Evening star., 1944-05-21
By ". Fl. Youngman,

OF beans without giving them some
protection. Other insects are less
serious in their effects, although
they may cause the loss of some
plants or the crop may be injured
in some way. For instance, the tips
OF the ears of sweet corn may be
spoiled by the corn ear worm.
Because of these pests most ex-
perienced gardeners employ one or
another Of the insect controls that
are available to them. Several
methods are in common practice,
although under wartime conditions
spray tanks and metal busters may
not always be easily obtained. How
ever, It is expected that some kind
OF duster will be available to every
Victory gardener.
Busters are mentioned first since
they are comparatively inexpensive
and are easily used. Sprayers are
heavier and must be cleaned after
each use If they are not to corrode.
1t takes longer to prepare sprays
for use and longer to put everything
in order when finished. The gadgets
for use with the garden hose that
hold a cartridge of spray material
are out of the question if the garden
Is beyond the reach of city water.
Since the dust gun is most likely
to be available this discussion will
be largely in terms of dusting, al
though when it comes to types OF
insecticides to use to control the
various groups Of pests, it will be
applicable to both methods.
In the Victory garden the prob
lem Of insect and pest control can
be divided into, roughly, three types.
The first and most common is for
the chewing insects-those that eat
the leaves. The Mexican bean beetle
and the tomato worm are common
examples. To control them some
sort OF a stomach poison must be
used. The chewing insects are con-
trolled by such poisons as rotenone
the arsenates and fluorides (cryo-
lite). The arsenates are commonly
used in the flower garden to take
care OF the chewing insects, but they
1nJure bean foliage and are deadly
poisonous to human beings. The
Huortdes are not injurious to bean
foliage, but are likewise poisonous
to man. The rotenone, an effective
1nsecticide, is not poisonous to
warm-blooded animals. Hence it is
ideal for use in the garden, but un-
fortunately the supply is limited
and gardeners are not always able
to obtain it.
The second group are mainly the
aphids-sucking insects. They do
not eat the leaves, hence are i'm
mune to stomach poisons. We must
use a contact poison on them, one
that kills as it hits" them. The
sucking insects may be controlled
through the use of nicotine sui
phate commonly sold under a trade
name). Soapy water will also con-
troll these tiny soft-bodied insects.
The third group includes the
plant diseases. They are controlled
by the fungicides Copper, sulphur,
etc., Bordeaux "copper" sulphate) is
most commonly used of the coppers,
and there are several forms of sui
phur used in dusts and in sprays.
The materials used to control one
group will not control the pests of
another group. For example, no
matter how much nicotine sulphate
is used it will not stop chewing in
sect nor will it prevent plant dis
eases.
A simple and effective program
then to use, and we recommend it, is
a combination containing rotenone,
bordeaux and nicotine dust, or ro-
tenone, sulphur and nicotine dust.
Under present conditions it may not
be possible to obtain mixtures with
the nicotine dust, but it can be pur-
chased separately and added if the
gardener desires. However, under
average garden conditions, we are
apt to run into but few diseases and
the thrips are seldom serious, so it is
not impractical to use, unless local
conditions warrant, just the rotenone
dust. 1t Is true, we do not have
many diseases in our Victory gar
dens, tomato leaf spot is bad in
some years, late blight is common
on late crop potatoes, but generally
the commonly planted crops are
relatively free from diseases.
Thus, unless special conditions
alter the picture, the busting of our
vegetable crops with rotenone should
be sufficient under most conditions.
1t should be applied regularly on
those crops most likely to need pro-
tection-beans. cabbage, cucumbers,
squash and, while small, tomatoes,
peppers and eggplant. Applications
usually are recommended at weekly
or Today intervals. However, in the
spring when showers are frequent
we may have to make our applica-
tions at shorter intervals. In the
summer when showers are usually
infrequent the dustings need not be
made so often.
Approximately pounds of rote-
none dust should be sufficient to
meet the needs of the smaller Vic
tory garden plot. The dust should
be applied as a light cloud and
should not be thick enough to be
seen on the foliage. A thick coat
does not give more protection than