SECTION VI 

 Insect Pests 



Within the past fifteen or twenty years commercial gardeners have 

 taken a much keener interest in the various diseases and pests that 

 prey upon their crops than their predecessors did. During that period 

 great changes have taken place in cultural conditions, and all crops are 

 now grown not only in larger quantities and on a more extensive scale, 

 but in many cases under what may be called an " express " or " intensive " 

 system. Every grower wishes to be first in the market, so as to secure 

 the highest price; and this very craze to be first with everything has 

 brought about insensibly and gradually changes in the constitution in 

 the various kinds of plants grown for market purposes. At one period 

 of the year they are forced or rushed into growth in great heat; at another 

 they are retarded or kept in check in a freezing atmosphere; while in 

 other cases, where neither forcing nor retarding is employed, some crops 

 are so drenched with chemical manures that it is not at all surprising 

 that some of them become so soft and tender in tissue as to fall an easy 

 prey to fungoid diseases and to insect attack. 



No crop is now immune from attack, and this knowledge keeps the 

 commercial gardener constantly in a state of fear and apprehension. To 

 add to his troubles, some diseases, notably the American Gooseberry 

 Mildew, have been scheduled by the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, 

 and a grower having any bushes affected with this disease is liable to 

 heavy penalties unless he reports the same. In some cases indeed, where 

 the orders of the Board of Agriculture have been treated lightly, some 

 market gardeners have been fined as much as 50. 



Attacked by insect enemies and fungoid diseases on all sides, the 

 market grower has called in the aid of the entomologist on the one hand 

 and the chemist on the other, and has spent much money in experimenting 

 with various remedies that have been recommended either to check his 

 enemies or get rid of them altogether. The entomologist has assumed 

 a prominent position in describing the habits and marriage customs of 

 the various insects that are a plague to the gardener. And the mycologist 

 or fungologist tells of the wonders he has discovered through the micro- 

 scopic lens about the various fungi that make themselves unwelcomely 

 at home on the roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and fruits of various crops. 



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