.
Entomologist Department of Agriculture, Ra-
lninh M g.