1014. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
83 9 
DRY POISONS FOR COTTON WORMS. 
[As most of our readers know, arsenate* of lead is 
now produced and sold in a dry or powdered form, and 
has been offered as a substitute for Paris green. Cer¬ 
tain manufacturers of Paris green have stated that tie- 
dry arsenate is a failure as an insecticide, very injurious 
to workmen and dangerous to those who use it in tie- 
field. We have no interest in any such controversy 
except a desire to give our readers the truth, that they 
may safely use their own judgment, We sent to 
chemists, entomologists and practical farmers asking 
for the facts. They all. without exception, agree that 
the dry arsenate is a safe and effective form of poison. 
The following statement from W. E. Hinds, State En¬ 
tomologist of Alabama, is typical.! 
T HE MANUFACTURER’S SIDE.—I have corre¬ 
sponded with several manufacturers of ar¬ 
senate of lead and have talked wth a number 
personally, and all agree in stating that they con¬ 
sider arsenate of lead much safer to manufacture 
than is Paris green. It is a general practice among 
insecticide manufacturers to make Paris green only 
during the Winter season, while they can make 
arsenate of lead, either powder or paste, at any 
time of year. Several manufacturers have stated 
to me that in all their experience they have known 
of no single case of serious effects to workmen en¬ 
gaged in the manufacture of arsenate of lead, either 
paste or powder. 
EXPERIENCE OF USERS.—From the stand¬ 
point of the user of the material, I would say that 
in the campaign against the cotton worm in the 
Fall of 1911, more than a million pounds of arseni¬ 
cal poisons were sold for use in Alabama and Mis¬ 
sissippi alone. At least two-tliirds of this material 
was powdered arsenate of lead. Before the end of 
that season very numerous records of the following 
nature had accumulated: Planters would start their 
poisoning work with Paris green, which is generally 
applied as a dust by what is called in the South 
the pole and bug method. In this method of dis¬ 
tribution the common practice is to cut a piece of 
1x4-inch board so that it will be 12 or 15 inches 
longer than the distance at which the rows of cot¬ 
ton are planted. Cut four square blocks of the 
same material. The blocks are nailed at right 
angles on the under side of the board, one at each 
end, and the others about 15 inches in from each 
end. A large hole is bored in each end half way 
between the vertical boards, and through these 
openings the poison is introduced after the appa¬ 
ratus is completed. The bag is formed of common 
sheeting or doubled cheese-cloth usually, and is 
tacked smoothly and tightly alon^ one side of the 
board, stretched around the blocks and fastened to 
the opposite side of the board, thus making a rect¬ 
angular bag with solid wooden top and ends. The 
middle of the board is cut down to a size that can 
be conveniently held in the hands. This outfit is 
usually carried by a workman riding a mule. It is 
jarred by (he movement of the animal in trotting or 
by jarring it on the pommel of the saddle. Occa¬ 
sionally the poles are made long enough to carry 
four bags and treat four rows instead of two. 
Workmen on large plantations work in groups of 
probably several men. Many of them take no pre¬ 
cautions whatever against inhaling the dust, but we 
advise covering the nose and mouth with a hand¬ 
kerchief to reduce or prevent inhalation of the 
material. Powdered arsenate of lead is applied un¬ 
diluted with this outfit. The supply of poison is 
often carried in a wagon at the ends of the rows, 
and a workman there refills the empty bags so that 
the riders may exchange them and continue their 
work without delay. 
DANGER FROM PARIS GREEN.—The writer 
has personal knowledge of many instances in 
which the use of Paris green distributed in this 
manner has produced serious sores upon both work¬ 
men and animals engaged in its distribution. Sores 
are formed especially where perspiration accumu¬ 
lates and chafing occurs, and is undoubtedly due to 
the effect of the accumulation of water soluble 
arsenic in the Paris green. In many cases work¬ 
men became alarmed and refused to continue to 
use Paris green, thus forcing the planters to change 
from Paris green to powdered arsenate of lead as a 
source of poison. 
ARSENATE OF LEAD SAFER.—The writer has 
personally seen the application of powdered arsen¬ 
ate of lead carried on on a large scale, and has in 
his possession photographs of a gang of workmen 
riding at a trot across a cotton field, and the cloud 
of white dust around them could be seen for a 
very long distance, and shows clearly in the photo¬ 
graphs. Even where engaged continuously in this 
work for many days in succession, and with the 
vast quantity of material used in this State in the 
season of 1911, the writer has been unable, even 
with special inquiry, to learn of a single case in 
whh.li a sore was formed on cither workman or ani¬ 
mal. or of any other injurious effects from the use 
of powdered arsenate of lead. 
INSECTICIDAL VALUES.—So far as the insect¬ 
icidal value of the two materials is concerned, it 
has been repeatedly demonstrated that the pow¬ 
dered arsenate of lead protects the cotton plant for 
about three weeks on the average, while with Paris 
green the protection may not last, and usually does 
not last, more than a few days, particularly during 
showery weather. I have known instances where 
five applications of Paris green were made for the 
control of one brood of cotton worms. The arsenate 
of lead costs somewhat more per acre for the poison 
than does Paris green, but beside adhering longer 
and much better to the foliage, it has the addition¬ 
al advantage of not checking the fruiting of the 
plant while Paris green may do so, even though not 
showing apparent burning, and if carelessly distrib¬ 
uted it is very certain to burn and kill many plants 
through its wafer soluble arsenic. 
Alabama Entomologist. w. E. hinds. 
A Day’s Work ; Harvesting and Haying. 
T HE Department of Agriculture has collected figures 
to show how much one man or one horse should ac¬ 
complish at handling hay or grain crops. The 
following statistics are supposed to give what is 
called a normal day’s work. At harvesting grain with 
a tender or header the net hours in the field for one 
day averaged 10^ hours: 
Width of Number of Harvested 
JUipirlU' III) Iiumuo gnoo- 
IMPLEMENT Feet rally used Acres 
Grain binder . 5 3 9.20 
0 3 10.90 
7 4 15.24 
S 4 18.19 
Grain header . 10 0 24.18 
12 0 28.50 
14 0 28.40 
At shocking grain the following figures were worked 
out—a “day” representing 9.91 hours. 
Shocked per day 
yield ter acre Acres 
1 to 20 bushels. 10.09 
21 to 40 bushels. 8.73 
41 to 00 bushels. 8.40 
01 bushels and over. 7.30 
In regard to mowing it was found that the most 
efficient width of the sickle bar in the mower was seven 
feet The following figures are based on a day in the 
field : 
Most Com- 
Number 
Aereago 
OPERATION 
men width 
Feet 
of horses 
l>er day 
Mowing . 
o 
8.85 
Raking . 
8 
i 
11.99 
10 
2 
17.91 
Tedding . 
0 
i 
9.75 
10 
o 
15.88 
Cocking (1 man) . . 
. . . 
0.29 
So now, if you think figures would stimulate the 
hired man, let him drink these in. 
New York State News. 
S ULLIVAN PROBERS QUIT.—A committee was 
appointed in the Assembly last Winter to investi¬ 
gate graft in the Highway Department. It was 
known as the Sullivan committee. Assemblyman 
.T. L. Sullivan being its chairman. But an investigat¬ 
ing committee without funds to carry on the investiga¬ 
tion never gets far, and ns the Legislature failed to give 
the committee any money and as it eould not get any 
from private sources, the committee has gone home and 
it is probable that there will be no more meetings this 
Summer and possibly not at all. 
11OLSTEIN-FRIESIA N ASSOtT AT ION.—Syra¬ 
cuse will have the annual convention of the Ilolstein- 
Friesian association again in 1915. It was so voted at 
the annual session held last week in Chicago. It was 
agreed to hold the convention alternately between the 
East and the West. Wing II. Smith was re-elected 
treasurer and Albert K. Brockway was made a mem¬ 
ber of the board of directors. 
STATE SEALERS.—The annual convention of the 
State sealers of weights and measures will be held in 
Watertown on June 24 to 26. A long list of speakers 
is announced and a profitable session is anticipated. 
The delegates will visit the large paper mills in the 
vicinity, take a trip to the Thousand Islands and be 
otherwise entertained. 
INSTRUCTION IN APPLE PACKING—The New 
York Central will cooperate with the State Agricultural 
department in operating a train for the demonstration 
of apple packing methods to comply with the new law. 
These trains will be run through the fruit regions of 
Western New York, and one car will be devoted to 
the demonstrations while the other will be used for the 
purposes of the lecturers who will accompany the train. 
FINE PEA CROP. —One of the finest pea crops ever 
grown in the vicinity of Batavia will be that of the 
present season. The same may be said of the spinach 
crop. One canning company has, it is said, 1.400 acres 
of peas growing and of uniformly fine appearance. Sev¬ 
eral thrashers are now being made ready for the work 
of thrashing out the peas, and have been stationed on 
farms where the peas are grown and also at the factory 
at Batavia. 
NEW LAWS. Gov. Glynn signed this week four 
bills passed at tin- special session of the Legislature. 
One authorizes the Governor to direct the State Comp¬ 
troller to borrow $100,000 for the use of the National 
Guard should it be called out for service. Another bill 
appropriates $225,000 to pay the interest accrued on 
certain State highway improvement bonds. Another re- 
appropriates unexpended balances of the highway im¬ 
provement appropriations aggregating $1,045,000. and 
appropriating 82.227.255 for tin* canal sinking fund. 
CONFERENCE ON MILK PROBLEMS.—It is an¬ 
nounced that arrangements are being made by the ofti- 
cials of the New York Milk Commission, in conjunc¬ 
tion with representatives of the Dairymen’s League, to 
hold a national conference of milk producers, dealers, 
consumers and health departments at Atlantic City on 
June 22. 
THE GRANGE HONORED—The Grange of this 
State as well as its chief representative, State Master 
W. II. Vary, have been honored by his nomination, 
which is said to be equivalent to an election, as a direc¬ 
tor of group 3 of the New York Federal Reserve bank. 
FORESTRY COLLEGE FACULTY.—The faculty 
of the State Forestry College at Syracuse will be ma¬ 
terially strengthened by the addition of three new men 
who were elected this week. They are Dr. C. C. Adams, 
who will become assistant professor of forest zoology, 
lie comes from the University of Illinois. Prof. Fred .T. 
Baker was chosen professor of forest products. II •• 
is at present studying at the University of Munich, 
Germany. He is a brother of Dean Baker of the col¬ 
lege. Prof. E. F. McCarthy was made director of the 
college’s Ranger School at Wanakena to succeed R. P. 
Prichard who will become an instructor at the col¬ 
lege. Louis Marshall of New York was re-elected pres¬ 
ident of the board, Congressman John It. Clancy was 
chosen vice-president and former senator Hendrick S. 
Holden treasurer. James S. Whipple, president of the 
State forestry association, is quoted as saying that tie 
State should add 1,500,000 acres to its forest holdings. 
"The two great tilings in forestry work today,” sai I 
lie. “are better fire protection and the extensive plant¬ 
ing of trees.” j. w. d. 
Government Crop Report. 
T IIE Winter wheat harvest is now under way with 
prospect that the large early estimate, 638,000,- 
000 bushels, will be reached. The Spring wheat 
outlook is 95.5 per cent, of normal, two points 
above last year. The total area in all wheat is 53,377.- 
000 acres, 3,200,000 more than last year, and the 
entire crop is expected to reach 900.000.000 bushels. 
In oats there are 38,383,000 acres, condition 89.5, in¬ 
dicating 1.210.000.000 bushels. Barley, 7,528,000 acres, 
condition 95.5, probable yield 206,000,000 bushels. Hay 
S8.7 per cent, or 1.2 above last year. 
Following is the estimated yield of the chief Winter 
wheat States: Kansas, 148,000.000 bushels; Nebraska. 
65.000,000; Indiana, 42.000.000: Oklahoma, 41.900- 
000; Illinois, 41.800.000; Ohio. 37,800,000; Missouri. 
30.700.000: Washington. 32.100.000; Pennsylvania. 23.- 
200.000; Texas, 10.900.000; Michigan, 15,900.000; Ore¬ 
gon. 15.000,000; Montana, 13,000.000; Iowa. 10,800,000; 
Kentucky, 10,400,00; Idaho, 10.100.000; Virginia.9,400,- 
000; Tennessee, 8.000,000; California. 8,100.000; New 
York. 7.700.000; North Carolina. 0,300.000. Following 
are the Spring wheat estimates: North Dakota, 85,600,- 
000 bushels; Minnesota. 03.800.000; South Dakota, 
46.200,000; Washington, 21.300.000. 
Ohio Crops. 
T HE Ohio Agricultural Commission gives the fol¬ 
lowing crop figures for that State, the report be¬ 
ing made June 1: 
Wheat—Prospect compared with 
normal yield . 103 per cent. 
Original area seeded. 1,635,185 acres. 
Area abandoned this Spring. 1.754 acres. 
Area remaining for harvest. 1.033.431 acres. 
Oats—Prospect compared with nor¬ 
mal yield . 83 per cent. 
Rye—Prospect compared with nor¬ 
mal yield . 90 per cent. 
Winter Barley—Prospect compared 
with normal yield . 93 per omit. 
Spring Barley—Prospect compared 
with normal yield . 87 per cent. 
Clover—Prospect compared with 
normal yield . 88 per cent. 
Timothy—Prospect compared with 
normal yield . 88 per cent. 
Damage by grub. 3 per cent. 
Hogs—Fed for Summer markets.. 51 per cent. 
Condition compared with an 
average . 95 per cent. 
Spring Pigs—Number saved com¬ 
pared with an average. 80 per cent. 
Sheep—Condition compared with 
an average . 90 per cent. 
Lambs—Number saved compared 
with an average. 94 per cent. 
Fruit—Prospect compared with 
normal yield . SI per cent. 
AVERAGE PRICER. 
Per bushel—wheat 93 cents; corn 73 cents; barley 
63 cents; oats 4-1 cents; rye 71 cents; potatoes 'JO cents 
Per ton—hay $13.05; Alfalfa $15.34. 
Crop Outlook in New York and United States. 
WFTEAT— 
June I foreenst. bush. 
Final, avgp. 5 years. 1909-1913. 
OATS— 
June 1 forecast, bush. 
Final, avgp. 5 vears. 11)00-191.'?. bush. 
bauley— 
.Tune I forecast, bush. 
New York. 
. 7 700.000 
bush, 6,793.000 
30.000.000 
30.fiS1.000 
United 
States. 
000 000 0OO 
fiSfi.fi01.000 
2 i fi ooo oen 
.131.175.000 
l.ooo.ooo 2 no.noo. 00 o 
Condition June 
1. 
1914... 
.. , , 
01 
93.0 
Condition June 
1. 
10-year 
average.... 
88 
89.7 
HAY— 
Condition June 
1. 
1014. . . 
.. 
01 
88. < 
Condition .Tune 
T. 
fi rear 
average. 
01) 
87.4 
CLOVER— 
Acreage, per rent. 
of 1013. 
08 
90.4 
Condition .Tune 
1. 
1014... 
.. 
80 
Si 1 
Condition June 
1. 
10-year 
average.... 
01 
85. t 
ALFALFA— 
Condition June 
1. 
1014... 
.. 
03 
08 •> 
Condition June 
1. 
S-year 
average. 
02 
01.1 
PASTCRE— 
Condition June 
1. 
1014 . . 
94 
80 S 
Condition June 
1. 
10 vent - 
average.... 
0*2* 
90.0 
CABBAGES— 
Condition June 
1. 
1014. . . 
PO 
84.fi 
Condition June 
1. 
8-vear 
average. 
00 
Sfi.S 
ONIONS— 
Condition June 
1. 
1014... 
.. 
p- 
88 : 
Condition June 
1. 
8-year 
average. 
80 
80.7 
APPLES— 
Condition June 
1. 
1014. .. 
ss 
73.7 
Condition June 
1 . 
10-year 
average. ... 
81 
66.5 
PEACHES — 
Condition June 
1 . 
1014. .. 
.. 
20 
01.7 
Condition June 
1 . 
to rear 
average. . . . 
C3 
39.2 
PEARS— 
Condition June 
1 . 
1014. .. 
... 
1 •» 
68.4 
Condition June 
BLACKBERRIES 
1. 
6-yen r 
average. 
80 
65.o 
Condition June 
1 . 
1014. . 
.. 
P7 
87. r, 
Condition June 
RASPBERRIES 
1. 
8-year 
average . 
in 
87.1 
Condition June 
1. 
1014. . 
... 
8S 
89.0 
Condition .Tune 
WATERMELONS 
1 . 
8-year 
average . 
1)0 
85. S 
Condition June 
1. 
101t .. 
St 
77.0 
Condition June 
CANTALOUPES 
1 . 
8-year 
average. 
82 
79.7 
Condition June 
1. 
1014. . 
88 
82.1 
Condition June 
SUGAR BEETS 
1. 
8-year 
average . 
S', 
80.0 
Condition June 
1. 
1014.. 
............. 
Condition June 
1. 
8 year 
average..... 
91 
80.3 
