15 



This poison is best applied with a rather powerful force-pump, using 

 a very fiue spray, otherwise the vegetation will blister and much of 

 the fluid be wasted by falling upon the ground. The finer the spray 

 the more evenly the poison can be distributed, and hence a correspond- 

 ingly better result will ensue. Where comparatively large areas are to 

 be poisoned the best plan is to have two or more barrels, or, what is 

 better still, a tank holding a hundred or more gallons of the poisoned 

 water, mounted upon a wagon and drawn through the field with a team 

 of horses or oxen. Always poison by going against the wind instead of 

 with it, otherwise there is danger of poisoning both the team and the 

 persons operating the pump. It should also be remembered that a 

 muzzled beast is less liable to eat the poisoned vegetation than one 

 without a muzzle. Again, poisoning should be done only upon such 

 grounds as are never grazed, or over which stock is not permitted to 

 run. Poisoning can only be done with safety in regions where fields 

 are fenced, and upon such vegetation as will not afterwards be used as 

 food for animals or man. While rains may wash oft' most of the poison 

 from weeds, they never can do this from grasses and grains where the 

 blades are fastened to the stem in such a manner as to catch all the 

 rain which falls upon them and carry it to the body of the plant. 



Paris green is used diluted with wheat flour or wood ashes, and ap- 

 plied by dusting it upon the vegetation by means of a fine meal-sieve. 

 The proportions giving the best results as stated to me were 12 ounces 

 of the green to about 20 pounds of flour. Some add one pound of very 

 finely-powdered resin, which they claim acts as a sort of glue, causing 

 the material to adhere to the vegetation. Great caution is also neces- 

 sary in using this poison, both in its application and afterward in 

 keeping stock away from the vegetation to which it has been applied. 

 The best time for applying this remedy is in the morning while the dew 

 is still on the vegetation and before the^wind arises. While a few of 

 the planters in the vicinity of Washington and Navasota seemed to 

 think this remedy superior to the arsenic, I did not find it so upon 

 Mr. Flewellen's plantation, where it was tested several times. Where- 

 ever used, it is true, the hoppers disappeared, but an examination re- 

 vealed but few dead ones upon the ground. My opinion is that they 

 only moved to other localities where the poison was not put. This 1 am 

 pretty certain of, for frequently large numbers of the larvae were ob- 

 served adjacent to such localities one day where there had been none 

 the day before. Vegetation also suffered from the effect of the poison. 



In using poisons I would recommend the spray rather than the dry 

 application. The sirup or molasses adds to the efficacy of this latter 

 by enticing the hoppers to eat, since they are exceedingly fond of 

 sweets. Poisoning is undoubtedly a good remedy against locusts and 

 other injurious insects in countries where every field is fenced and 

 where no stock is permitted to roam about. Where there are no fences, 

 however, and stock roams at will over fields and along roadsides, its use 



