15 
This poison is best applied with a rather powerful force-pump, using 
a very fine 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 off 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 I 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 
