The Canadian Horticulturi^ 



Floral Eldition 



Vol. XLV. 



TORONTO, FEBRUARY, 1922 



No. 2 



Spraying Fruits and Vegetables 



FEBRUARY is not too early for 

 the gardener to prepare to com- 

 bat the insect enemies of fruits 

 and vegetables. The earlier that spray- 

 ing materials and a pump are secured, 

 ike more likely one is to succeed in 

 holding tho pests in check, for early 

 efforts in fighting insects are the most 

 effective. 



In the vegetable garden, destructive 

 insects give the gardener a fight from 

 the time he puts his seed into the 

 ground until the crops are ready for 

 use. Left alone, they would devour 

 every useful plant in the garden. 

 Fruits, likewise, in most seasons are 

 apt to be badly injured. The success- 

 ful gardener is the one who studies the 

 habits of these pests, learns the means 

 of combating them, and keeps con- 

 stantly at it. 



The gardener who starts with clean 

 >oil has done much to ' keep out in- 

 sects and diseases. One of the best 

 ways to avoid trouble is to plant each 

 vegetable in a different part of the 

 garden each year. In spite of the best 

 precautions, however^ insects will ap- 

 pear. One should always prepare in 

 advance for the combat. 



Measures Most Effective. 

 The principal measures effective 

 against insects are various kinds of 

 poisons, generally applied as a spray 

 or as a poison bait. Arsenical stomach 

 poisons, such as Paris green and arsen- 

 ate of lead, are used to destroy in- 

 sects that bite and chew the leaves and 

 other parts of the plants. Of these, 

 arsenate of lead is the best and safest 

 for general use, and also adheres bet- 

 ter to the foliage. Paris green is apt 

 to burn some plants, such as beans, 

 seriously, if not carefully applied, but 

 on account of its long use can be ob- 

 tained almost anywhere. 



Arsenate of lead is sold in either dry 

 or paste form, and should be mixed at 

 the rate of one pound of paste or one- 

 lialf pound of dry powder to 20 gal- 

 lons of water or Bordeaux mixture. 

 Being deadly poisons, these insecti- 

 cides should be kept away from child- 

 ren. Two to four, sometimes even 

 more, sprayings are necessary during 

 the season to keep down garden 

 pests. The powdered arsenate of leac 



C. B. Alden, Toronto 



may also be applied dry, mixed with 10 

 to 20 parts of cheap dry flour or hy- 

 drated lime and dusted on, preferable 

 when the dew is on, by means of guns 

 or bellows, so as to cover the plants 

 and leave as little as possible. 

 Little Bugs with Big Appetites. 

 As space for this article is limited, 

 only one biting insect will be discussed 

 in detail — the potato beetle, known 

 more commonly as the potato bug. 

 *rhis beetle passes the winter in the 

 ground and emerges early in the 

 spring, so that he is on hand when the 

 first potato leaves appear. Within a 

 few days the familiar little clusters of 

 orange-colored eggs may be found on 

 the underside of the leaves. These 

 hatch inside of a week, and the shiny, 



Spraying Celery. 



An efllclent home-made spraying outfit for the 

 Hardener Us here shown. One man works the 

 pump, the horse being trained to keep between 

 the rows. Three rows are done at a time. 



dark-red larvae, commonly called 

 slugs, commence devouring the leaves 

 at a disastrous rate. They attain ma- 

 turity in about three weeks after 

 hatching. There are from two to 

 three broods a year, depending upon 

 locality, and, as one female beetle is 

 known to lay between 500 to 1,800 

 eggs, it can easily be seen that the rate 

 of multiplication is appalling. 



In small garden patches, it is well 

 to find and crush the eggs and the 

 beetles on the leaves. The beetles may 



also be picked off or jarred into large 

 pans containing water with a film of 

 kerosene. In larger patches, an ar- 

 senical poison must be used, either 

 sprayed or dusted. 



Many other kinds of insects are now 

 wintering over in some form, and will 

 come out early to plan their cam- 

 paigns. Specific advice respecting any 

 of these will be given by The Cana- 

 dian Horticulturist's question and 

 answer department, or . by any agri- 

 cultural college or department of agri- 

 culture on application. 



Another Type of Insect Pest. 



Sucking insects, or those which 

 puncture the skin of the leaf and feed 

 upon the sap Avithin, are combated 

 with contact preparations, sprayed or 

 otherwise applied on the bugs, such 

 as nicotine sulphate and kerosene 

 emulsion. Perhaps there is no class 

 of garden insect the method of at- 

 tack of which is so insidious as that 

 of the plant lice, or aphids, the best 

 known type of sucking insect. At 

 first, in spring, a few plant lice may be 

 found hidden on the underside of the 

 leaves of melons, peas, cabbage and 

 other vegetables, or of fruit trees. A 

 little later the leaves begin to curl up 

 and to lose their color, and an exam- 

 ination will show the inside of the 

 rolled leaves to be literally alive with 

 aphids, feasting on the juices of the 

 plants. At this stage something must 

 be done quickly, for within a few days 

 there will be another of the many 

 generations, or broods, at work. 



Arsenical poisons are useless. Nico- 

 tine sulphate — a tobacco extract — is 

 the most satisfactory preparation for 

 controlling these pests. To be effective, 

 it must be used exactly according to 

 the directions given on the container. 

 One authority says: 



"For small garden plots, one tea- 

 spoonful of nicotine , sulphate should 

 be used to one gallon of water, to 

 which a one-inch cube of hard soap 

 should be added and thoroughly mix- 

 ed. If a larger quantity is desired, use 

 one fluid ounce to eight gallons of 

 water, with the addition of one half- 

 pound of soap." 



The spraying should be done as 

 early as possible, always on the first 



