100 IN^JtrEIOUS INSECTS 



thereby avoid accidents. The Paris Green is destructive 

 to the Potato-beetle in both its perfect and larval states, 

 and one pound of the poison, mixed with twenty of pul- 

 verized plaster, or of any common kind of flour, and 

 dusted over the leaves while wet with dew in the morning, 

 or after a shower, will quickly cause the death of all the 

 grubs or perfect insects feeding thereon. 



A duster should be used for applying the poison, and 

 one made of tin, with a perforated bottom, and attached 

 to a handle four or five feet long, will be found a very con- 

 venient implement for this purpose. But the operator 

 should be careful not to allow the compound to blow into 

 his face, or inhale it while at work, it being only neces- 

 sary for him to keep in mind that he is handling a viru- 

 lent poison, and act accordingly. The Green may also be 

 applied by mixing it with water, but as it will not dis- 

 solve, being merely suspended in the liquid, it is neces- 

 sary to frequently agitate the mixture in order to prevent 

 the poison settling to the bottom, as well as to insure its 

 uniform distribution over the leaves. But water is a 

 heavy material to handle, and unless one has the con- 

 veniences for applying it, the dusting process will require 

 the least labor. 



London Purple may be applied in the same way as 

 Paris Green, and will prove equally effective, besides 

 being much cheaper.* With most destructive beetles 

 the larva is alone injurious, but the perfect Colorado- 

 beetle eats as well as its larvae. 



NATURAL ENEMIES. 



There are a number of other insects that aid in keep- 

 ing the Colorado-beetle in check. Active among these is 



»A more detailed history of the Colorado Beetle, as well a« yarions 

 forms of apparatus for distributing Paris Green and other arsenical poi- 

 sons, will be found in " Potato Pests," a speeial treatise by C. V RiK-y, 

 of over one hundred pages.— New York : The Orange Judd Company. 



