Evening star., 1915-05-30
All Around the Place.

Cold. unsea sonable weather is caus-
ing many gardeners to wonder just
what kind Of garden they are going to
have this year Except in a few
places. however. there has been no
frost recently, and the weather. while
too cool for much, actual visible
growth, is causing all kinds of plants
to make extra root growth When
the hot weather comes. as it is GER
tain to do in few weeks. this extra
root growth will enable the plants
whatever they may De, to withstand
heat and drought much better than they
would have done had they made hea y
top growths as in an average spring.
Cutworms are wreaking havoc in
most gardens just now, attacking
peas. beans. limas. sugar corn. cab
base. caulifiowers and pretty nearly
everything but tomatoes. These gar
den pests work at night, cutting on
the tender stalks of whatever they at
tack, either at the surface of the
ground or just beneath. II there are
no chickens to pick up the remedy the
cutworms may be fought with poisoned
bait. This is made of bran and mo-
lasSeS, mixed to a stiff dough. wit
paris green added in the proportion
of a heapins teaspoon to a quart OF
dry bran. Scatter this dough in small
humps between the rows OF plants
which the worms are attacking, doing
this late in the afternoon. The worms
which hide under clods or stones dur
ing the day. will find and eat the
poisoned bait when they emerge at
night. and that is the cutworms fin
ish 1t will also prove the finish o.
any chicken that may find it, For a
small garden bed, or a row of sweet
peas. carbon bisulphide is good rem
edy. though too costly Tor use in
large garden. To use this, punch .
hole about the size of a lead pencil IN
the earth close to the roots of the
plant. and with medicine -dropper put
half a teaspoon or so of the liquid In
the hole Immediately covering II with
earth and packing the earth down in
the hole Every hill of corn must be
treated this way, or every hill OF limas.
every cabbage plant. every hill OF Gu
cumbers etc The chemical. diffusing
through the soil. kills the worms with
out iniuring the plants in the least.
Carbon bisulphide is most evil
smelling liquid exceedingly volatile.
and care must be used in handling IL.
90 IL eXplodes as readily as does gaso
line.
Plants need food. sunlight. water
and air 1t is hopeless to try to grow
anvthine where there is more shad,
than sun. where trees rob the eart'
~ plant food and where there is MOI
enongh enrichment and where the soil
is allowed to bake hard and dry. The
f,rst principle is plenty of cultivation.
tho ground broken up by plow or spade
and then the surface kept loose 10 let
In air and conserve moisture.
Watch the cucumbers and melons for
tho first appearance of the striped Gu
cmnher beetle or the aphis. The for
,nar deyours the foliage of any oF the
cmcurbitaceous plants. while the latter
lxilI the plants by sucking the sap
from the stems Spraying Thoroughly
on the under side. as well as the upper
surface of the leaves, is the only
remedy. a reliable bordeaux mixture
nroperly diluted probably being the
best spray.
Hoe or cultivate after every rain and
OF intervals between infrequent rain
spells. Artificial watering is hardly
ever needed it often hurts moe than
it helps Beside the prime principle OF
cultivation is that Of giving enough
room for each plant. The amateur hateF
to pull up and throw away any o.
the thickly clustered young plants In
a row: he leaves ten plants In the
space that one should occupy. s.he best
lesson for him is to thin out .ns row
severely and leave another witfs crowd
ed plants; then watch the outcome.