Grand Forks daily herald and the evening times., 1914-07-18
PANT ENEMIES.

The city gardener inc the farmer
alike r obliged to fight many enc
mics Of their crops, n the problem
of what to do to counteract the effects
of this or that pest is one which is
ever present. The enemies t plant
life in the garden which give the
most trouble and require the most at
tention may De divided into three
great classes, insects which eat the
foliage or other plant substance, in
sects which suck the sap. and fungus
growths. Because Of the different
methods In which these operate they
require different methods Of treat
ment.
The foNage-eating insects are nu-
merous. The potato beetle is Of this
class. as are all the other beetles.
The numerous varieties Of cut
worms differ from them, but they
have some habits in common. The
cut worm does not, as a rule, destroy
the plant by eating it. The attack
is made on the tender stem Of a
young plant, close to the ground. The
stem is eaten through. and the worm
feasts on the flowing Juice. For all
such pests the application Of poison
direct to the plant is the remedy.
The operation of spraying potatoes
with q solution of Paris green or ar
senate Of lead is familiar to every
one The beetle eats the poisoned
leaf and dies. For the cut worm
this will not answer. as the worm
does not climb the plant. nor, as a
rule, does it attack the foliage. The
usual plan is to apply Paris green to
tender lettuce leaves and lay these on
the ground near the plants to be pro-
tected. For the small garden 1t will
be found simpler and quite as ef1ca-
cious to surround the young plant, at
a distance of IN inch or so. with a
collar Of stiff paper, forcing the pa
per about an inch into the ground,
and allowing 1t to project half an
inch above ground. AS the cut
worm neither burrows deeply nor
climbs, this answers the purpos
very we'll, and as soon as plants have
been toughened by exposure to the
weather the cut worms will not trou-
BILE them.
The sucking insects cannot be dis
posed Of by poisoning foliage. for
they do not eat 1t. Neither g the
sap on which they feed be poisoned.
The treatment for them is to apply
something which kills by contact.
For plants which can be handled
separately and tightly covered, tobac-
CO smoke is often useful. Powdered
tobacco is also used in some cases.
arc other powders are found useful
IN special cases. Fol- general use
nothing lie better than Kerosene e,nul-
sion. The purpose of this treatment
is to apply to each insect an inhni-
tessimal portion Of kerosene, which,
in nearly all cases., Is fatal to It. As
pure Kerosene would also destroy the
plant, It must be diluted, and as kero-
sene will not mingle with water, 1t is
necessary first to treat 1t in g manner
to make it soluble. This is done by
mixing the kerosene with soap. Melt
ed soap and kerosene are mixed and
beaten or churned together until the
mass becomes creamy. A small por.
ton of this is then added to a larse
portion OF water and thoroughly
mixed and applied in the form Of a
fire spray.
For the fungus diseases a still diff.
ferent treatment is required. These
manifest themselves in the appear
ance OF smut, rust, mildew, and sc
forth. Various mixtures, such as the
bordeaux mixture. are used for these
troubles. Practically all of these
mixtures depend for their efficacy or
the presence OF lime.
Where they are to be used on g
large scale all of these mixtures car
be prepared at home in accordance
with formulas which may be obtain.
ed from the agricultural department,
at Washington, the agricultural col.
lege. the university biological sta.
ton. and the various farm experts
Where the treatment is for a small
garden 1t will usually be found CHI ca ).
err and more satisfactory to obtain
the desired mixtures from dealers
who usually carry an assortment in
stock.