PESTS AND DISEASES. 83 
covered whether the plants were tomatoes or buckwheat, 
or, in fact, if there were any plants at all in the house.’’ 
INSECTS AND DISEASES. 
Insects and fungi are amongst the best of all educa- 
tors. They force the gardener to learn, whether he will 
or not. They are always the curse of poor gardeners. It 
occasionally happens that the very best gardeners are 
overtaken by some dire pest, but it is the exception, 
not the rule. The gardener boasts that the glass house 
affords him the means of keeping plants directly under 
control. By the same means, he should also keep the 
pests under control. There is a constant struggle for 
mastery between the plant, the bug, the fungus, and the 
man, and it often happens that the combatant which is 
the biggest, oldest and knows the most turns out to be 
the slave of all the others. 
The one universal and invariable precaution against in- 
sect and fungous attack is this: Keep the plants in a con- 
stant and uniform state of normal and healthy develop- 
ment. Avoid all extremes of temperature and moisture, 
and be particularly careful in this regard in the dark 
weather of winter. One is growing cucumbers, for ex- 
ample. He is in a hurry for the crop. The season is 
advancing. A dull spell comes on. He keeps his house 
close and waters freely. The plants respond quickly. 
The stems lengthen and thicken and the leaves expand 
to enormous size. Presently the sun appears. He must 
have air. He swings open the ventilators. The cold air 
rushes in and stirs the foliage. Two or three days later, 
he may look for a well-established case of mildew! 
If he is growing lettuce in the same fashion, his plants 
appear to suddenly begin to collapse. The lower leaves 
rot, and presently the crop is worthless. In less than a 
week, one January, the writer lost an entire house of 
most beautiful lettuce by just such management. If he is 
7 FORC. 
