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ance when cooked. The Epilachna made its first appearance here about the 25th day 

 of June, and now some belated stragglers are still occasionally met with. The only 

 safe remedy I know of against trie insect is to plant the beans either very early, or 

 very late, here from the 15th of April to the 1st of May, and from the 15th of June to 

 the 10th of July. The beetle does not seem to trouble the very young plants, and is 

 not found after the 1st of August in this locality and latitude. I inclose a few of 

 these frijoles of various coloring, in another envelope; among them a large seeded 

 greenish white sort appears to me to deserve some attention. Last spring I collected 

 about a quart of this peculiar sort by hand-picking them myself from among the 

 others, and will gather quite a large crop from them. It never enters the heads of 

 Mexicans to select seed for planting, and I had to run over perhaps two bushels of 

 beans to pick my quart. I also inclose a specimen of a little striped flea which is very 

 pestiferous here in early summer. It alights in great numbers on various plants, 

 even weeds, and perforates them like sieves. It had, among others, taken a great 

 fancy for my Yosemite Mammoth Bush beans (costing one half a cent a bean) and 

 preyed extensively on them. I used Dalmatian insect powder at first, and after- 

 wards Paris green, with the results s^^^ated. — [John F. Wielandy, Santa F6, N. Mex., 

 July 26, 1-90. 



Rkply.— The inclosed beetle is Systena tceniata Say. It is a common insect and 

 known to work on common plants, particularly the Cvctirhitacece. It is exceedingly 

 variable in coloration, and up to within a very recent time it was divided into sev- 

 eral distinct species. — [August 4, 1890.] 



Adulteration of Paris Green. 



I wish to call the attention of the proper authorities to the adulteration of Paris 

 green which has now become very common in this country. Not knowing exactly to 

 whom to write upon the subject I venture to do so to you, hoping the Department of 

 Agriculture is sufificiently interested in the cotton crop to take note of the matter 

 and call the attention of the proper authorities to the subject. The Paris green sold 

 exclusively in this portion of the South last season was so badly adulterated that in 

 many instances it killed cotton, while in others it had no eftecfc upon the worms, no 

 matter how liberally it was used. In some instances the Paris green was so mixed 

 with very fine wliite sand that I found as much as 7 pounds of sand left iu the dust- 

 ing bag after sifting out tho green in one package of 25 pounds. I do not know 

 what other adulterations are used, but they are something that either do no good 

 or else injure the cotton plant seriously. Now, I know from experience that pure 

 Paris green will not harm cotton, no matter how liberally applied, for I last season 

 obtained a 14-pound can of painters's pure green and sified some of it as an experi- 

 ment on some cotton until the leaves and blossoms were literally covered with it, and 

 not one leaf or blossom was injured. In using adulterated green, from 4 to 5 pounds 

 is required, while of pure green a pound per acre would be sufficient if you could 

 distribute it iu as small a quantity as that. I do not know if there is a law cover- 

 ing the adulteration of this article, but if not, I think something should be done for 

 the protection of the cotton crop, and would suggest that you call the attention of 

 Congressman Charles J. Boatner, of this district, to the matter, and perhaps a bill can 

 be passed regulating the matter. In the event of the appearance of worms this sea- 

 son an immense quantity of Paris green will be required, and it is likely they will 

 come as the crop in the entire valley is late and will be young and tender and easily 

 and quickly destroyed unhss the ravages of the worms can be stopped by the prompt 

 application of the green. If dishonest manufacturers flood the country with an adul- 

 terated article that will not be effective the crop will be destroyed, for only those 

 who have had experience know how rapidly a cotton crop can be eaten up by worms. 

 In my opinion Paris green should be subject to inspection and a strict test, just as 

 many other articles are inspected before going on the market, and a severe penalty 

 should attach to the tampering with or adulteration of the article after it has re- 

 ceived the inspector's stamp. — [Samuel Coulson, Bullitt's Bayou, La., July 9, 1890. 



