DEATH RAYS IN A GARDEN

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17346, 25 August 1930, Page 10

DEATH RAYS IN A GARDEN

SHOOKS FOR INSECTS ' .DESTROYED BY ELECTRICITY LONDON, July 6. The amateur gardener of the future, instead of using poisonous washes and messy insecticides to ward off insect •pests attacking his roses and cabbages,, will destroy his foes,..with potted forked lightning. At .least, that is the claim made byMr. J. Fleale, an electrical engineer, of. Southboroiigh, Tunbridge Wells. When swarms of caterpillars and greenfly invaded Mr. Neale’s garden, ho in-: vented the “Death Wand,” ana pro-, ceeded to carry opt wholesale slaughter by electrocution. An electric current was slent through the leaves and stems of tnts and trees, destroying in ( its pasp everything alive, excepting ’ the plant itself. GREEN FLY MASSACRE

A demonstration of the “Death iVind”''was jhid fpr my benefit in my own garden, writes a press representative, where thousands of bloated green flies and fat caterpillars gorge themAijlyes into a condition of blissful coma. fl The following result® were obtained : Afining maggots buried in the leaves of parsnips and celery shrivelled up within three hours. ‘ A maggot in the core of an unopened apple instantaneously electrocuted. . Dolphin (black aphis) on 'broad beans destroyed. .Green fly killed on rose buds after light massaging with, the wand. While I was examining the leaf of a pear , tree, t Mr. Neale exposed the rays of his,“Death Wand” to the opposite side of tli© tree; this caused me to make tin involuntary jump 3ft. in “the air. ,‘'Tha.t,” remarked the inypntor, “is proof of the shock it gives to garden .pests.-’ ' ;' ""

VOLTAGE CONTROL. The “Death Wand,” wtii|k ' Mr. Neale has already protected by patents, is' a fiimplo arrangement of batteries, insulated leads, switches, and earthing rod. .Except for the arrow-shaped copper the machine resembles an ordilimy wireless set enclosed in a small box. A four-volt accumulator is used, having a. range of 20 working hours without recharging. There is a voltage control switch to supply current of varying strength to different classes of plants) In operation the current is switched on and the tips of the leaves and sterna infested with insects are flicked with the copper wand.