﻿OP THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



shape of the ground and the size of the plants. From plans and de- 

 scriptions which have been submitted to me I am not very favorably 

 impressed with the invention. The machine looks cumbersome ; and 

 the work it proposes to do can, I think, be done in a more simple way. 



An excellent spray machine carried on the back after the style of 

 the Gray Sprinkler described in my last report, has been invented by 

 Mr. W. P. Peck, of West Grove, Pa., who kindly sent me one of the 

 machines for trial with the following explanatory remarks: "Like 

 many an other inventor I have found something to do since I thought 

 my invention complete. To apply a liquid to trees there must be 

 force to raise it above the tank. My plan for doing this is to connect 

 the blower with the tank by means of a rubber pipe passing over the 

 left shoulder which creates a pressure of air in the tank. By this 

 means liquid can be raised two or three feet above the head and by 

 the aid of a step-ladder six or eight feet in height we are able to make 

 application to trees 14 or 15 feet from the ground. I have been trying 

 and hoping to discover some plan that would enable me to do without 

 the step-ladder and have delayed sending out any Atomizers until I 

 could do so, but have given it up for the present, and the company 

 have begun to fill orders." 



This atomizer, can of course be used to distribute other liquids 

 than Paris Green water, and to protect other plants than potatoes ; 

 but for use in the potato field it answers an admirable purpose. The 

 tank holds three gallons and there is a simple device at the bottom 

 which by the motion of walking keeps the liquid in agitation and pre- 

 vents the mineral from settling. The liquid issues in so fine a spray 

 that it is scarcely perceptible. 



FURTHER EXPERIENCE WITH PARIS GREEN. 



Last year I discussed the value of this mineral as an insecticide, 

 ^especially in reference to the insect under consideration. So far as 

 past experience, and the facts at that time known, permitted, its infla- 

 ence on the plant, on the soil, and on man either indirectly through 

 the soil or through the plant, was considered ; the conclusion arrived 

 at being that, used with ordinary caution and judgment, it was a val- 

 uable and safe remedy. This had long been the conclusion of practi- 

 cal men in the Mississippi Valley who had used it extensively; but 

 the question was opened again by a paper read by Dr. J. L. LeConte of 

 Philadelphia, before the Mational Academy of Science, which paper, 

 from the theoretical side, strongly condemned the use of the poison 

 for the purposes mentioned, and which naturally attracted considera- 

 ble attention and was harped upon by the manufacturers of ''potato 



