Science: Salt v. Insects

Well in advance of the annual depredations of grasshoppers, farmers and gardeners who read Science last week found a new, cheap and effective poison against the pests. Its significant ingredient is Epsom salt (magnesium sulphate), the common medicine cabinet drug ordinarily used for purging, poulticing, reducing. The formula which the discoverers, Mr. & Mrs. Hubert W. Frings of the University of Oklahoma, recommended contains bran (60% to 65%), molasses (15%), Epsom salt (20% to 25%), and enough water to moisten. This formula, they say, ”seems to be just as effective as the [common] 5% arsenic bait, it is cheaper, and it is absolutely harmless to humans, cattle, swine and poultry or other birds.” The poison is scattered among the vegetation.

Dr. Vernon Raymond Haber of Pennsylvania State College seems to have first made the discovery that Epsom salt is poisonous to insects and has been spreading the news to other entomologists by word of mouth. Dr. Haber recommends that a spray of Epsom salt in water be used against Mexican bean beetles. J. H. Hawkins of the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station advocates this Epsom salt spray against wheat wireworms. The Frings believe the spray “could be used safely on many vegetables and fruits.”