Newspapers / The Arator (Raleigh, N.C.) / April 1, 1856, edition 1 / Page 26
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Tflfi ABATOR. THE RED f AMOMILE (PYRETIIRUM ROSEUM) FOR TUB DESTRUCTION OF INSECTS Fon some years a vague report bas reached us of a Caucasian plant having astonishing and eminent ly, useful properties -that of destroying fleas and bugs ; it was also, known that this marvellous plant belonged to the gcnu3 Pyrelirum, but the specific character was uncertain. This plant has been re cently introduced into Brussels, in the rich collec tions of ; the botanical garden. We hope that in some years the red camomile shall have freed our people from one of the most abominable plagues which afflict sensitive humanity. Some details of a plant of so certain a future as that tjic red camomile, if in uvt nuiiuui uuu'jt, uueepuiuic. iu our rcaacrs. , r In Transcausia, its country, this j.lant bears also, the name of the Persian camomile, the jlca-Icillcr, the jUa-xcorL It forms a little shrub with perennial roots, branched twelve to fifteen inches high, bear ing raa"hy flowers, at first a deep red, afterwards a clear or rosy red, and an inch and a half in diame ter, (the size of the flowers will also cause this plant . to be cultivated as an ornament in our gardens ;) the stalks dry up after the ripening of the seeds, but the . roots are perennial, and for some years may bo mul tiplied by division. Freshly gathered, the flowers are not very odorous) but dried they acquire an odor so strong and penetrating that it kills all the insects and all the 'vermin, of which, until now, no certain , agent of destruction lias been found. The red cam omile can bear 20 degrees Centigrade of frostra tem perature to which it is often submitted on the Cau- j casian mountains and ou the plains elevated' from I 4,500 to 0,500 feet above the sea level. Although it inhabits virgin soil, it is easily' brought into cul tivation in'gardens, and, since its'; energetic proper ties have been recognized, it is cultivated in a lanrc way in .dilfcrent parts of southern Russia. One very remarkable fact is, that the knowledge of the secret of the manufacture of Jhc red camomile powder for the destruction vof fleas, Ac., only dates back, even in Caucasia, about ten year,-?, while the employment of this strong powder was known in regions far dis tant from Circassia. It seem3 that an Armenian merchant, named Sumbilofr, traveling in the south of Asia, observed that the inhabitantsprinklcd them selves with a powder to prevent the stings of insects. This powder wa3 nothing else than that made of the flowers of the red camomile. . Returned to his coun try, our Armenian told hU.sua of thcdlscoycry, and taught him to recognize the plant. The sou became poor by reverses of fortune, but bethought himself of his -father's secret; he set -himself thcn to make this powder, and retirckwith .very larpjc profits from this trade. In 1818, he told a pood (about twenty kilogrammes) of camomile powder, at twenty-five rubles, (near one hundred francs ;) and aUhough the secret had been published, 'and every one knew the preparation of this powder, more than twenty Til lages in the district of Alexandropoi were actually given up to the cultivation of the red camomile The flowering of the Pyrcthrum roseum commences in June, and continues more than a month. The flowers are gathered in dry weather. In one day a" good harvester can collect from thirty to eighty lbf. of these wild flowers. They generally dry them in the sun ; but it is remarked that those dried in the shade have more virtue. The bed of flowers is stir red from time to time to help the drying. Three or lour days is sufficient to drivo off every tra.ee of moisture. To obtain one pound of dried flowers it requires about one hundred pounds of fresh ones l They arc then red-iced to a coarse powder with the hand, and by means of a little millstone, or a little brass miW, a very fine powder, fit for use, is obtained. We sec by thi3 that the process is very simple ; the most difficult question is how to operate upon a suf ficiently large number of flowering pin nisi t To give an idea of the importance of ll: ufacture of this powder, we must state, that in V. "tucasia alone there arc made each year for con t; i ,4 .: in ' the Russian Empire, more than 40,000 fcilogra:.. Baron Folkersahn has roccntly published a valu. paper on tlie cultivation of the red camomile. IIL memoir terminates with 'the folbtring remarks : That this powder preserves you from fleas arid bugs ; it lulls flies, gnats,'maggots, lice, and even the wqrms which are produced in theourids of our domestic animals. To kill insects provided with wings, they mix a little of this with a substance that will attatt them j for instance, to destroy flies,' it is mixed with powder should be tried on other insects and worms hurtful to man or to his horticultural plantations. He adds, that if experiments demonstrate thoffTirn- cy pi this powder, each person could cultivate in the corner of his garden. a certain number of plants of red camomile, to kill the insects, caterpillars, &c, which ravage his field." From .an approximate cal culation, it is found that a space of eighteen square vcrsts furnishes a quiutal of powder. Mr. R. Roczl, who lived a long time in Russia, states that the In Mctcnjmlvcr (powder of the Pvrcthrumj is imported every year from Persia and the Caucasian provinces into all parts of the Russian Empire ; and that, Used tresh, sprinkled over the window-sills, it makes all the flics fall instantly, asphyxiating them; but that at the end of a year it loses its energy. He also states that it is fie Pyrcthrum carueum and roseum which produce this )dy(l?r. Journal ? Horticulture lUlgique, ' ' -
The Arator (Raleigh, N.C.)
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April 1, 1856, edition 1
26
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