Arkansas State press., 1945-09-21
Miracle lnseciicide
DOT Not a Panacea
New Deadly Bug Killer Has Effective
Use But II Also Has Its Limitations
and Danger When Improperly Used.
EDITORS NOTE This Is guest eolsmn .r;en by Winfield J.
Drdm WNU Stef Correspondent and prepared by Bsn
hsss whose eosmn generally sppen, this space each xeek

0ekes wnose eOswmn xenevest1 Cpl
DOT. much publlcized insectieide
saved thousands Of lives Of our
fighting men and civilians In coun-
tries where our operations were OF.
tended, but II IL not the panacea
that We would like to believe.
The irony Of the story II that Il
was discovered nearly seventy years
ago BY Z German chemist named
Zeidler, but was almost forgotten
until undiscovered during tho pres.
ent war BY Dr.. Paul Muller and DR..
Paul Lauger. These Swiss scien-
lists asserted recently. upon their
arrival In America. that with proper
control. hles, mosquitoes and other
harmful insects can be eliminated
entirely from the United States.
But along with these insects would
- our pollen carrying insects. bees
nd other beneficial friends Of man.
kind. also perhaps our birds and
1sh. Gone also would b. many
plants and trees that depend upon
insects for pollnlxation. Al they
point out II IL job for entomology
6ts, net laymen.
DOT has been made available to
the public In limited amounts. There
win soon be q sufficient supply to
meet every demand. Manufacturers
Of the products, whether In liquid
q powder form are careful to give
complete instructions a. to Its ap-
pNcatlon. which must BE- followed.
Scientists Tell Of
Effective DOT Use
Despite its Inherent toxicity, DOT
IN the desired insecticidal concentra-
tons In air In Of such low order that
4 will not cause injurious effects In
humans, DR.. Paul A. Neal. chief Of
the research section of the division
Of Industrial hygiene of the U. s.
Public Health service has reported.
Il was this knowledge that made 1t
advisable to spray from the air the
Jones Beach area on Long Island,
n. T.. and part Of the city Of Rock
ford, Illinois. In both cases the pur-
pose was to control insects, Jones
beach to kill sand fieas and Rock
ford to kill pollo-carrying flies, be-
lieved to have been the direct cause
for the serious infanile paralysis
outbreak in many sections.
1t. Col. A. l.. Ahnfeldt, q. 8. sur
yeon generals office. after q study
Of results secured In the army, re-
ports: I'm peace time DOT may
well change the destiny Of the
earth's population ;. Our postwar
world will no longer be scourged by
typhus and malaria and other In
sect borne diseases. DDT is not a
cure-al. but in the perpetual war
between humans and disease, DOT
II one Of the most effective weapons
yet discovered by man."
"DDT will be to preventive medl-
cine what Listers discovery of anti
septic was to surgery and should
close the door forever on those
diseases which are companions Of
death dealing insects"
In the field Of agriculture the re-
suits have been far from disappoint-
ing. Remarkable results have been
obtained by some of Its application,
while In others the results were
either negative, incomplete. or Its
use not recommended due to effect
on birds and other insects.
Will Prove Boon To
Hard Worked Farmer
While agricultural use Of DOT
must still be considered In its ex-
detrimental state, reliable and com
plete tests at various state expert
ment stations have proved that 1t Is
the best insecticide now on the mar
ket for the control of the apples
most destructive pest, the cooling
moth.
1t will kill Japanese beetle adults,
while current remedies are based
entirely upon their repeling value.
The grape leafhopper and other
leafhoppers are highly susceptible
to DOT and excellent results have
been obtained with 1t against Orien-
tai fruit moth. 1t also has proved
effective against apple red bug. pear
fhrlps, grape berry moth, fruit tree
leafroller, apple maggot, cherry
maggot and many others.
In California 1t was proved that
DDT was effective against codling
moths In walnut and other orchards.
AT Missouri II was found that q
three percent dust was effective In
controlling blister beetle, squash
bug, white fly, thrlps, sowbugs, corn
earw0rm, Colorado potato beetle,
spotted and striped cucumber
beetles, northern corn rootworm,
pavement ant lace-bugs, leafhop-
pers on grape, flea beetles on egg
plant, and ten percent dust for
reaches, heas, and squash bugs.
The U. S. department OF agrlcul-
ture reported that "DDT insecticides
were found experimentally to be
definitely more effective than those
currently used for control of some
30 pests that attack field crops, man,
livestock and trees. These included
cooling moth, cabbage looper, catal.
pa sphinx, cotton ball-worm, cotton
tiea-hopper, eastern tent caterpillar,
elm bark beetle, green-striped maple
worm, gypsy moth, horn flies on cat
tie. japanese beetle, Lygus and four