344 
WISCONSIN STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
etable substances, of whatsoever nature, must be essentially 
changed in character and rendered harmless before they can 
be converted into healthy tubers, and a mineral poison could 
only do harm by being taken with the potatoes to the table. 
That any substance, sprinkled either on the vines or on the 
ground, would ever accompany to the table a vegetable which 
develops underground, and which is always well cooked before 
use, is rendered highly improbable. There can be no danger 
in the use of sound tubers. But the wise and well-informed 
cultivator will seldom need to have recourse to Paris green, as 
he will find it more profitable to use the different preventative 
measures that have from time to time been recommended in 
these columns. 
The poison may do harm, however, by being carelessly used, 
and it is most safely applied when attached to the end of a 
stick several feet long, and should not be used where children 
are likely to play. 
The true remedy consists in preventing them from becom¬ 
ing numerous so late in the season. Watch for the beetles 
in early spring, when the vines are just peeping out of the 
ground. Ensnare as many of them as you can before they get 
a chance to pair, by making a few small heaps of potatoes in 
the field planted ; to these the beetles will be attracted for 
food, and you can easily kill them in the morning. Keep an 
eagle eye for the eggs which are first deposited. Cultivate 
well, by frequently stirring the soil. Plant early varieties in 
preference to late ones because the bugs are always more nu¬ 
merous late in the season than they are during the spring and 
early summer. Give the preference to the Peach Blow, Early 
Bose and such other varieties as have been found most exempt 
from attack, and surround your fields on the outside by rows 
of such tender-leaved varieties as the Mercer, Shaker, Busset, 
Pink-eye and Early Goodrich; but, above all, isolate your po¬ 
tato field as much as possible, either by using land surrounded 
by timber, or by planting in the center of a cornfield. Carry 
out these suggestions thoroughly and you will not have much 
use for Paris green, and still less for the scorching remedy. 
