Evening star., 1932-10-21

| None Is so blind Is he who will not
See," 1t is said.
A great many people who like to paw
around In the earth still viii not do
themselves the justice to pay much at
tention to what they are doing.
They are like the great mass of other
wise sane persons who incline to feel
that conscious thought about ones
health is somehow bad.
| All that they turn over to their doc
tor, when little use of their own gray
matter, at times, might permit them to
dispense with him. In this they would
be applauded by medical men, who thus
would have more time to put on those
for whom their assistance Is absolutely
vital.
Those who use their eyes, and even
| their ears, in gardening. know full well
| that few Springs and Summers in re-
cent years saw SO many plant enemies
in full swing.
| The cutWorms got under way early,
and were followed closely by the So
| called garden slugs. or snails. Just what
| damage these latter do Is a mystery to
! the average gardener, but he can feel
sure that they do his plants no good.
| As for the cutworms, their inroadS
are plain enough. Fresh young stalks
are cut of neatly at the ground, as by
knife.
Following these, almost all the stand
ard pests came in their turn. Owing to
| the lack of rainfall, the black-spot OF
roses, a fungus disease, was not as bad
as during other years.
Thrips, it is said, did not bother
gladiolus bulbs as much as usual.
| I,,l
blessings, the remaining insects and dis
eases attacked everything with vigor.
! In addition there were plenty OF
strange bugs" some of gorgeous color
/ ings, which positively did no good to
any garden.
Above all, there was a blight which
! struck branches of certain trees and
| shrubs. and turned them brown in the
middle of the growing season. We nave
! seen oaks, among the trees, ana snow
| berries and rhodOdendrons attacked IN
| this way. No one seems to know ex-
actly the cause. Those who do not be
lieve in using their eyes, or those VINO
simply refuse TO see anything. may oe
! inclined to say that no such ollghl
| exists. But it does, and obserVant
gardeners everywhere can testify to its
presence.
Some professional nurserymen beheVe
! that the first ininical effects OF the
great drought of three years ago are
| Just beginning to be felt. Subsequent dry
! spells, totally more weeks than many
| realize. tended to continue the shortage
of underground water then begun.
/ The result is that soils everywhere are
/ lacking in proper moisture content IhlS
/ i'll state of affairs, as MIR. Barron points
/ out, has been augmented for the worse
by the inability of many home gardeners
/ to secure enough humus materials.
| Well-rotted COW manure, the OLD
standby, is increasingly dificult TO Sc
sure. Mr. Barron says, succinctly
ANY gardener with the least bit OF
observance will have learned one good
lesson from the drought, namely, that
where decomposed manure has been used
the plants stood up better. This is. OF
course, the experience of the ages, ard
has led to the popular misconceptlon
that the manure was a potent fertilizer.
The fact being however. that the great
est function of the manure lay in its
! capacity for holding water. The water
retention Of cultivated soils may almost
be measured by the quantity of humus
| in it. and stable manure puts large
quantities Of humus into the soil. II
! the same quantity of humus can be
added in some other way. well and good.
| The exact source Of the humus is not Of
great consequence. But get the humus,
| l. e., decayed or decaying vegetable mat
4 tor and So econOn1iZe on the water bill :"