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 conies 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 Jater, 

 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. 



