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HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION
55
United States Department of Agriculture Special PaP
Bulletins and Special Articles Issued by the Government, of Interest to the Northwest; C
Suggestions Covering a Wide Range of Activities; Kcsult of Federal Investigations, Etc.
Para-Dichlorobcnzcnc
Is a New Insecticide
4PAUA-DICH1.0HOUENZI3NE" 3
Jt tho formldnblo nnmo of n
chemical compound which has only
recently been used ns nn Insecticide,
but which, In being non-lnflammablo
and comparatively Inexpensive, pos
sesses advantages over other furnl
gnnts. The United States Depart
ment of Agriculture's new bulletin
(No. 1C7) is entitled, "Para-dlchloro-benzeno
as nn Insect Fumlgant," and
points out that the compound, al
though deadly to Insects, Is harmless
to human beings under ordlnnry con
ditions and does not have an odor
which clings to fabrics as do many
insecticides.
l'ara-dlchlorobenzeno Is applied in
most Instances In the same manner
as camphor and nnpthnlene. It is
not, however, necessary to sprinkle
it around in corners or over rugs
and other material, as is often tho
case with camphor and napthalenc,
but merely to expose a sufficient
quantity in one or two open or par
tially open receptacles, placed over,
or higher, than the Infested cases,
goods, and materia which requires
fumigation.
Para-dlchlorobenzonc at the pres
ent time Is sold In 5, 10, 25, GO and
100-pound and barrel lots, the prices
for which are as follows:
23 cents per pound in 5, 10 nnd
25-pound lots.
18 cents per pound in 50-pound
lots.
17 cents per pound in 100-pound
lots.
1G cents per pound in barrel lots.
If any considerable quantity Is to
bo used, It Is much better to purchaso
of some wholesale druggist or direct
from the manufacturers.
Pnra-dlchlorobcnzeno Is applicable
to many Insect pests living under
various conditions and environment,
nnd therefore requires specific meth
ods of application, and, unllko car
bon bl-Etilphld, it Is at the present
time used only Indoors and in othor
places where its vapors can bo close
ly confined. As thoro Is n great
variation In tho tcnnclty of Ufa
among Insects, tho existing condi
tions should bo carefully noted be
fore para-dichlorobcnzonc Is applied.
Ueetlos, such ns the rlco weevil,
Kiannry weevil, the confused flour
beetle, the cadollo, tho yellow meal
worm, and n few others less com
mon aro particularly hard to lc til
when In tho adult stage. Tho larvau
of certain other mealworms aro like
wlso found by experiment to pos
sess great tenacity of life. If Is
therefore recommended Mint n pro
portionately Inrger amount of pnra
dlchlorobenzcno bo used when com
1'ntlng thoso species.
Moths, files, roaches, ants nnd
aphides nro readily killed by parn
(llchlorobenzcno when used In the
ordlnnry strength ns previously recommended.
Rural Community Organization
Fumigation Method
for Imported Seed
A SATISFACTORY method for do.
stroylng injurious Insects in Im
ported seed without affecting the
value of the seed has been used by
tho United Slates Department of Ag
riculture, nnd Is described In a now
bulletin (No. ISC) entitled, "A Meth
od of Fumigating Seed." Interested
Individuals who apply to tho depart
ment nt Washington, D. C, will bo
tent tho bulletin.
In the now method tho Infested
vrcd Is placed In n chnmber In which
a partial vacuum has been created.
Tho chamber Is then filled with a
Tory deadly gas-hydro-cynnlc ncld,
which ponotrntes moro effectively
Into tho seed because of tho previ
ously created vacuum. It has been
found that n considerably shorter
oxpoauro was necessary In using Mils
method of fumigation than In tho
usual method. The bulletin dc
kcilbos tho experiment completely,
giving details and Illustrations of tho
chamber used In tho experiment.
llydro-ejnnle ncld Is, of courso, a
most dangerous poison and should
not bo handled by any except thoso
who aro thoroughly familiar with it.
Another gas carbon bl-sulphld Is
to bo used by tho department In n
similar experiment, tho results of
which will be announced later.
Alfalfa should novcr bo allowed to
dry thoroughly (n tho sun. It makes
the leaves shattor and othcrwlso In
jures wio uay,
a SCHEME for tho organization
of rural communities for both
liiidlncsa ntul social DUmOSC3 Is
worked out In nn nrtlclo which Is to
appear In tho forthcoming Yearbook
of tho Department of Agriculture, and
which has already been printed as n
nnmnhlnt for tho uso of tho Depart
ment's office of markets and rural
organization.
Tho schemo calls for 10 commit
tees, five of which aro to deal with
business needs, and fivo with soclnl
needs. Every member of tho organ
ization Is to servo on some one of
these committees. In addition, thcro
Is to bo n central or executivo com
mltteo composed of tho president of
tho organization, its secretary, its
treasurer, and tho chairman of tho
10 other committees, This central
body is to direct tho general policy
of the organization, raiso nil funds
and control their expenditures. Tho
committees that aro to deal with tho
business Interests of the community
are as folows:'
Business Committees.
1. Commltteo on farm production.
2. Commltco on marketing.
3. Commltteo on securing farm
supplies.
4. Commltteo on farm finance and
accounting.
5. Commltteo on communication
and transportation.
Social Committees.
Similarly, tho flvb committees that
attend to tho community's soclnl in
terests will denl with:
1. Education.
2. Sanitation.
3. Ilecrcntlon.
4. Bcautlflcatlon.
duct a co-opcrntlvo store which ren
ders the samo scrvico to Its cus
tomers that n private cntcrprlso
would. This, however, Inevitably
lends to complications and should
only bo undertaken after somo ex
perience with similar methods of .cooperation.
with tho commltteo on farm
flnnnco nnd accounting, tho first
duty is to ascertain what farm en
terprises can safely be financed. This
Is only posslblo when accurnto ac
counts aro kept nnd carefully ana
lyzed. After this lias been dono tho
next step is to sccuro tho most fa
vorablo terms for financing proper
nnd sound enterprises. This Is fre
quently not difficult If tho commlt
teo has thoroughly mastered tho fiub
Jcct nnd is ablo to put It clearly bo
foro local bankers.
Securing Capital.
Where tho local bankers nro tin
willing to flnnnco genuinely product
ive enterprises nt a rcasonnuio rato
of interest tho commltteo must con
sider other ways of securing capital.
Ono of tho simplest platiB for accom
plishing this is a credit union or co
operative credit association. Tho es
sential features of this plan aro that
a group of farmers organlzo thom
solves to recclvo deposits and mako
loans.
By kccnlnc tho expenses down to
a minimum It linn been posslblo In
somo cases for such associations to
pay interest on deposits that Is within
1 per cent of tho Interest it chnrges
on loans.
Tho committee on communication
and transportation should deal pri
marily with tho roads and telephones
5. Household economics.
Tho work of most of these com
mittees Is indlcntod sufficiently
clearly by their titles; for example,
tho committee on production can do
much good by Improving tho breeds
of live stock In a community through
co-opcrntlvo purchases of puro-bred
males.
It can oncourago tho formation of
corn, poultry, pig, cnttlo, canning
nnd gardening clubs which havo al
ready ilemonstatcd their valuo In tho
sections where they havo been estab
lished; nnd It can carry on useful
studios of tho typo of agriculture best
fitted to local conditions.
Marketing.
In the samo way, tho commltteo
on marketing can sccuro tho stand
ardization of tho community's prod
ucts nnd thus obtain better prices
than are posslblo when nondescript
goods nro dumped upon tho market.
Tho commltteo can also search out
tho best markets, mnko contracts on
a largo scalo which will bo moro fa
vorable than any Individual can sc
curo for himself, and In many other
ways cconomlzo In tho soiling of tho
community's goods. Even if co-op-cratlvo
marketing Is not actually re
sorted to, tho Information which tho
commltteo collects can hardly fall to
bo of grcnt assistance to tho individ
ual shippers.
Just ns tho. commltteo on market
ing can facilitate selling, tho com
mltteo on farm supplies can ccono
mlzo In buying. Farmers aro warned,
howovor, not to underestimate the
cost of running n storo or commer
cial agency, nnd not to overestimate
the saving which this can effect. Tho
co-opcrntllvo society, of course, docs
away with tho necessity of tho storo's
making n profit, but somebody must
mnungo tho storo nnd Mint somebody
must bo paid for his tlmo. Ills sal
ary, therefore, corresponds In a way
to tho ordinary Rtoro's profit, and It
Is not nlwnys posslblo to sccuro n
good man for less than ho would bo
ablo to mako In business for him
self. Purchasing.
Thoro nre, however, sovernl meth
ods of purchasing farm supplies co
operatively, which will bo found to
bo of advantage Tho simplest is
tho Joint order, In which a group of
farmers can buy a given nrtlclo in
largo quantities, thereby effecting n
considerable saving In tho expenso of
hnndllng, commissions, oto. Some
times when this method Is adopted n
warehouse is addod which Is owned
or rented co-operatively, and in
which tho goods aro stored until tho
associated purchasers need them.
If thoso two methods havo been
tried and found successful It may
bo desirable to carry them out to
their logical development and eon-
Tho koynoto of tho work should bo
organized DClI-hoip, not nppenis to
got Government help.
Just ns tho fivo business commit
tees nro to grnpplo with tho, funda
mental problems of producing and
soiling In their vnrlous forms, tho
fivo social committees should direct
their efforts to tho Improvement of
living conditions In tho country.
Increasing Average Income.
To Incrcaso tho farmer's incomo Is
not tho only thing needed to mnko
rural llfo what It should be. As a
matter of fact, says this nrtlclo, It is
tho prosperous farmer who Is moro
Inclined to movo to town than his
less fortunato neighbor.
Having accumulated a compctonco
ho wishes to enjoy It, and Micro arc
fivo principal reasons which lead
him to beliovo that ho can do this
hotter In tho city: First, Micro nro
usually better facilities for educat
ing his children; second, tho sani
tary conditions aro frequently much
better in towns, and tho tlmo docs
not seem to bo far dlBtant when the
cities will bo actually moro health
ful than tho country. Again, house
hold conveniences such as hot and
cold water, heating and lighting sys
tems, etc., aro moro abundant In tho
towns nnd ndd greatly to tho com
fort of living. Finally, Micro Is moro
opportunity for recreation In tho city,
nnd frequently, straugo ns it may ap
pear, moro to appeal to tho sonso of
beauty Mint Is inherent In practically
cvory man.
Co-operation on tho part of rural
communities can do ns much to al
ter theso conditions ns it enn to in
crcaso tho nvorago cash incomo. Tho
committees that havo theso matters
in charge should, theioforo, bo re
garded as quite ns important as thoso
which deal with business questions,
nnd thoy should recclvo tho samo
support from tho entire community
which thoy aro endeavoring to ben
efit. Tho result will bo n community
spirit which, In its way, Is capable
of producing as vnluablo results as
tho National spirit. In fact, says tho
nrtlclo in closing, "Patriotism, liko
charity, begins at home Mint is, in
tho neighborhood."
Out of tho Mouths of Youths.
"Itomombor, boys," snld tho mas-d
tor, "Hint in tho bright lexicon of
youth thcro Is no such word as fall."
After a few moments a boy rnlBCd
his hand.
"Well, what Is it, my lad?" asked
tho master.
"I was merely going to suggest,"
replied tho youngster, "that If such
Is tho caso It would bo ndvisablo to
wrlto to tho publishers of that lexicon
and call their attention to tboomls
sion."- Kansas City Star.
January Movement nt
Apples From c,i.
ACCORDING- to Invests,! U
ducted by tho 0111.'
United States Depai,,011"
culture, there vvasTta
movement of cold Rtnrn! e ln to
ing January as dcomnaK!"d0t
comber, n 8 tI,p0ss bio tn i.lh Dl
total quantities of boxes V4'
rols in storage on fe, ?,
causo many firms withhold X
ion as to their holding inS
bor nro co-operating wl h E .na
of Markets to wnfrant c n!, "C'
as to tho total movement hnSOni
tho country. l throughout
Basing estimates upon thn ,t
from a largo number of com "?!
npplo cold storages nnd BTercW
conditions for this numwntlns lht
rcseutatlvo of tho whoTe . ""
(1) that holding0 oftc r
1915, WOro 28.4 tinr -.. -"7. '1
than on tho same unto tw to
ago; (2) that 25 2 Si c2t VS
total holdings havo been moved ,1 !
December 1, tho decrease of birrS
stock being 28.4 per cent and mES
17 per cent; (3) that during j?
nry 17 per cent of barreled. vSi
and 10.C per cent of boxed ffi
woro taken out of cold storage ,
total docrcaso ,011 tho basis ot hold
lugs December 1 being 15.C per cot
It was not thought that the
mnnd for cold storngo apples In jiT.
uary would bo very much grCler
than in December, owing to the fut
as Pointed out In a previous report
Mint tho largo supply 0f common
storago stock, together with Christ
mas purchases, would restrict tin
movement of apples from cold stor
age during last month.
Tho attention of thoso interested
is cnllod ngnln to tho fact that prac-
utmiy mi uuiiiiuun storage applet
ns a rule, pass Into consumption b?
tho first of February. If this con
dltlon has been truo of tho present
season, It Is thought that tho move
ment of cold storago apples will be
very largo during February and
March.
Tho supply certainly Is bountiful
nnd, as tho result of low prices and
a largo demand, It Is thought the
consumption during tho next few
months will bo sufficient to exhaust
tho supply.
Tho advisability of moving the
stocks ns rapidly as posslblo Is urged
upon growers and dealers so that
tho unusually large holdings mar
diminish sufficiently to prevent dli
aster In April or May.
Progress in Campaign
Against Powdery Scab
THE campaign against powder;
scab In Mnlno potatoes hat nor
resulted In tho freeing of the fol
lowing districts; Tho towns of Med
way, Woodvllle, Mattowamkeag,
Winn, Kingman nnd Prentiss, and
tho plantations of Webster and
Drow, in Penobscot County; and the
plantations of Molunkus and Mac
wahoc, In Aroostook County. Table
potatoes grown within these areas
may now bo shlpcd In Interstate
commcrco without restriction.
It Is nlso announced In the service
and regulatory announcements ot the
Fcdornl Horticultural Hoard that the
Island of Bornholm, In Denmark, has
been freed from the disease, and
that potatoes can now bo imported
Into this rountry from there. These
linnnrtnllnnn worn Rtonncd In Mar.
1914, when powdery scab was found
In two bags nmong a consignment
of 480 from tho island.
Tho regulations governing the po
tato qunrnntlno havo nlso been
amended In ono or two respects. Un
der tho now. regulations potatoes
transported In packages can only M
put In containers which are cither
now or havo been sterilized smc
Inst used. Each container must also
havo a card initialed by tho Inspector
who Issued It. In tho caso of car
load lots, howovor, ono card is i
ficlont. Car or schooner lots mm
bo kept separate, in enso of reswp
mont, from other potatoes.
Tho sorvico and regulator! . an
nouncements of tho Federal Bp
cultural Board also contnla nouces
of threo fines, of ?25 each, IwojC
for violations of tho gipsy moth m
brown-tall moth quarantlno or P
sons who shipped Chrlitmu 1 ttw
out of Massachusetts: and two caw
fines, of $26 and 15. for iUW
forest products out of the same it
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