Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1912-08-11

the populous company, who brought to light the facts which today consti- tute the very pillars of the Temple of Science.
 It was given to these men to be original investigators in a virgin world, pregnant with astonishing facts, and it was their mission to illuminate the vaster caverns of ths unknown.
 Notwithstanding the fact that these greater areas have been exhaustively explored, no less enthusiasm is be- ing displayed in the lighting up of the minor interstices between the greater objects of investigation. There are today, men of science equipped with all the hard-wrung lore of physics, chemistry and mathe- mathcs who are endlessly gronng about, seeking to uncover that which is hidden and to add their bit to the scientific fabric of the worlds achievement.
 The experts of the United States Department of Agriculture stand in the van of this company and to them is due vast amount of credit for their ability to arouse as much enthu- siasm in the pursuit of a fact, which to the layman, would seem absolutely negligible, as did Christopher Colum- bus efforts to locate a shorter route to Cathay and the Indies. It is this willingness to serve in a cause, the outcome of which will be of interest to few spectacled scientists, which promises an ever increasing store of knowledge to the treasure houses of the earth.
 Take, for instance, the work of H. M. Russell, chronological assistant of the Department of Agriculture, in connection with the running to earth of the Greenhouse Thrips. No gov, ernments hung in the balance await ing the outcome of Mir. Russell's ex- periments; no necks were craned up ward to a bulletin board in anticipa tion of the news that the thrips had been bagged; in fact 1t is more than likely that not more than two per- sons tMr. Russell and his wife) knew the chase was on.
 But when the thrips had been track ed to his liar and thoroughly inyestl- gated, subject was in hand for the writing of treatise, several thous- and words in length on this particu- lar insect. That treatise will be available, in all probability, in every scientific library in the country ana will doubtless be of assistance to many an investigator in the future.
 The thrips has an immediate inter. est to every housewife, even now. It is a microscopic insect which de- stroys ornamental plants such as ruh- Der plants and palms in pots. In every house where there is a potted plant, the thrips abides, unless pre- caution is taken to fight it. It is tn. thrips which caused the white spots to appear on the palm plants and the rubber plants and it brings this state of affais about by eating colors out of the leaves.
 One astonishing thing about the greenhouse thrips is that it has it's origin in this country. In view of the fact that it feeds almost entirely on tropical plant foliage and tropi- cal fruits, the thrips may be consid- cred one of the concomitants of civi- lization. It lives almost exclusively in greenhouses, not being sufficient 1y robust to withstand the rigors of the shifting out-of-door temperatures.
 The thrips is something of gloEe- trotter, too, but it has kept the Unit ed States as base. It has been found as far north as Finland and Russia, in Europe, and as far west as the Hawaiian Islands.
 Some of the products used in the Department of Agriculture to exter- minate this insect are nicotine pap CTS, nicotine, liquids extracts, hydro cyanic-aeid gas, kerosene emulsion and water spray.
 Another peculiar discovery recent ly was made by F. M. Webster, of the. Bureau of Entomology, of the Department of Agriculture. MT. Web careful investigation, has given to the world the intelligence that the Glover Mite is not "really-truly'' insect because the adult clover mite boasts or eight legs, whereas the true in- sect has only six legs.