156 AGRICULTUItAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 



"A HAT-F HOUR'S WORIv TO THE ACRE SAVES THE CROP. 



Directions for use — Take two tablespoonfuls of the poAvder and 

 put it iuto a ten quart pail ; then add three quarts of boiling water. 

 Fill the pail with potatoes cut in small pieces ; then fill the pail with 

 water so as to cover the potatoes, and let stand over night or longer. 

 Just before the potatoes come up, scatter the pieces over the ground. 

 This is enough for one acre. Price 50 cents." 



The millennium in potato raising would certainly be here, if by 

 *'a half hour's labor to the acre" at a cost of "fifty cents" we could 

 "save the crop" from the ravages of the "potato bug." 



If potato beetles would all come out of the ground before the 

 potato tops appear, and could be assembled to partake of the invit- 

 ing feast spread for them, their destruction would be inevitable. 

 But as they prefer not to appear much before early potatoes are up, 

 and continue to emerge for a month or six weeks ; and as thev 

 fly a long way in search of their favorite food and will not eat the 

 tubers when young tops are to be had, there seems to be great diffi- 

 culty in fulfilling the necessary conditions. As it might be diilicult 

 to induce the beetles to change their tastes and habits probably the 

 safest and most economical plan would be to use the cheaper mix- 

 tures of Paris Green and apply them in the ordinary waj^ This 

 insecticide was tried by two parties at Orono without any apparent 

 "substantial benefit," as the usual applications of Paris Green had 

 to be made later in the season. 



RELATIVE COST. 



Hammond's Slug Shot, 100 lbs., 85.00 



Peroxide of Silicates, 100 lbs., 4.00 



London Purple, 2 lbs. 40 cts., 100 lbs. plaster 50 cts = .90 



Paris Green, 3 lbs. 70 cts., 100 lbs. plaster 50 cts. = 1.25 



Paris Green, 2 lbs. 50 cts., 100 lbs plaster 50 cts. = 1.00 



Paris Green, 1 lb. 25 cts., 100 lbs. plaster 50 cts. = .75 



Paris Green, | lb. 15 cts., 100 lbs. plaster 50 cts. = .65 



Hammond's Slug Shot and Peroxide of Silicates will kill insects 

 effectually. It is not a question of efficiency, however, but one of 

 relative cost. For garden use, where only a few pounds are needed, 

 many would prefer to pay a good price for an insecticide than to 

 take the trouble to prepare one. Most farmers, who use considerable 

 quantity, rather bu}' the plaster and Paris Green and mix them, than 

 pay three or four dollars per hundred pounds to have it done for 

 them. 



