58 A HOME VEGETABLE-GARDEN 



from weeds keeps away untold numbers of these 

 stealthy disease carriers. Garden sanitation is 

 the biggest means to garden health. After all that 

 has been done directly and indirectly, however, to 

 bring about healthy condition, yet maladies of 

 some sort almost continually menace the garden. 

 Plant disease may be combated most effectively 

 through preventive measures. Mildew, rust, dry 

 rot, and blight, all fungous diseases, may be more 

 easily prevented than cured. Healthy plants 

 may be kept so by spraying. 



Bordeaux mixture is considered the best fungi- 

 cide for general use on garden crops. This spray- 

 ing material is a preparation of copper sulfate 

 and lime, in water. The chief uses of the lime are 

 to make the copper sulfate stick tightly to the 

 leaves and to neutralize its caustic effect; that is, 

 to prevent it from burning the leaves. Kather 

 than to prepare a small quantity, it may be more 

 satisfactory for inexperienced gardeners to pur- 

 chase a reliable mixture and dilute it as needed. 

 Open only a small quantity at a time, because 

 it is liable to loss. Make the first application 

 just before disease signs appear. The material 

 adheres closely to the foliage and, in dry weather, 

 will remain for a long time. In dry weather, 

 also, there is the least possible injury to the 

 foliage, while dampness increases the caustic 

 effect. To be most efficacious, the wash must 

 cover every part of the plant. This, however, can- 



