The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1914-02-27
FARM z AMP ORCHARD
Oregon and Washhos Specially Suaabb 8 Pacaer -

w. 49, AsOUUI1eQsO mum A0SJce1lx
10e0on and Wdskhso6oa Special
Many Ways to Control
Insect Pests On Farm
Oregon Agricultural College, Cor
Wallis - Good farming methods are
necessary to the complete success Of
insect control by spraying. Other
very helpful factors are protection Of
birds and friendly insects, selection Of
resistant strains Of plants, and CO.
operation among neighbors.
No matter how carefully spraying
has been done during one season, q
goodly number Of pests are bound to
escape destruction. These hold-overs
are necessarily among the most hardy
and prolific of the. species, and propa-
cation is very rapid among them.
They take shelter in weed piles, brush
heaps, litter and trash scraps, and
odds and ends Of last years crops.
Here they build their nests, deposit
their eggs, and lay by for winter.
Practically every scrap heap about the
farm shelters brood of pests that
will let loose swarm Of destructive
insects as the warm days Of spring
approach.
Knowing this, the careful farmer
will rake these farm wastes and by
products into piles and light huge bon
fires when the pleasant days of au-
tumn have dried out the trash ready
for burning.
Myriads of insects, eggs, nests and
food stores will be destroyed in the
burning. This scavenger work will
add immensely to the appearance of
the farm, will destroy vast stores of
weeds and weed seed, favor good
drainage, SO that earlier blowing may
be done the following spring, and
wipe out prolific sources of disease
germs. Notwithstanding these many
advantages of cleaning up, the princi-
pal gain is in the reduction of the
propagating force of insect pests so
that the following seasons crop of
worms, bugs and beetles will be much
smaller than it otherwise would have
been, arrive later and find the crop
stronger to resist them.
"A knowledge of the feeding habits
and the life history of the pests is es-.
sential to successful growing meth
ods," says Professor A. L. Lovett,
assistant entomologist at the college.
with this knowledge, growers may
look ahead and so manage their land
and crops as to avoid the most serious
losses. The careful rotation Of crops;
fall, winter and early spring blowing;
clean cultivation; general cleaning up
of roadways, fence corners, and trash
about the field; the best time for
planting; the proper use of fertil-
izers; the use of trap crops; and the
frequent examination of young plants
for insect pests; each in itself is q
big step in the right direction for the
control of insect pests.
s.The use of insecticides, while es-
sential to the highest production of
truck and garden crops, is not rem
edy for all troubles that arise from
neglect and abuse. Having the crop
in clean, thrifty and growing con-
dition is the first STEP"
Crop rotation is often essential be-
cause the ground itself becomes in
tested with the insects which devas-
tate the crops. This is especially true
Of insects of the worm and caterpillar
types. Often, by substituting some
other crop, these pests, will either be
starved out or forced to leave.
Other insects, such as grasshoppers,
deposit eggs in holes in the ground in
earlv autumn, so that the next sea-
sons crop of pests can be DESTROYED by
fall blowing. Where blowing is not
feasible, as in meadow or pasture,
good results can be obtained by disk
ing the field. If the grower knows
the time of depositing eggs he can
often do much to destroy them by
some cultural methods that are at the
same time helpful to the crop.
Clean cultivation will destroy the
weeds which often harbor the pests,
Offering them shelter through the win
ter and facilities for successful prop
agation Of the young. And clean cul-
tivation means not only the eradica-
ton of weeds from among the Guilt
waited plants, but also the cleaning up
Of weed patches in corners, fence
rows, waste places and roadways.
With knowledge Of the time that
q crop of insects destructive to certain
plants is likely to appear, the grower
can often plan to plant the crop either
late enough to escape the insect in
vasion entirely, or early enough that
the plants will have gained sufficient
size and strength to resist it. Il this
cannot be done it may be profitable
to substitute another crop. when the
insects threaten to be unusually ac-
tive. At any rate, the grower will be
prepared to meet them in the most
effective manner If he knows when
they are likely to appear.
There is, according to Professor
Lovett, q double advantage to De
gained in the use of fertilizers. In
the first place some Of the valuable
fertilizers have a distinct action IN
killing the insects or driving them
away. The other value Of the fertll-
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