256 CALIFORNIA GARDEN FLOWERS 



house, where such things are kept always ready for use. Formerly one 

 had to spoil his temper and his clothes and be late for church in mak- 

 ing and applying some mess to a plant, while now he can saunter into 

 the garden after breakfast, spy a new pest, take a shot at it with the 

 proper ammunition and artillery, get to church early and enjoy the 

 sermon because he knows that he has put satan behind him. The trade 

 has certainly done great things for the amateur. But though the 

 problem of insecticides and fungicides has been thus simplified for the 

 amateur, it may be helpful to readers remote from the shops to indi- 

 cate a few first aids to the injured. 



A Universal Contact Insecticide. Kerosene, emulsified so that its 

 injury to living plants is obviated, is almost a universal garden insect 

 destroyer. No matter what kind of an insect it is, if you can get kero- 

 sene emulsion against the breathing port-holes, which are on the sides 

 of him, his career is ended. The easiest way to make a little kerosene 

 emulsion is this: 



Dissolve a 1-inch cube of laundry soap in 1 pint of hot water; add 

 1 pine of kerosene. Churn with egg beater until the mixture looks 

 like clabbered milk. For growing plants, dilute with water to 2 or 3 

 gallons; for dormant hard-wood plants, 1 gallon. 



Another widely useful contact insecticide is tobacco solution. It 

 can be made by pouring five gallons of boiling water over a bushel of 

 tobacco stems, and after cooling pour off the liquid and add five gal- 

 lons of water. This tobacco tea should be used as soon after making 

 as possible and is of little value if allowed to stand two or three days, 

 for it will start to ferment and it then loses strength. The most con- 

 venient form to use is the nicotine extract. Use one tablespoonful of 

 the nicotine to five gallons of water. 



A simple soap solution is effective against plant lice if thoroughly 

 applied several times so as to kill new comers or refugees from earlier 

 treatments. Use an ordinary cake of laundry soap to five gallons of 

 warm water. Cut the soap in small pieces to secure quicker solution. 



Garden Fungicides. Most mildews are checked by freely dusting 

 the plants with very finely-ground or sublimed sulphur. The ordinary 

 commercial sulphur is too coarse to be highly effective. The sulphur 

 can be blown from a dust-sprayer or shaken from a cheese-cloth bag 

 fastened to the end of a stick. 



The copper-fungicides used in orchards are effective against fungi 

 affecting garden plants, but the blue-whitewash effects are unhandsome. 

 A fungicide which does not discolor foliage is this: 



Potassium sulphide, 3 ozs.; water, 10 gals. This dissolves imme- 

 diately, making a clear, yellowish liquid. The fierce odor of it is not 

 enduring. Frequent applications have to be made to cover newly- 

 grown foliage. 



