Evening journal., 1913-01-16
I'm arH1nArO
iKHINENU
GIRLS FOR
HOME LIFE
Before HOrtiCulturiStS, Mr..
Benson Urges More Care
full Training Of Young
OTHER SPEAKER TALKS
OF VEGETABLE LIFE

Horticultural Society, addressed the
Peninsula Horticultural Society here
yesterday afternoon. He invited the
membership Of the Peninsula Society
to attend the session of the New Jer-
sey society at Rancocas, n. j., in the
summer.
"A talk on the value of advertising
the peninsula followed, after which
Professor Thomas b. Symons State
horticultural of Maryland gave "a
lecture on "The Control OF Insect
Pests and Disease In part, he said
III YOU were to ask me what had been
the most important insect pest or
plant disease OF the past year, /
should say-and | am sure you Will
agree with me-the Hessian fly and
the tomato blight and wilt The Hes
sian fly cost the Delaware Maryland
Peninsula thousands OF dollars dur
Ing 1912. and the tomato blight and
wilt even more We have known the
Hessian fly for ages. and yet farm
ers allow this small insect to exact
from their pockets thousands of dol
lars annually. II can be controlled,
If YOU will practice the well known
methods of prevention. Burn or plow
over your stubble, and plant your
wheat late In the fall.
.'FNhaustive study and comparison
has taught us the dates when wheat
should be planted. and not before.
For people located In the latitude OF
Elkton and Newark, plant wheat from
October to 9, Chestertown-Har
rington latitudes, from october 6 to
13, Easton-Milton, from October g.
16, and Salisbury October 10
IT. Il rs better. in each Of these cases,
90 plant on the later date THESE
dates have been figured from vera
extensive study of the insect
rThe plant disease which caused
the most financial loss to Delaware
and the peninsula was the tomato
blieht and wilt But that Is another
story. We cannot control diseases as
easily as we can control insects, ano
this Is especially applicable to toma-
toes II is our duty to try to solve the
problem of this disease of tomato
blight I am not prepared to say thai
spraying will control IL. Il may as
sist i'm It's control You should MAKE
il your business to spray your plants
at least two times in the bed. Then
plant them out and follow with "a
spray of Bordeau and arsenate of
lead
The tomato wilt, on the other
hand. Is a disease which comes from
the soil. and we cannot do anything
with e. The only thing that would
help would be a rotation of crops
and to refrain from planting toma.
toes where experience has shown
that the wilt is IN the ground.
rIf will pay you also TO take into
consideration the matter of spray
ing potatoes. do not suppose there
is more than one In every ten farm
ers in this room who have ever
thought of spraying potatoes except
for bugs. The arsenite of zinc, In my
estimation, has better result in
spraying potatoes than arsenate OF
lead AS 10 the San Joe scale, that
is a back number. You all know how
"a control It. From the standpoint
OF insect pests alone, one very thor
ough spraying when the blossoms
fail W bring wonderful results.
--''The cedar rust, which affects the
leaves and fruit of the apple is a
fungus disease that comes from the
cedar tree The cedar apples de-
which are blown by the wind to your
apple trees. This Is the only known
source of the cedar rust This dis
ease cost Washington county Md
$4,000 in 1912. The best remedy
is to cut out your cedar trees, though
hate to advocate such a radical step
Ynn could cut out and destroy the
cedar apples at the proper time, OF
spray your cedar trees when th'
spores are coming from the cedar ap
pies Il is up TO YOU TO study these
diseases and get busy toward then
eradication
"There were moee new insects il
TINS section in 1872 than ever before
One in particular was the outbreak o
pickle worm among cantalOupes. Gu
cumbers and melons generally
bores into the fruit However, Il il
particularly fond of squash, and
where il has appeared It is well e
plant squash, as a trap crop. in you
cantaloupe fields
A free discussion followed. and IN
speaker was asked dozens of ques
tions. all of which he answere
promptly and satisfactorily Man
Of the delegates are using note book
and keeping records of the yaluabl
suggestions made By the variou
speakers.
Sweet Potato Culture.
Homer c. Thompson. assistar
horticnlturist of the United State
\ Department of Agriculture. gave a
\ Instructive talk on Sweet Potai
Culture. Harvesting and Curing
He said that the sweet potato Gro
hsd,amounted to S40.OO0.OOO last yea
and he believed that this could 4
doubled by improved method of sto
age He urged his hearers not to be
out any sweet potatoes that show ev
dence Of any disease whatever. and
examine thoroughly each tuber. r
urged the Importance of usin
new soil for bedding each year. 4,
the reason that many diseases li'
IN the soil over the winter. II th
cSnnot be done. and II is necossai
e. use the old soil agaiR it shou
81 thoroughly sterilized.
'tThere is no reason why il Is ui
reasonable 10 expect a yield of fro
175 10 200 bushels per acre. inste;
OF 140, the present average, with car
full treatment Do not make a heal
application of stable manure TOO clol
10 the planting of your potatoes.
is'better to put II on with the pre-
ious crop.
ITO sum up the most valuable iten
ia sweet potato culture and stOrag
keep these four points in mind: Firs
haze the potatoes well grown an
absolutely mature; second, hand
them with the greatest care and
few times as possible; third, tho
opgh cure and dry them OUT, al