Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-05-19
Mistellaueums 8eaaing.
TO DRIVE AWAY MOSQUITOES.
Claimed That Powdered Chrysanthe-
mum Will DO the Trick.

Claimed That Powdered chrysanthe- :
mum Will DO the Trick.
Any chrysanthemums in your back
yard?
And mosquitoes buzzing around the
front porch Of evenings?
Any flies? Any reaches? Any bug
gy bugs?
Gather a handful Of the opening
chrysanthemum buds-of course you'll
have to wait while to do this-grind
them into a powder, and see If that
powder won't drive the pests away.
The agricultural department is con-
Quoting some experiments in Washing
ton with a peculiar species Of chrysan-
themums which grows on the far off
shores Of the Mediterranean and from
which the Persian insect powder Of
commerce has been made almost ever
since old Father Noah went down to
the sea in his ship.
Indeed, he may have had some Of
the powder on board the Ark to render
his dogs and cats and other animals
flealess Maybe he used 1t to keep the
mosquitoes out. for history does not
tell us that there were any screens in
those days. Anyhow, he might have
used the powder in these ways. for the
scientific fact does exist that the chrys-
|anthemum bud and flower are the
deadly foe Of insect life.
The chrysanthemum from which this
powder is produced is not, however
the common or garden variety Of ia
panese chrysanthemum grown for its
floral beauty. 1t is the botanical
chrysanthemum, and. while distinctly
related to the Thanksgiving emblem
known so widely throughout the United
States at that season, is a plant with
characteristics all it's own. 1t Is much
smaller, and has a yellow centre and
white petals, and some Of the varieties
of Asia Minor, notably the Pyrethrum
roseum, have petals streaked with a
reddish tinge.
Grown In California.
These plants grow, so far as is
known, in only two parts Of the United
States There Is a large ranch at At
water, Cal, where this variety Of
chrysanthemum is grown. and from
which the mosquito powder is made on
q large scale, for sale throughout the
country. The buds Of the flower are
gathered before they have fully ma
tured, and are ground into n powder,
which Is violent poison for almost
all insects.
Some Of the plants have been trans
planted to the propagating station Of
the department Of agriculture at Ar
lington, Va, where a small bed Of them
had been under cultivation for about
three years. So far as is known, this
is as far north as they will grow, but
Dr. Rodney True, who has been max
ing some Investigations into the sub
ject, said recently that perhaps they
could be grown in the New England
states as far north as Boston, although
he has conducted no tests to prove this.
DR.. True's experiments with the in
sect power obtained from chrysanthe-
NUNS have been confined exclusively
to those plants Of Asiatic origin, and
he frankly said he did not know
whether the buds and flowers Of the
common varieties Of chrysanthemum
as known in this country would pro-
duce the powder. However, anybody
with a hobby for chrysanthemum
culture might make the experiment,
and if successful he could grind
enough powder from his own plants
to keep his bedroom free Of mosqui-
toes all during a hot summer.
At the Arlington station some Of
this powder had been made in hand
mill, and tests to determine whether
it will drive insects away have been
made. 1t cannot be said that any new
discoveries have been made. The pro-
perties and quantities Of the Persian
insect powder-all varieties of which
are made from the plants Of the chry-
santhemum family-have been known
for ages. Their cultivation has been
one Of the industries in Asia Minor
for many generations.
Brought Here In 1881.
AS far back as the spring Of 1881,
the Asiatic plant made its appearance
here. In the spring Of that year Pro-
fessor c. V. Riley, on behalf Of the
United States chronological commits
sion, distributed the seed of the Pyre-
thrum roseum and the Pyrethrum
lcinerarloefolium to q number Of cor
respondents in different parts Of the
country. DR.. Riley himself made ex-
haustive experiments showing the
value of these plants In furnishing a
perfectly effectual insecticide that
can be used against many of the
worst insect pests, without, as he says
| in an agricultural department report
of about that period. danger to man
or beast" 1t is from some OF these
seed that the present big ranch in
California had it's origin.
The secret of the Pyrethrum was
not divulged by the inhabitants of
the region south Of the Caucasus
mountains until the beginning of the
last century, when an Armenian mer-
chant learned that the insect powder
was obtained from the dried and pull
verized howerheads Of a certain va
riety of Pyrethrum growing in what
is now known as the Russian pro-
vince of Transcaucasia.
A son of the merchant began the
manufacture of the powder on large
scale, and now the expectation of
these chrysanthemum fiowers-to call
them rather incorrectly "chrysanthe-
mums"-is one Of the important in
dustries of that part of the world.
The chrysanthemum cinerarioefolium
is known as the Dalmatian insect pow
der plant The chrysanthemum ros-
cum is known as the West Asia plant.
AS early as 1882 a Germantown,
Pa, man into whose hands some of
the seed of the latter plant had fallen
reported that he had grown them sue
Icaccfully and that he believed thew