CLEAN CULTURAL PRACTICE METHOD FOR FIGHT- 

 ING INSECT PESTS. 



By Edw. AI. Ehrhorn. 



In the course of the ages throucrh which our world has existed, 

 there has been gradually established, by the influence of surround- 

 ings, a certain ratio between annuals and plants. There is a con- 

 tinuous struggle going on among the plants themselves as well as 

 a struggle between the plants and insects. This has been more 

 generally observed where nature^s influence has been upset, mak- 

 ing surroundings as it were unnatural. Extensive pl&ntings of 

 one plant or other has created abundance of food which very soon 

 is eagerly sought by various enemies, either fungi or insects, and 

 nature is unable luider such conditions to hold her balance. 



From the time that man began to cultivate, his crops have been 

 attacked by some pests, be it vegetable (fungi) or animal (insect 

 pest) and we find in some of the oldest books on gardening and 

 entomology how the early farmer and horticulturist had certain 

 remedies to combat the enemies of his crops with. Alany of these 

 were rather cjueer in their composition. I remember reading of a 

 remedy which was used in the Southern States consisting of lime, 

 soap and whisky. 



Within the last decade great strides have been made in fighting- 

 pests but it is not my intention today to dwell on insecticides and 

 their uses, nor on parasites and predaceous enemies of our pests, 

 nor on the great benefits which have been derived from such 

 methods. I am going to draw attention to a method which I am 

 sorry to say is but little known in these Islands and which, if 

 taken up by the various growers, will do much to check the 

 ravages now caused by various pests. I draw your attention to 

 the practice of clean culture. Cleanliness on a farm, in a field or 

 in a garden means much to the crops or to plants and much to- 

 ward the reduction of pests. Why? Clean culture means cleanli- 

 ness ; the destruction of weeds, the removal of crop remnants as 

 soon as the crop is done ; picking up and destroying dropped fruit, 

 removing, burning up, or otherwise destroying all rubbish that 

 cumbers the ground. Experience has shown that many of our 

 pests are protected by these very materials which we should get 

 rid of. 



Take our melon fly as an example. This pest has been in the 

 Islands over twenty years and it is today one of the worst pests 

 we have. It is next to impossible to raise cucumbers, melons or 

 squash and only by covering over these is the grower rewarded by 

 being able to raise a few inferior melons. Why is this so? Any- 

 body can go into the outskirts of Honolulu and he will sometimes 

 see fields of cucumbers, melons and the like lying about the ground 

 and if he should take the time and examine a few he would find 

 them decayed and alive with maggots, a large per cent, being 

 those of the melon fly. What if clean cultural practice were em- 



