The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-06-07
PROTECT PLANTS
 FROM DISEASE
By A. P. ROCKWELL tAuthor of Around the Year in the Garden" and Making a Garden of
 Small Fiuifs." etc.)

Small Fhuits" etc)
 If there is anything in the world
 that makes the lover of plants feel
 discouraged, sick and hopeless. it Is to have a beautiful rose, a choice
 perennial, or a new shrub "nipped
 In the bud By some disease. When insects are guilty of the out rage. one can at least get back at
 them. They can generally be pois- oned, or at the worst, you can pick
 them off and burn them. or step on them.
 Put tho insfduous plant disease, that works so gradually that its pres
 ence is hardly realized until the
 damage is done, is more exasperating
 and much more difficult to control Now the first and most import ant thing to learn in fighting plant
 diseases Is
 They cannot be "cured." but they can for the most part be prevent ed.
 The mistake that most people make
 Is in letting a plant disease become
 established befort doing anything
 about it. Then in nine cases out ef
 ten, 1t Is too late. Under these cir
 cumstances, the most that can be hoped for, is to "controT' 1t, to pre- vent 1t from spreading to other plants.
 To do this frequently the plants
 first attacked have to be sacrificed
 entirely-pulled up and burned. That
 is, of course. where the ''cure is worse
 then the disease''-but it is the only
 way to prevent the disease from be-
 coming general.
 But" asks the gardener beginner,
 ''are none of the many sprays that are
 advertised for plant diseases any
 good at all?''
 Of course they are-but only if
 used intelligently. One might as well
 expect to hunt birds with shells that
 have been soaked in the washtub
 oyer night, as to control ptlant dis
 eases by using these sprays in the
 way they are often used.
 Why Plant Diseases Are Hard to Cure
 The reason is simple.
 Most diseases while they first at tack the plants on the surface of the leaves, soon enter into the cel1-struc ture, and are distributed through the interior of the plant, and thus get beyond the reach of any spray ap- piled to the surface. Take for instance the ordinary "blight''-of which there are various forms of attacking many | different plants.
 This disease is distributed" by in sects, carried through the air, and by
  l the surface of the leaves of other plants These spores, which are floating around by the millions, though so nlicroscopica1 as to be in visible, take root and grow on the surface of 'Teaves'' when conditions are favorable.
 The only effective way Of prevent ing the disease from spreading, there fore, Is to make conditions such that i+J1 I,a lriJ xube aHght on the leaf surface, and before they have had a chance to grow Experience has proven spores can- not live when they are brought in contact with a surface covered with Bordeaux mixture. It is, therefore, possible to protect them by keeping the plants to be protected, well cov- cred with a Bordeaux mixture spray.
 It is evident, however, that this must be applied in advance; and also ap- piled frequently enough to keep the new growth covered.
 Spray as Regularly as You Cultivate. It has been proven by experience that by spraying plants every week or ten days will afford protection, in most cases, to keep them healthy, where plants that were not sprayed have been attacked and ruined by the disease It will not require average of over fifteen minutes a week in most home gardens to spray the flowers, perennials and shrubs that need to be protected. While Bor- deaIIx can be made at home for use in small quantities it is more con venient to buy it. All that is required is to mix it with cold water. It is, therefore, very small task to do this spraying a routine garden job just as you cultivate
 Another effective preventative
 against most fungus diseases are pre- parations of lime and sulphur. Fun gacides'' of this character are on the market under various trade names such as Sulfolium, Fer-sul, etc. Most of these preparations are reliable, but of course directions should be fol- lowed most carefully and accurately. Many people seem to have the idea that any kind of a spray will kill or cure any kind of 2 bug or disease. no
 matter how it is handled. When the facts in the case of how plant dis eases are spread, and just what they are Gas outlined above) are under stood. however, 1t should be very plain to everyone that only the right kind of spray handled in the right | way will be at all effective. In addition to the blight, there are various forms of nildew which at- tack many plants Anyone Wno mas attempted to grow roses is familiar | with the two forms which commonly attack roses, even out of doors. | Gooseberrfes, also unless one of the new resistent varieties has been plant | ed, are very susceptible to injury from mi1dew. If plants have not been sprayed as suggested above the dis ease when it appears, may be held in
 check by dusting the plants thor oughly with flowers of suipnur which | may be obtained at any drug store.
 Rust or anthracnoae, is another 1 disease common to many plants. Some | forms may be very well controlled | by the treatments suggested above, | but others are not The plants affect ed show dark spots or blotches on | the leaves, which turn brown and | finally become dry and brittle. In I fact the whole plant may be ruined. 1 c,rsret.cn i., s5ar1f,y, Very ImDOrtaDt