PARIS GREEN : METHODS OF USING. 27 



twelve of flour, and probably even a less dilution. Other vegetation 

 will show injury to the leaves unless twenty pounds of flour be used, 

 and if desirable to dilute still further for delicate plants, even tliirty 

 pounds of flour to one of pure green will destroy a large proportion of 

 insect pests in their early stage. Plaster of Paris as a diluent has 

 the recommendation of its fertilizing properties where uneaten, and of 

 its much less cost. Fifty pounds of it may be used with one of green. 

 A recent statement announces that with a pound of pure Paris green 

 thoroughly mixed with from 150 to 200 pounds of plaster, "all the 

 bugs or young, as they appear upon the potato vines [probably having 

 reference only to the newly-hatched larva3] are readily destroyed." The 

 mixture should be applied in early morning while the leaves are wet 

 with dew, that it may adhere the better. 



The wet mixture. — When in liquid suspension, for Paris green is 

 insoluble in water, a half pound may be mixed with forty gallons of 

 water. Double this amount of green, or, in ordinary household meas- 

 urement, a tablespoonful (a little over an ounce and a half) in a jmil- 

 ful of water (four gallons) is often used on many plants without in- 

 jury, when more active results are desired. It has been recommended 

 that two or three pounds of flour, first boiled into a paste, be added to 

 the water, or which is more easily done, the flour mixed in a bucketful 

 of water may bo set aside until it sours, to save the trouble of boiling. 

 The liquid application has several advantages over the dry method, 

 as, for example, it is more quickly applied, it gives a more equable dis- 

 tribution, it obviates the danger of inhaling the poison that attends 

 its scattering in the air, and by aid of proper appliances, it can be ad- 

 vantageously used in the protection of our fruit-trees. 



Application of the Powder. — The most simple mode is to tie a 

 muslin bag containing the2)owder to theend of a stick, and to shakcit 

 over the plants. A better method, however, and the one usually 

 adopted, is that of a tin box of a convenient size with a cover and hav- 

 ing the bottom finely perforated, or covered with wire gauze — the box 

 to be fastened to a stick about three feet long. 

 With this a person can walk along the plants to 

 be dusted, and by gently striking the handle with 

 another small stick, the powder can be uniformly 

 distributed with the greatest care. Boxes made 

 for this purpose and ready for convenient use, 

 similar to that shown in Fig. G, are to be pur- 

 chased in our cities and in most of our larger 

 towns. In applying the powder, care should be 

 taken to keep to the windward of the plants to be 

 Fig! r,."'Di;sTiNGBox,for dusted that it may not be breathed. For poison- 

 Paris green, ing entire fields, numerous other contrivances 

 have been devised and patented, which may be propelled on wheels. 



