Mr. Tesla as a Bug Killer

There can be no doubt as to the invasion of the domain of agriculture by electricity. Last week we noted the results obtained on a farm in Germany, and hardly a week goes by without its news of farmers using the telephone in their operations, experiments at agricultural stations with all kinds of current in stimulating seeds and plants, or the use of power from lighting or trolley circuits in running farm machinery. Indeed, it may be said to be doubtful whether the factory or the farm is to be the new scene of electricity's next triumphs.

It will be remembered that not long ago, Mr. Tesla suggested that part of the energy of powers like that of Niagara might be applied to furnishing nitrogenous elements to the soil, so that better crops could be secured. This may explain why a Mr. S. S. Harvey in the South wrote to him asking if electricity could not be used in a general pervasive way to kill off the bugs that are such a pest in orchards and vineyards. Mr. Tesla, with wonted courtesy, admitted the importance of the subject and said in response to the inquiry: "It is sure that we can destroy these detrimental insects in certain ways by the help of electricity, but to what extent the trees would be affected by the application of these means I do not know, and it could only be settled by a series of experiments. I have some ideas on the subject, and think that an apparatus for experimentation could be produced in a short time. I am resolved to think over the matter in the hope to arrive at some tangible result."

We have no doubt that to some people the idea of a notable electrical inventor devoting his time to devising bug traps. and "sure deaths" smacks rather of the grotesque and ridiculous; but in reality Mr. Tesla could not undertake anything of more real and practical value. When one stops to consider how famine, ruin and devastation afflict the human race because of such pests as the locust, phylloxera, army worm and potato bug, it is evident there is work to do of real vital importance to a great many people.