The Key West Citizen Newspaper, May 9, 1947, Page 3

* other defoliating insects, includ- . beetle, cankerworm, and tent ine buildings. . verse affect on the potato plants. "SPRAYING corm, catle helpe checks enormous pest damage. ‘ BY ALEXANDER R. GEORGE ‘AP Newstfeatures Writer ASHINGTON.—The value of DDT to farm and city people is/| _ being increased steadily. - Extensive tests of the war-born insecticide by agricultural scientists show promise for control of many pests which damage more and more people are using it for protection against diseases carried by houseflies, mosquitoes and lice. “if if ps A ht orp abt ‘increased amazingly” the beef) 3 ee of cows pestered by horn flies, boosted po- tato yields and reduced the®——————————____ damage of certain cotton pests. | certain controll uropean selves and can swallow enough of borer ee ~ the poison to make them sick. lH ‘ments and rapere’ heavy in-| Soil treatment with DDT has of Japanese saeties shone indication of becoming a 7 eS practical way of controlling the Rae one oe shade| White-fringed beetle which feeds given good protection shade’ on a number of crops in some and shrubs against many ‘southern states. Infestations = : leafh rs, the alfalfa weevil, ing the locust leaf miner, elm leaf thrips and aphids in seed alfalfa Have been controlled with DDT. ;}The insecticide has proved very ieffective against the gypsy moth, idestroyer ‘of foliage in the north- eastern part of the country. However, the insect experts | Extensive tests indicate DDT warn that DDT is not a cure- is a good remedy for such cot- ~ | aga and plant bug. ‘duaten. portant DDT was not as — Pros calcium arsenate against the destroy beneficial insects which | 1.2) weevil, an insect which _— Puprcisaath injurious insects | taxes a tenth of the cotton crop The Department of Agriculture, or wil control several spe-* in coreecanen with — Seon cies of Lygus bugs that attack the wating DDT genet Aen four ‘seed stalks and seed of sugar The di cent! Bureau Dee's. It has not been found effec- a ie up-beat’ Sisal Guares- tive for control of the sugar cane; “* pear precautions in borer. In sugar cane plots treated using the potent insecticide: ;with DDT, populations of yellow 1. Care should be taken to | ree ea aphids have greatly Or tat con ket cane ee DDT is highly effective against imost of the common pests of or, Dian orechicte nil ae escent stored seed. It is best used of 2. Persons should avoid re-|C0™bination with a carrier dust to | to |give it greater volume and insure Ber in: cil eatin as it i _syaicly better distribution over the seed. 7 absorbed through the skin. |4 very good combination is eh 3. Extra caution should be tak-| tained by using magnesium oxide en when using oil sprays in build- | 2S the carrier dust. ings because of its inflammable; DDT’s biggest single contribu- | nature. tion to the nation’s wealth, noi] - 4, DDT oil sprays should not be|cePting its protection of human used on animals because DDT/| health, has been a great increase may be absorbed by the skin. in beef and milk production: 5. It’s a good idea to consult; Its use in control of horn flies your county agricultural agent or | and other flies which pester cat- state experiment station about \tle is already worth $100,000,000 the. use of DDT. a year to cattle owners, norord| The bureau points out that | ing to P..V. Cardon, administrator while there is no known proven s research for the Department case of DDT having been in- {of Agriculture. Cardon says the jurious to humans, it is never- ote to cattle farmers will be theless a poison. Therefore, it advises that persons be careful not to swallow DDT or to leave oil solutions of the insecticide on the skin for any length of a iy caterpillar. DDT is tough on car-, penter ants and other insects that attack logs and “woodwork of; ;greatly increased as the use of! DDT becomes more general. Agricultural experts estimate that some 8 to 10 million cattle were sprayed with DDT last | time. year. They predict that from DDT is soluble in oil but not .| two to three times that mamper water. | will be given DDT tre nts tests, DDT has given excellent} lation of the country is around control of Japanese beetles on] 84 million. grapes, early apples, peaches, and}. Tiny horn flies which suck the: miscellaneous trees and shrubs. blood from a cow in summertime | Experiments show DDT to be! have cost American cattle and a potent weapon against the cod-|qairy farmers plenty. If flies are | ling moth, a fruit pest. However, |hag—sometimes 4,000 settle on a} in tests in nearly all sections of | gw—pbeef cattle won't put on | the country, destructive mites de- weight and cows don’t give as’ veloped to serious proportions in| much milk as they should. Some! DDT-treated plots except when} oxnerts have estimated the peak | Xanthone was included. in the horn-fly drain from the farm spray. Three applications of DDT | 1 o-Ketbook at a million dollars a| oo eppiee een as age day. ork, reduced infestations o e : In a test on a Kansas. ranch, 600 ry sion a from 25 percent’ to cattle of all ages and classes were ; is sprayed with DDT, They gained! Scientists say that because of 18,000 more pounds than the same DDT’s effectiveness against the b f attle. O European corn borer, it is pos- number of unsprayed cattle. n sible control of this i gen another ranch each pound of DDT ‘canning and field ong ee be- |resulied in an increase of 2,306 | come practical. pounds of weight. It was esti- | _ Fungicide dusts and sprays, to mated that each dollar’s worth of which DDT was added, controlled infestations of Colorado potato} ® beetles and potato flea beetles. In. some cases, the treatment in- creased: the potato yield by 70 percent. The fungicide-DDT com- bination appeared to have no ad- The bureau says that in : this year. The total cattle popu- | JOB PR Modern machinery and efficient methods enable us to offer you superior printing service at fair prices. Consider us when you place your next print- . ing order, The insect experts say DDT is well established as “the perfect answer” to the bedbug problem. It also is an important weapon in combating -sand flies, several species of ants in buildings, fleas in houses, and brown dog ticks in floor coverings and baseboards. A 10 percent DDT powder may be dusted on dogs which have brown ticks. About one-fourth teaspoonful is dusted over the en- tire body of the average-sized ani- mal. Cats should not be treated with DDT because they lick thems — wismeqnngs st /arsnennnnetnegnerenenannsuennennueuuaaeadnnnasnasnatins EEL O EELS EEL PETE ENS PETE EE CE EVE ON BI — crops, gardens, orchards, forests, and livestock. Mean-| Phone 51 and Our Representative Will Call The Artman Press THE CITIZEN BUILDING TESTS chieck poison dangers. Do You Know That The grasses of the world are classified into 5,750 species. Beetles are the bulkiest in. sects, the largest known being the Herdules of South America, measuring six inches long. Jamaica was discovered by Columbus on his Second voyage in May, 1494, when he christen- ed it St. Jago after St. James the patron saint of Spain, but the new name did not last and the island was known by its na- tive narhé of Jamaica. The Skating Frog of India literally jumps on the water, cov- ering the surface in big leaps, alighting on all fours and leap- ing again as it would on land. DDT accounted for at least..1,000 pounds of beef. In four counties in Florida, 26,000. head of cattle and 120: barns were sprayed. It was con- servatively estimated that in the month following the spray applications there was a gain of 700,000 pounds of beef and an increase of 30,000 gallons of milk which could be attributed directly to the use of DDT. The peried for cattle spraying in most parts of the country is ‘about 14 weeks—from May 15 to Sept. 1. In the south, of course, the season is longer. Two or three thorough sprayings may do the 'job for the entire summer. Insect experts say it is a good idea to kill relatively few flies early in the spring rather than have to combat millions of them later in the summer. The Department of Agriculture says a preferred spray is a 50 percent weitable powder. It is pointed out, however, that county agricultural agents and state col- 'lege people can advise how to mix ,DDT and how best to apply it. If a farmer doesn’t have a ‘hand spray, he can sponge it on 'or apply with a paint brush or a piece of cloth. Some use orchard ‘spraying equipment. DDT and another’ chemical, benzene hexachloride, have shown ,; more promise than any materials i; heretofore used for the control of ‘all species of cattle lice, says the |Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine. Both materials ap- pear to be capable of eradicating ‘cattle lice with one treatment, which has not been possible with the older remedies. Af INTING a) MM net be