1876. J 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



167 



For The Lancastku Kaumku, 

 INSECT POWDER. 



On the 2(1 instant (Xov., 187(1) my worthy 

 friend, S. S. Kathvon, in-iipo.scil a visit to 

 (Jnarryvllle. Thd wcallier wa.s all tliat conld 

 be {icsired. Arriving at tlie tenniiius of the 

 railn)ad, we stepped out, and off to the near- 

 est wood, abont tlirtM^-tonrtlis of a mile soiitli 

 — I, lookinj; alKHit for botanical novelties, my 

 associate for beetles and insects pMierally. 



Seated on a" stump, I was examining a 

 specimen of the too common While-weed, or 

 Ox-eye Daisy, growinfr in that section, and no 

 doubt introduced from Chester connty. Dr. 

 Darlington says: "This vile intruder is be- 

 coming a great nuisance in our ccnmtry. In 

 some districts the careles.s, sloveidy farmers 

 have iiermitted it to get almost exclusive 

 pos-sessioii of their pasture lield.s— rendering 

 them (luite white, when the plant is in bloom. 

 Cows will occasionally crop a portion of the 

 weed in our pasttn-es ; and I liave heard it 

 alleged that it contributes to the making of 

 good butter ; but my own . observations in- 

 duce me to regard it as utterly worthless. It 

 is propagated rapidly, and is, moreover, ex- 

 ceedingly dillicult to get rid of, when once 

 fully established ; so that one negligent sloven 

 may be the source of a grievous annoyance to 

 a whole community." I have observed this 

 weed in various .sections of our c luuty, as far 

 north as Elizabethtown. 



But having given yini Dr. Darlingtcni's 

 opinion, published in 1847, I will now add the 

 cogitations I had ou that stump, with, a line 

 specimen of the plant in my band, and my 

 friend off digging out gruVis and beetles at 

 some distance. It was simply this : Motani- 

 cally, it is known as a tlirysanthcniiun, l^eu- 

 canthemiun and I'vrethruni —all nalivesof the 

 Old World. This "White-weed Dr. Gray gives 

 the specific name of " Vulgare," orthe'double 

 name of C'hrysantliemuni Leucanthenium. It 

 is clo.soly related and similar to the I'l/rc- 

 (/inoii caoirjoK, of which the celebrated Per- 

 sian powder, for the destruction of insects, is 

 prepared — introduced in Fraix'e IS.M), brought 

 exclusively from districts in Persia and the 

 Caucasus. It is now cultivated. It is stated 

 that the amount of this powder annually usimI 

 in Russia alone is about Mi) tons I .lust tliiidc 

 of it! The jiarts used to make this powder 

 are the dried flower-heads, gathered when ripe, 

 on tine days, and dried by exi)Osure to the sun. 

 In drying they lose about iK) per cent. When 

 perfectly dried they are reduced to powder. 

 The powder should be preserved in sealed ves- 

 sels of glass. The application is either made 

 as a powder or as an infusi'on ; the infusion is 

 deemed the best for destroying insects. The 

 smell seems to attract and stupefy them to 

 death. The jiowder, when used, should be 

 kept dry, or blown with a bellows over vines 

 and plants infested liy aphids, leaf hopper 

 larv;e and the like. 



I have before me a lengthy description of 

 the wonders of this ])owder, by Willomot. It 

 is certainly a good advertisemeiit jiublished in 

 the Technoloyisl ; but given as matter of in- 

 formation, amongother things he says : " The 

 principal insects to which the powder of the 

 Pyrethrum is destructive m.ay be arranged 

 under four classes : Hrst, insects injiuions to 

 agriculture and horticulture ; second, insects 

 obnoxious to man and his habitation ; third, 

 insects destructive to certain substances, as 

 wool, furs, feathers ; and fourth, insects in- 

 jurious to museums of animal and vegetable 

 l)roducts, and collections of natural history." 

 1 shall not follow him in details, about the 

 weevil, bark-V)eetle, wheat-fly, maggots, cocci, 

 aphids, earwigs, spiders, ants, etc., protection 

 of military stores and navy snpi)lies. bakeries, 

 etc. In short, having read this much, the 

 great similarity of the two iilants suggested 

 the question: might not this weed, growing 

 80 profusely, and deemed wliolly worthless 

 with us, have ths sauK; efficacy, under the 

 same preparation and application V Who 

 knows V Will some one test this Ox-eye 

 daisy or White-weed ? I have never ha<l 

 either the energy or bump of aciiuisition to 

 follow up suggestions ; but in one or two 



cases I found others did i)rofit by them, never- 

 theless--and they are welcome. There is no 

 plant growing that is not of use to some of 

 (Jod's creation. The plant referred to is very 

 "showy and rds;/ of cultivation," says <me 

 author. Ves, ratlier easy ; it cultivates itself 

 freely, if simply left alone. I would advise 

 our farmer.s to cut it down befort^ it come« to 

 seed, and keep cutting down until the root is 

 exhausted and dies, as they servo the Canada 

 thistlt; ; or gather some, dry them, make them 

 into powder, and see whether it is better than 

 Paris green for destroying insects. Verily, it 

 is worth making the experiment.— J. Slauffer. 



For The Lancahtkb FAnMKit. 

 VENTILATION. 



It is a pity that " doctors " should disagree 

 on so important a subject. They are indeed 

 of one mind as to the necessity of ventilation 

 — a necessity felt and acknowledged by all who 

 jiossess suflicieut intelligen<^e to know thi^ im- 

 jiortance of resjtiration ; but when they come 

 to tell us liow to ventilate (I mean our dwell- 

 ings, schools and churches) the disagreement 

 begins. To know how to do a thing, is just 

 as important as to know that it ought to be 

 done. To the man who is anxious to secure 

 a sui'ply of good fresh air for himself and his 

 family, it is very perplexing to be told by one 

 "doctor" that the foul air must be removed 

 from the upp(n- part of the room or apartment, 

 and by another just as positively that it must 

 be removed from the lower part of the room, 

 because it will all gather there. What is he 

 going to do about it V Judging from the 

 amount of what has been written on the sub- 

 ject, the question seems to be a ditlicult one. 

 But perhaps it is not as difficult as it seems. 



It is said by some writers on the subject 

 that air once breathed is afterwards unfit for 

 resi>iration, and that the problem simply is to 

 remove the air which has thus become foul, 

 and sui'i'lv its place by that which is fresh and 

 \n\n\ This would no doubt answer the pur- 

 pose admirably, but practically this cannot 

 very well be done ; it scarcely ever is done, 

 becavisp of a peculiar property of gases to 

 which we shall afterwards refer. Nor is it 

 al)solutely necessary. The air always con- 

 tains a certain proportion of carbonic acid, 

 (the gas which makes the respired air impure) 

 and as long as the proportion i.s small, it is 

 compiiratively harmless. As carbonic acid is 

 all the time jioured into a room where a nnm- 

 l)er of persons are present, it follows that un- 

 less this gas can be removed as rapidly as it is 

 introduced, the air will soon become unfit for 

 respiration. This can be done by removing a 

 considerable portion of the air in the room in 

 a contimioiis stream, larger than that of the 

 imjiure air introduced, and letting pure air 

 take its place. 



But where is the air most impure ? From 

 what part of the room oughtit to be withdrawn, 

 and where ought the i)ure air to be introduced ? 

 I hold that so far as the ventilation of a room 

 which contains only a few persons is concern- 

 ed, it makes very little if any difference. One 

 "doctor" says, the carbonic acid is heavier 

 than air, and therefore, the foul air ought to 

 be withdrawn near the floor. The other says, 

 the expired air comes warm from the lungs, 

 is therefore lighter and ri.ses ; hence it must 

 be allowed to escape through the ceiling, or 

 from tlie upiier part of the room. Both over- 

 look one very important consideration, T mean 

 that iiro]H'rty of gases and liquids (most strik- 

 inor in the former,) which we call diffusibilitv. 

 If I take a vessel which contains one cubic 

 inch of carbonic acid, and place it at the 

 bottom of another vessel which contains a 

 cubic foot of conunon air, on opening the 

 smaller vessel, its contents will immediately 

 beiriu to siiread all fhrough the larger, and in 

 a very short time the carbonic acid will be 

 equally diffused thronirh the larger chamber. 

 The same result will follow, no matter what 

 may be the nature, or specific gi-avity of tlie 

 gases employed in the experiment. Were it 

 not for this property of gases, all the carbonic 

 acid in the atmosphere (supposing it to be 



made to have a uniform density from the sur- 

 face of the earth to the top,) would sink to the 

 ground formingalayerabout thirteen feet deep. 

 Next would be a layer of oxygen about one 

 mile deep ; next the nitrogen, about four miles 

 deep. The dill'usibility of the gases, however, 

 makes them mix and si)riad them.selves uui- 

 formly throughout the atmosphere. Oidy in 

 very rare c;uses, where the air is altogether 

 sluggish and large quantities <if imjiure gases 

 an^ present, will they collect at the liottom, as 

 for instance carbonii' acid in wells or in damp 

 cellars where the air is not disturbed for a 

 longtime. Kvery whiff of carbonic acid ex- 

 baled into the air of a room, therefore neither 

 ri.ses to the ceiling (although its first tendency 

 may be upward until it parts with some of its 

 heat) nor sinks to the floor; it is diffused 

 through the whole room, and cannot be re- 

 moved at once. But if there is proiiortionately 

 more carbonic acid in the room than out.side 

 of it, if a window be opened, or if there be an 

 exhausting flue, the excess (iiroviding it accu- 

 mulates not too rapidly) will work its way out. 

 To keep the air reasonably pure, therefore, it 

 is necessary — 1st, to kec)) the air in the room 

 in motion ; 2d, to secure a constant supjily of 

 fresh air in excess of the cpiantity needed for 

 respiration ; ."id, to provide a way of escape 

 for the. foul air. 



Another matter, however, is to be taken 

 into consideration. The air ought not only to 

 be kept pure, but tb(? room must also be kept 

 warm in cold weather. Xow it is unques- 

 tionably the case thai warm air will rise to- 

 wards the ceiling and cold air will sink to- 

 wards the floor. By removing the air above, 

 therefore, the warm air will be taken away, 

 and the cold air will remain in the room. 

 Hence it happens that persons often complain 

 of cold feet, whilst the rest of the body is un- 

 comfortably warm — a condition of things than 

 which nothing can be more injurious. For 

 the sake of comfort, and economy as well, let 

 the impure air, then, be removed below, eitlier 

 by means of an outlet connected with a good 

 smoke flue, or by means of a fan exhauster. 

 In the case of school houses, chiu-ches. public 

 halls, etc., we should consider the latter in- 

 dispensably necessary, as that is the only way 

 in which a sufticient quantity of foul air can 

 be withdrawn to insure an abundant sui)ply 

 of fresh air. Whether tli(> room be heated by 

 means of radiators in the room, or by means 

 of wann air conveyed into it from the cellar, 

 the colder air will always be withdrawn, and 

 thus the room will be comfortable. — J. S. S., 

 Sept. 30, 1876. 



For Thk Lancarter Faumer. 

 BENEFITS DERIVED FROM READING 

 NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES. 



The lienefits resulting to farmers and me- 

 chanics from reading uewspajiers and periodi- 

 cals, was a subject of discussion at the last 

 stated meeting (Oct. 2d.) of the Lanca.ster 

 County Agricultural and Ilorticnlt ural Society. 

 There is, perhaps, more in the printing of pub- 

 lic joumals, and thence in the reading of 

 them, than the majority of the people conceive. 

 Firi^t the collecting and printing of the various 

 items of public news, in the selecting of which 

 great discriminatinir judgment is reqiured; and 

 srrnvd in the careful reading and digesting of 

 the same, by their intelligent patrons. People 

 of all classes and .social conditions seek infor- 

 mation, amusement, and jilaces of pastime 

 and enjoyment: and these, wlien rationally in- 

 dulged in, shoidd not bedenied them: provided 

 such enjoyments and amnsemeTits nm in the 

 right direction — indeed, if they do not, they 

 cannot be resrarded as rational. The enjov- 

 mentof pleasures and cheerful recreations add 

 ffreatly to the common stock of liealth and 

 happiness. 



Children look forward to somethingmore than 

 mere phvsical labor, when they ^rrow up and 

 makechoice of a secular occupation. They look 

 for .social intercourse, for comiiany, for pleas- 

 ant pastimes, news, and the acquisition of 

 general knowledge. The.se legitimate desires 

 are greatly facilitated by the aid of a good. 



