

CONTROL OF DISEASES AND INSECT ENEMIES 

 OF THE HOME VEGETABLE GARDEN. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Plant diseases and insects 



Prevention of diseases and insect 

 infestation 



Formulas for fungicides and insecti- 

 cides 



Mechanical methods of control 



Page. 



Spraying methods 12 



General-crop pests 14 



General-crop diseases 22 



Principal garden crops and the in- 

 sects and diseases that attack 



them 24 



PLANT DISEASES AND INSECTS. 



FROM the time the seeds of garden crops are put into the ground 

 until the croj)s are harvested a succession of diseases and insect 

 enemies may appear, each of which must be fought by the methods 

 that experience has shown to work best in the particular case. 



Diseases of plants are due to many causes. Plants suffer if the 

 soil is not suited to them. It may be too rich or too poor or too 

 heavy or too light, or it may contain too much or too little water. 

 It may lack lime and humus. Some vegetables, such as spinach and 

 cauliflower, thrive in cool weather and do poorly in midsummer, 

 while others, like tomatoes and Lima beans, are hot-weather plants. 

 Excessive heat produces wilting or tipburn. Too much water in the 

 soil keeps from the roots the air they need and causes a sickly, yel- 

 loAv growth.' Fertilizers used carelessly or in excess may burn the 

 leaves, injure the roots, or prevent seed from germinating. 



It always is important to have the soil deeply plowed or spaded 

 and made loose and light with plenty of well-rotted manure or com- 

 post and to keep the ground cultivated so that the surface will not 

 become hard or weedy. Use the best seed to be had and sow it 

 liberally to get a good stand, but thin out the plants, as overcrowded 

 plants are in much greater danger of becoming diseased than those 

 that receive plenty of air and sunshine. 



The diseases which cause most loss are due to fungi and bacteria 

 and will be referred to often in the bulletin. Fungi and bacteria 

 are plants, though usually exceedingly small. The disease-producing 

 forms live on or in our vegetables and fruits, feeding on them and 

 causing the various blights, rots, and spots of which we complain. 



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