Evening star., 1925-09-11

Fighting root lice with tobacco
! water has resulted in the glory OF
the Autumn garden--the asters.
Today they fiaunt their pink and
white beauty along the three sides
! of the back yard, giving the border
that graceful beauty which they
| alone can give II.
Not that the aster is more beauti-
full than many other flowers. 1t is
not; and yet 1t does possess q
! charm all of its own, Just as the
rose does. and the gladiolus. and the
pansy, too, and the little violet, each
in its own way.
The root lice were determined
there should be no asters in the
garden this Fall. Perhaps II would
be more accurate to say that the ants
were determined. These busybodies
herd the lice. which are their cows
and deliberately place them on the
roots.
Get rid of the ants, then. and you
get rid of the lice. This Is good
advice, and. II taken early enough
probably would save the gardener a
great deal of work. Getting rid OF
ants. however, Is harder work than
killing the root lice, If possible.
In the garden under discussion the
lice were at home on the roots OF
the young plants before 1t was real
lied. One day plant began to droop
and its healthy green leaves to take
on a sickly light greenish hue. with
touch Of yellow in II.
Now there are so many things that
| can happen to asters, as all know
who have ever raised them--or at
tempted to raise them-that one can
scarcely determine, from a casual in
spection. just what is the matter
/ when suddenly a plant seems sick.
In such case, 1t Is always well
10 take up a plant or two and ex.
anime their roots.
-
If there, the lice Will be plainly visi
BILE. They are not the green fellows
that attack rose bushes and the
altheas, but pale lice, pale in a dark
sort of way, as BELTS a creature that
lives underground
Looking down the long border OF
little plants, the impossibility OF talk.
ing them all up, even If II could be
| done without harm to their growth
was apparent. The first wild idea OF
scraping the lice off by hand was
given up.
A 40 per cent nicotine solution kills
the lice above ground. Why wouldn't Il
do II below the surface?
Well. we will try 1t, for unless we
do something we are going to lose
every aster plant in the garden.
A gallon Of tobacco water Is pre-
pared, vile-smelling stuff. yet good for
our purpose. With the trowel hole
| is dug Immediately at the side OF
| each plant. and q generous amount OF
| the water poured down it.
This is repeated close to the other
| side Of the plant, the idea being to
| put the nicotine squarely on the in.
fected roots. If possible. for 1t kills by
contact only.
When the 40 per cent nicotine solu
| ton is sprayed on the green lice or
rose bushes 1t shrivels them up brown
We hope 1t Will do the same to the
miner lice.
Six gallons Of solution are prepared
| and carefully placed on the roots OF
the plants. one by one, here a little
| and there a little.
Several weeks later the plants ap-
pear 10 be suffering again. Six more
| gallons Of water are poured down. By
| this time we see II is doing good, and
| in no way affecting the growth Of the
| plants adversely.
This is one of the pleasant features
of gardening, that certain chemicals
| have the power to kill bugs" but do
| not injure the plants in any way.
| This happy working out of SO many
things we use has always struck me.
1t can be traced in many directions.