142 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL.84 



and probably came to this county with apple seeds imported from France. It 

 has spread in destructive numbers in orchards in Pennsylvania. 



A destructive scale-insect known as Pulvhmria psidii has recently appeared 

 in Florida and has been widely distributed on nursery stock by one of the leading 

 firms of that State. 



The mango seed weevil has come in very commonly in mango seeds imported 

 for planting the past year. A warning circular has been issued on this insect, 

 and it is to be hoped that it has not escaped in Florida. 



And now a word as to the other pests that are coming in almost daily. 

 Extreme care is taken in the importations of the Department of Agriculture. 

 All such material coming to Washington is thoroughly inspected by officers of 

 the Bureau of Entomology, and, as illustrating what may be brought in by 

 such material, and which in the case of private importers must often escape 

 detection, it may be noted that more than 20 different pests have been intercepted 

 on the importations by the Department, many of them new to this country and 

 with very great possibilities for damage. 



Fake Insecticides and Insecticide Legislation 



It is probable that the condition of affairs with regard to fake or 

 charlatanistic remedies for insects in this country during the last 

 century was no worse than it was in other countries, but it was very 

 bad. There was no governmental control of the sale of compounds 

 for which the most absurd claims were made ; and towards the close 

 of the century even such standard insecticides as Paris green were 

 adulterated and sold as pure and effective. If one runs through the 

 old files of the agricultural and horticultural journals it is easy to 

 find advertisements of mixtures for which the most absurd claims 

 are made. There is a queer quirk in the human mind which accounts 

 for the success of fakers. Thousands upon thousands of dollars go 

 into the pockets of these persons daily in many ways and on account 

 of many claims. The public is swindled with most incredible ease, and 

 in the old days fruit-growers and farmers seemed to be esj^ecially 

 easy to fool. 



No one in the United States wrote about these matters so fre- 

 quently and so forcibly as Benjamin D. Walsh. The two volumes of 

 The Practical Entomologist published in 1865 to 1867 contained 

 many vigorous articles from his })en showing up the absurdity of many 

 remedies which were advocated in the agricultural press. He did not 

 mince words. Some of his articles appeared under the following head- 

 ings : " Popular Remedies for Noxious Insects," " Doctors Differ," 

 "A New Humbug," "Another Humbug," " Universal Remedies," 

 " Entomology Indeed Run Mad," " Doctoring Fruit-Trees Again," 

 "Another Universal Remedy," "A Mass of Mistakes." " More Uni- 

 versal Remedies," " Quacks and Physicians." 



