The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-08-19
Local Dealers Discuss Use of Paris Green and
 Arsenate of Lead
TONS OF THE POISONS
 RUSHED TO FARMERS
Cotton Raisers Have Been Generally Quick to Act on Appearance of Worm Which Does so
 Much Damage


 crop of cotton worms, indicate that the supply will be sufficient to meet the de- mand and to remove the danger from the worms.
 In the early scare the amount of poisons CT hand was. entirely inadequate, on the whole to the demands for them, but Tn conformance with the warning sent out from the Alabama experiment statlon' preparations have been made in advance for taking care of the cotton-growers when the worm reappears.
 William P Redd of the Grasselli Chem ical company, when asked about the sltu7, ation as to supply and demand, and the effectiveness of the remedies, said: The first appearance of the worm was about August 1, and was principally In west Alabama and north Mississippi. At that time 1t was thought that there was not enough arsenate of lead in the local mar kets to cover the infected territory, ana il was brought In in large quantities, so that the situation was handled very suc- cessfuly. The demand was so great that as much as 10000 pounds of the poison was shipped out per day by express by our company.
 "The Mississippi entomologist agrees with MT. Hines that in the present or fly stage each female fly deposits 300 or more eggs a week. These eggs are matched in about three days, and grown in about 10adays. In the badly infested regions the cotton will be absolutely destroyed un- unless measures are taken to kill the worms.
 Two Poisons Used
 Paris green or arsenate of copper has been used for years to destroy leaf-eating worms of all kinds. But our experience leads us to the conclusion that it Is little too dangerous to the plant to be used. as it causes the leaves of the plant to die and fall off, If too much Is used Farmers report to us that where paris green is used in too large quantities 1t checks the growth of the plant, and no more fruit will appear. Arsenate of lead, on the other hand, which Is the latest perfected remedy, having been in use only since 1J07 does not injure the plants, no matter in what quantity it is put on them. One instance has been reported to us of a farmer who made the mistake Of applying seven pounds to the acre, in stead of three, as recommended by the state entomologist but without particle of injury to the crop. In addition to this advantage, arsenate of lead does not have to be mixed with any other substance for application, while paris green must be mixed with two more pounds of flour. For these reasons arsenate of lead is. pre- ferred by the state entomologist, and 1t would be called for in every case but for the fact that many farmers think that it is still in the experimental stage. It has the same recognized advantages over other poisons that the modern steel blow has over the wooden one.
 "It is impossible to calculate the extent to which the second crop of worms will return, but if they do return in the num- Der predicted, judged by former manifes- tations, the supply of arsenate of lead will be insufficient to cover the infested territory. The territory reported to be infected includes 57 counties in Alabama and 50 in Mississippi. and from this region comes 80 per cent of the cotton grown in the two states. Reports from every sec ton where arsenate of lead has been used indicate that the cotton is safe from fur ther attack, because the poison does not have to be applied more than once. The powder is not washed by the rain, and consequently stays on the plant and de- stroys future worms.
 Quick to Apply Remedy
 MT. Redd does not think that as whole the injury has been great, because the cotton rasers were quick to apply the remedy when the danger first threatened. They knew that they could insure their crops for about 75 cents per acre, and were quick to do so," he said About 900 pounds of arsenate of lead was shipped into infected territory; 10000 acres were dusted and consequently saved. If the worm should become general, the stock of lead arsenate in the United States would not be large enough to sup ply 10 per cent of the acreage. How ever, the weather conditions are favorable to a large return. But since the appear ance of the worm in the counties reported tc be affected has not been general. we believe that it will not become general, and that with the large supply of the roison on hand, we will be able to supply the demand"
 Doster Talks of Paris Green
 James T. Doster of the Doster-N orthing- ton Drug company, wholesalers, stated that the demand with their company had been principally for paris green. When the first scare came" he said, we sold out of paris green in a short time, and could have sold much more. Our usual orders for the poison had been coming in for small lots of a few pounds in quarter pound packages. But orders poured in to us by mail, telephone and by wire from all parts of the state for large quantities of from 100 pounds to carload. Judg- ing by this demand, and relying on the prediction of the state entomologist that. the second crop of worms will appear in d short time, ewe have now put in stock 10 times the amount we ordinarily carry. Should the worm reappear, l think we shall have no trouble in supplying the de- mand. At the present we have in stock and on the road 20 tons of paris green.
 q do not know by personal experience whether paris green or arsenate of lead is tho better remedy. But the demand with us for paris green has been. very much larger than for the other poison. In fact, we have sold only small quantity of ar senate of lead. The farmers in the section of the state in which we deal seem to prefer paris green because they know what it will do
 fn.. q