J^ NOTE and COMMENT |^« 



INSF.CT Powder. — The people of the United States now 

 u>e about tw(j milHon pounds of insect powder annually. All 

 this is made from the unopened flower-heads of one of our 

 familiar ,i;arden plants, the pink daisy (Pyrcthruiit roscniii) 

 wliich is also known as Clirysaiit/iciiniiii coccinciis and other 

 species of the same genus. TIk- Persian insect p<i\\'dcr is 

 made principalh' from P. rosciiiii, l)ut the Dalmatian powder 

 or buliach is made from Pyrcthniui or C/irysaiithciiiiiiii, 

 cincrariacfoliiiiii. A third species sometimes used in Pyrct/i- 

 niin car licit in. The fact that a powder made from these 

 flowers would destro\- insects has l)een known for a lont( time, 

 hut its u.se in America hei^an only al)out lifty years ago. The 

 l)ulk of the powder is .still produced abroad, but California is 

 now adding to the supply. Since the plant grows readily in 

 UKtst parts of the United States it would be i)ossible to pro- 

 duce our (iwn >u])plies. The manufacture of the powder is 

 ver\- simple. The flow^er heads are collected, (h'ied, and then 

 ground to iIk- yellowish powder witli wliicli most peopk- are 

 bv necessity familiar. lUihach, the name by wiiich the pow- 

 der is often known i> from a Slavonic word, hiiJui, meaning 

 a flea. 



Corn AM) Tin; l\.\i n i- \i.i,. — The yield "t c<>rn in Ohio 

 is \er\- largely (le])endent upon the amount ot rain in June, 

 julv and August. Wdien the lul\- rainfall is less than three 

 inches, the average yield is 30 bushels per acre, wlien it is five 

 inches or more the yield is 38 bushels; which means that these 

 two inches of rain have added 27,300.000 bushels to the corn 



