1900 
THE KUKAJL nkw-yorker: 
275 
Events of the Week. 
DOMESTIC.—Three children were burned to death in a 
fire which destroyed a farmhouse near Providence, R. I., 
March 29. . . . Laborers in California are alarmed by 
the increasing number of Japanese immigrants. . . . 
The Columbia Theatre, Chicago, was burned March 30; 
loss $190,000. . . . Two firemen were killed by falling walls 
in a fire which destroyed the high school atOwosso, Mich., 
April 1; money loss $125,000. ... At Kansas City, Mo., 
March 31, John Hayslip, convicted of murdering his wife 
and another woman, was sentenced to 90 years in the 
penitentiary. ... At Rochester, N. Y., April 31, a 
woman drowned herself and her two little children be¬ 
cause she was unable to procure food, and to pay a gro¬ 
cery bill of $1.06. . . . The temperance people of 
Aurora, Ill., have a plan to place $35,000, the amount col¬ 
lected annually for saloon licenses, in the city treasury, 
and to close the saloons. ... A powder house belong¬ 
ing to the Erie Railroad exploded at Otisville, N. Y., April 
1, injuring two men; it was caused by a fire built in the 
powder house to thaw out dynamite. ... As a protest 
against high toll 150 masked men blew up two toll bridges 
and burned the toll houses on the Logansport and Bur¬ 
lington pike, near Burlington, Ind., April 4. . . . Muni¬ 
cipal elections April 3 were favorable to the Democrats in 
Missouri. In Kansas the Republicans were generally 
successful, and this party showed gains in Nebraska, 
several Democratic strongholds electing Republicans. 
The greatest number of towns voted for license. ... A 
big fire in Kansas City, Mo., April 4, destroyed the Con¬ 
vention Hall, in which the Democratic National Conven¬ 
tion was to have been held July 4. The total loss, includ¬ 
ing the Convention Hall, one church, one school, and a 
number of other buildings, amounts to $100,000. . . . 
April 4 much comment was caused by Admiral Dewey’s 
announcement that he is a candidate for the Presidency. 
He did not announce any party affiliations, desiring elec¬ 
tion on the ground of personal popularity. 
CONGRESS.—It is decided that the War Revenue tax 
will not be removed at present, although the internal rev¬ 
enue estimates for this year promise a surplus of $54,000,- 
000. . . . The Fortifications Appropriation bill was 
passed March 31; it calls for $7,093,488. . . . Secretary 
Gage has submitted to the House a request for $200,000 to 
prevent the introduction and spread of epidemic diseases. 
This is rendered necessary by the appearance of plague 
at San Francisco, and the fear of early arrival of yellow 
fever in the South. . . . The House refused to pass the 
Pennsylvania bill asking for $3,000,000 for damages by Con¬ 
federate soldiers during the Civil War. . . . April 3 the 
Senate passed the Puerto Rico bill, the vote being 40 to 
31. Seven Republicans voted against it. 
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.—March 24 the Honolulu Board 
of Health decided that the plague had practically run its 
course. No new cases had appeared for over a week, and 
the quarantine regulations will be rescinded except as 
applying to Asiatic ports. 
CUBA.—Since Secretary Root's recent visit to Cuba the 
War Department has decided not to reduce the military 
force in the Island, and the present strength will be 
maintained. . . . American colonists are warned by the 
War Department against flocking into Cuba without re¬ 
sources. Many who have gone to alleged “colonies,” 
boomed by unscrupulous promoters, are suffering great 
hardships. 
PHILIPPINES.—The recently-completed census of 
Manila shows the city to be in a very unhealthy state. 
Bubonic plague, beri-beri and smallpox are now epidemic. 
The towns along the coast between Manila and Dagupan 
are full of smallpox, and Gen. Bell’s volunteers, the 
Thirty-sixth, are suffering from it. . . . General Bates 
has occupied four towns on the Island of Mindanao. In¬ 
surgent atrocities continue in Cagayan and Camarines 
Provinces, Spanish, Chinamen and natives being mur- 
dered. . . . Since January 1, 124 fights have been re¬ 
ported; casualties, three officers and 78 enlisted men 
killed, 13 officers and 151 men wounded. A number of 
important insurgent officers have surrendered, and the 
situation is becoming more pacific. Commercial condi¬ 
tions in Manila are very unsettled, and demand attention. 
GENERAL FOREIGN NEWS.—A unanimous decision 
in the Delagoa Bay Railway arbitration condemns Por¬ 
tugal to pay to the United States and Great Britain, 
jointly, $3,062,800 in addition to $140,000 paid in 1890. Inter¬ 
est at five per cent is added from June 25, 1899. The 
money goes to the bondholders and other creditors of the 
road, who shall adopt a scale for its distribution. The 
costs of arbitration are to be borne equally by the three 
parties to the suit. . . . Disastrous floods occurred re¬ 
cently in Uruguay, causing great destruction of cattle 
and wheat. . . . Great naphtha springs have been lo¬ 
cated in the Khirghiz Steppe on the eastern shore of 
the Caspian Sea, said to be equal to the best American 
naphtha. . . . Queen Victoria arrived in Ireland April 
3, to make a two weeks’ visit. Her last visit to Ireland 
was made with her husband, 39 years ago, shortly before 
the death of the Prince Consort. . . . March 31 the 
British suffered a severe check at Bushman’s Kop, about 
24 miles from Bloemfontein. A convoy fell into a Boer 
ambush losing seven guns and 350 men, this list includ¬ 
ing killed, wounded and missing. . . . April 4 an at¬ 
tempt was made to assassinate the Prince of Wales in 
a railway station at Brussels. The would-be assassin 
fired two shots at him, neither taking effect; he is a tin¬ 
smith of 16, said to be a socialist. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—Bridgeton, N. J., has made an 
appropriation for an expert meat and milk inspector. 
Deaths from tuberculosis in this town, are said to be 40 
per cent, instead of the normal seven per cent, and this 
high percentage is attributed to unwholesome meat and 
milk. 
The Porte has informed the American Legation at Con¬ 
stantinople that in future the importation of American 
pork will be prohibited. Our exports to that country 
were very small, owing to the Mohammedan prejudice 
against pork. 
Cattle ranches in Kansas are suffering so much from 
the ravages of prairie dogs that the stockmen have asked 
for State aid in destroying the pests. It is said that in 
the southern part of Logan County the ranches could 
support many more cattle if it were not for the prairie 
dogs, which increase in numbers every year. 
In Philadelphia, Pa., two assistant milk inspectors were 
arrested March 31 for blackmailing a dairyman. They se¬ 
cured samples of milk for an analysis, told the milkman 
that it was impure, and then offered to suppress the evi¬ 
dence on payment of $25. The milkman had to sell a 
cow to get the money, but he told a policeman of the 
transaction, and gave the blackmailers marked bills, 
which form part of the evidence against them. It is 
thought that the same scheme has been worked on other 
milkmen. 
The coming census of live stock will undertake three 
new features—classification by age and partly by sex and 
use, a count of purebred animals, and an enumeration of 
stock not on farms and ranges, these last amounting to 
several millions. The age classification was undertaken 
in response to a demand of the stock men, who felt that 
the mere enumeration of animals, regardless of age and 
use, was about as valueless as a count of inhabitants 
without distinction of age, sex, color, and occupation. 
They expressed a desire to secure a basis for calculating 
the approximate number of live stock and the productive 
capacity of the entire mass of cattle or sheep. 
F. F. Merceron, of Catawissa, Pa., originator of the 
Gladstone strawberry, died recently, aged 86. 
SUBSTITUTES FOR PARIS-GREEN. 
Straightforward Talk About Them. 
CONCERNING PARIS-GREEN.—A 40-page bulletin 
(No. 126) from the California Experiment Station on 
Paris-green for the Codling-moth deduces that “the 
fact is nevertheless easily demonstrated that but little 
of the Paris-green on the market is really a satisfac¬ 
tory article for spraying purposes." The results ob¬ 
tained from chemical analyses and experimental tests 
at the Geneva and Cornell Experiment Stations, as re¬ 
cently published in Bulletins 165 (Geneva) and 1.77 
(Cornell), indicate that the above statement will not 
hold true in New York State. The Geneva bulletin 
states that “in general, it may be said that the results 
of our work indicate a very satisfactory condition as 
to the purity of the Paris-green in the market. They 
do not justify the widespread belief that Paris-green 
is extensively and seriously adulterated;” 24 sam¬ 
ples of Paris-green collected at random in the State 
were analyzed in accordance with the New York law, 
which requires that it “shall contain at least 50 per 
centum of arsenious oxide.” The New York law is 
very defective, in that it does not define Paris-green; 
it does not consider the amount of copper oxide, and 
it does not stipulate that practically all of the arsenic 
must be in an insoluble form, so as not to burn the 
foliage. White arsenic, which is found to be the chief 
adulterant of Paris-green in New York State, is com¬ 
paratively cheap, and it thus enables a manufacturer 
easily to bring his product up to the standard now 
required by the State law. Probably much more 
Paris-green is made in New York than in any other 
State, and all the leading manufacturers have been 
given certificates of the purity of their product, as 
shown by the analyses of the State chemists. From 
the above facts, I think the demand for cheap substi¬ 
tutes for Paris-green has arisen, not so much because 
the article gave unsatisfactory results or was being 
largely adulterated, but because of its high price, 
especially when the workers were in a trust or com¬ 
bine. 
CHEAPER SUBSTITUTES.—Several substitutes 
have been made by the manufacturers of Paris-green. 
A few years ago a green arsenite was put on the mar¬ 
ket, and after being tested at Washington, at the 
Geneva Station, and by others, it was found to be 
superior in some respects to Paris-green, equally as 
effective, and it cost a third less. Many have used 
this green arsenite upon the strong recommendations 
of entomologists. I recommended it recently at the 
meeting of our New York Horticultural Societies 'in 
Rochester and New York. But I have recently re¬ 
ceived word from the manufacturers of it that they 
changed the name to Green Arsenoid last year. Then 
I am confronted by the fact that last year a green 
arsenoid was analyzed by the California and Cornell 
Stations, and it was found to contain over eight per 
cent of free arsenic, thus rendering it unsafe to 
use on foliage; one sample at Cornell contained 
less than four per cent of free arsenic, and was found 
to be otherwise superior to Paris-green. The manu¬ 
facturers now admit that they “sent out some samples 
of arsenoid last season which were not carefully pre¬ 
pared.” Also that they “are now making a green 
arsenoid much bulkier than last season,” and they 
“are also removing to the utmost extent the soluble 
arsenic.” Furthermore, they state that “we will have 
a new set of insecticides out this season.” I think 
this is a very unfortunate condition of affairs. Just 
when we began to feel that we had a good cheap sub¬ 
stitute for Paris-green In the green arsenite, then to 
have its name changed and the stability of its compo¬ 
sition rendered uncertain, is unfortunate, to say the 
least. Farmers and fruit growers are not chemists, 
and they naturally and rightly, too, ask of the ex¬ 
periment stations whether a certain substance is 
safe and advisable to use. In the light of the above 
facts, I must at present refuse to recommend the use 
of green arsenite or green arsenoid. We must have a 
stable product, or dire results will surely follow. I 
would also place White Arsenoid, Pink Arsenoid and 
Laurel Green in the same category with the green 
arsenoid. They either contain too much free arsenic, 
not enough arsenic, or no copper oxide. 
OTHER COMPOUNDS.—Paragrene is another sub¬ 
stitute for Paris-green which has been much adver¬ 
tised during the past year. Some experimental tests 
at Cornell show that the sample used had “equal in¬ 
secticidal value with Paris-green, is about as likely to 
burn the foliage, and remains longer in suspension”; 
the chemical analysis did not change this conclusion, 
as shown in Bulletin 177, and altogether It was con¬ 
sidered an excellent substitute. But the sample 
analyzed by the California Station recently showed 
that nearly one-fourth of it was free or soluble 
arsenic, hence it would burn ioliage severely. Again, 
the Geneva analyses of two samples of Paragrene 
showed that ti.e substance “appeared to be very vari¬ 
able in composition”; there was a variation of nearly 
10 per cent in the arsenious oxide, and one sample was 
below the standard required by our New York law. 
These facts make it unwise for a conscientious worker 
to recommend Paragrene as at present constituted. 
I would not advise anyone at present to invest a cent 
in any arsenoid or in Paragrene until the manufac¬ 
turers demonstrate that they are putting on the mar¬ 
ket a stable compound, and then it must stand the 
tests of careful experiment-station workers for more 
than one season. [We made some extensive tests 
with Paragrene last year, chiefly on potatoes, and 
found it fully equal to Paris-green.— Eds.] 
HOMEMADE INSECTICIDES.—None of the above 
substitutes is less than one-third cheaper than Paris- 
green, but the careful farmer or fruit grower can 
make at home an efficient substitute which will not 
cost one-half as much. White arsenic is the basis for 
nearly all the poisonous insecticides, and it is cheap, 
costing last year only 4% cents per pound in 100- 
pound lots of wholesale dealers in New York City. 
But it is slow.y soluble in water, hence it cannot be 
used safely as an insecticide without chemically com¬ 
bining it with some substance to form an insoluble 
compound. There are two cheap chemicals which can 
thus be used to combine with the white arsenic; they 
are lime and sal soda. The formula when lime is used 
is: One pound white arsenic, two pounds unslake J 
lime, one gallon water. Boil the ingredients for at 
least 40 minutes. This forms an arsenite of lime, 
which may be kept as a stock solution indefinitely in 
a closed vessel. One quart of this stock mixture to 
each barrel of Bordeaux Mixture or of water (to 
which add two pounds of lime), is sufficient for most 
insects. This arsenite of lime settles quickly, and 
will thus need frequent stirring. The formula when 
sal soda is used is: One pound white arsenic, four 
pounds sal soda, one gallon water. Boil together 
until all is dissolved, or a clear solution results. Use 
this stock solution in the same manner as described 
above for the arsenite of lime. If care is used in the 
making of these cheap stock poisons, and they are 
carefully handled and kept out of harm’s way, they 
can be depended upon to take the place of Paris- 
green, so far as killing biting insects is concerned. 
They lack, however, the copper ingredient, which 
gives slight fungicidal properties to Paris-green, and 
the warning green color; a little cheap green dyestuff 
added to the stock solutions will largely overcome 
the latter objection. 
As to the effectiveness of these cheap substitutes, 
there can be no further question. Several of New 
York’s leading fruit growers have used both the 
arsenite of lime and the arsenite of soda for one or 
more seasons, and all are unanimous in their praise. 
Some report that they are more effective than Paris- 
green. Their making, however, should never be left 
to careless hands. White arsenic is a dangerous poi¬ 
son. But there is no reason why intelligent and 
careful agriculturists should not make these cheap 
substitutes at home, and thus have for use a stable 
and efficient insecticide of known composition. To 
those who do not care to take the trouble to make 
these cheap mixtures, I would recommend that they 
stick to the readymade Paris-green until our manu¬ 
facturers give us a stable Paragrene, Green Arsenoid 
or some other substitute. m. v. slingerland. 
Second-Crop Potatoes.—The R. N.-Y. recently said 
that late potatoes killed down by frost when about half 
grown would not make good seed. My experience is that 
the half-grown tubers, vines killed by frost, make the 
strongest kind of seed. In the Kaw Valley, Kansas, one 
of the few potato districts where the acreage of potatoes 
is greater than all other crops combined, volunteer po¬ 
tatoes, sprung from tubers left in the ground at early dig¬ 
ging, often having made less than half their growth at 
frost, are highly prized for seed. All are planted, down 
to the size of acorns. The yield from volunteer seed, as 
from second-crop seed, is always greater than from first 
crop seed. edwin taylor. 
Kansas. 
R. N.-Y.— This has not been our experienoo with the 
later varieties. 
