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THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



January, 1909 



tor until a space fifty feet wide has been 

 watered. The distributor is made of 

 tin or sheet iron. 



"Where there is a long, gentle slope, 

 the lower end of the land is often more 

 moist than the upper end, although rows 

 of potatoes 500 feet long have been suc- 

 cessfully irrigated by starting the water 

 at the upper end of the row and allowing 

 it to flow the entire distance. 



"In connection with furrow irrigation, 

 the question naturally arises, 'How far 

 does the water soak laterally?' When 

 potatoes are ridged and the water runs 

 between the rows, there will be lateral 

 soakage enough in sandy soil to make 

 the soil under the potato row quite 

 moist. 



FLOODING SMALL BEDS 



"Small beds of plants often need care- 

 ful and thorough watering. It is quite 

 commonly supposed that sprinkling is 

 the only available method in this case. 

 Two methods of flooding were tried on 

 beds of cabbage plants. In one case, 

 the bed was plowed so as to slope to- 

 wards the dead furrow in the middle. 

 Small furrows were then made along 

 the two edges of the bed with a hand 

 plow. Water was run down the two 

 small furrows, apd made to overflow by 

 damming with a board at short inter- 

 vals. Water was also run down the 

 centre furrow and allowed to overflow, 

 but this was not very effective. 



"In another case the bed was plowed 

 so as to leave the whole a slight ridge. 

 A furrow was made with the hand plow 

 down the centre of this ridge, and water 

 ran down and was allowed to overflow on 

 one side only (at a time). Both of these 

 methods were found to be very satisfac- 

 tory. When the plants were of consid- 

 erable size, the ground was thoroughly 

 wet without wetting the leaves. It 

 worked better after the first irrigation, 

 or after the freshly plowed ground had 

 been rained on. One irrigation was per- 

 formed on the freshly made bed, and al- 

 though it was successful, considerable 

 trouble was caused by the washing 

 away of the bank of the small ditch. 



"Mr. John Repp, of Glassboro, N. J., 

 irrigates three acres of field lettuce when 

 small by means of movable sprinklers 

 attached to rubber hose. When the let- 

 tuce is large he floods the ground by let- 

 ting the water flow out of the open ends 

 of hose, moving the hose from place to 

 place. He considers the method very 

 satisfactory." Another method is to 

 have overhead sprinklers. 



TIME TO APPLY WATER 



The time to apply water will of course 

 depend on the weather, but the judg- 

 ment of the grower is also an important 

 factor. In the dry districts, the plan 

 is to thoroughly soak the ground at 

 fairly long intervals, then follow with 

 good cultivation. In Ontario, where 



there is usually a fair supply of rain 

 during the growing season, it will pro- 

 bably be found better to irrigate oftener 

 and not quite so thoroughly, as, if a 

 heavy rain followed a soaking from ir- 

 rigation, more harm than good might 

 be done. The judgment of each individ- 



ual grower will have to be used also as 

 to the amount of extra water it is desir- 

 able to apply, the character of the soil 

 and subsoil and the slope of the ground 

 being important factors in determining 

 the amount of water that the land re- 

 quires to give the best results. 



Foes of Vegetable Crops* 



T. D. Jarvis, Ontario Agricultural College, Guelph 



THE annual losses due to insect and 

 fungus attacks on vegetable crops 

 is estimated at thirty-three per 

 cent. It is important, therefore, that 

 the progressive vegetable grower be 

 well equipped with a knowledge of in- 

 sects and fungous diseases. "Insects 

 Injurious to Vegetables," by F. H. 

 Chittenden, Sc. D., United States De- 

 partment of Agriculture; "Insect Life," 

 by J. H. Comstock, of Cornell Univer- 

 sity; and "Plant Diseases," by George 

 Massee, are recommended for the vege- 

 table grower. 



The more general observance of cer- 

 tain farming methods, such as involve 

 no extra outlay for machinery or insecti- 

 cides but require modification of ordin- 

 ary farm practices will greatly lessen 

 the losses from this source. They are 

 the most advisable methods of dealing 

 with crops of low value, such as tur- 

 nips, cabbage and other vegetables 

 which would not justify greater expense. 

 Clean culture includes the destruction 

 of weeds, especially those of same nat- 

 ural family with crop, for example, 

 lamb's quarters, spinach and beets. 



DESTRUCTION OF RUBBISH 



Many insects hibernate under trash, 

 boards, chips, and so forth. Cutworms, 

 army worms, squash-bugs and other 

 pests pass the winter in such places. 

 Fence corners harbor many like insects 

 and also grasshoppers in young stages. 

 The cleaning out of such places, burn- 

 ing trash, and so forth, during winter 

 will aid. Even the whitewashing of 

 board fences is an aid in sealing up the 

 corners and cracks where flea-beetles, 

 and some others, hide. 



DESTRUOTION OF REMNANTS 



Remnants should be destroyed, pre- 

 ferably by burning, as soon as the crop 

 is gathered. Many insects multiply or 

 pass the winter on or in the remnants 

 of crops, as worms and aphids on cab- 

 bage and cauliflower remnants, cut- 

 worms and flea-beetles on tobacco, stalk 

 weevils on potato vines, squash borers 

 in squash vines, and so forth. All these 

 may be checked by promptly burning or 

 putting in compost heaps all such rem- 

 nants as soon as the crop is gathered. 



Rotations are good for the land, for 



•A paper read at the last convention of the 

 Ontario Vegetable Growers' Association. It will 

 be concluded In next issue. 



crops, and deter insects. Crops of same 

 nature should not follow each other 

 when attacked by insects or fungous 

 diseases ; for instance, when crops like 

 potatoes, tomatoes and tobacco, follow 

 one another, flea-beetles, tomato worms, 

 potato beetles and various blight dis- 

 eases thrive, but if the land is rotated 

 with corn, onions, and so on, alternat- 

 ing with other crops, much injury will 

 be averted. 



Plowing at certain times often checks 

 insects, especially underground species, 

 by exposing to cold and weather, or by 

 starving through destruction of natural 

 food. Wireworms, cutworms and white 

 grubs may be checked in this way. Fall 

 plowing is usually best for this purpose. 



Fertilizers stimulate the plant to re- 

 sist insect and fungus attack. 



SPRAYING 



Vegetable growers should be provided 

 with a complete outfit for spraying op- 

 erations and should keep on hand or 

 know where to obtain at short distance 

 a good supply of necessary insecticides. 

 Arsenate of lead is coming into use in 

 place of Paris -green. It may be had in 

 paste or powder form and used in water 

 or Bordeaux mixture at from two to four 

 pounds to fifty gallons. It adheres to 

 leaves well and is not likely to burn. 

 The mixture is said to remain in sus- 

 ' pension fifteen times as long as Paris 

 green. It may be purchased from the 

 St. Catharines Cold Storage and For- 

 warding Company, from the Spramotor 

 Company, London, or the chemicals 

 may be obtained from druggists and the 

 preparation made at home. 



The chemical department at the On- 

 tario Agricultural College, recommends 

 for home use : Arsenate of soda, ten 

 ounces ; acetate of lead, twenty-four 

 ounces; water, 150 to 200 gallons. The 

 arsenate of soda and the acetate of lead 

 (sugar of lead) should be dissolved sep- 

 arately and then poured into a tank 

 containing the required amount of water. 

 A white precipitate of lead arsenate is 

 immediately formed and, when thor- 

 oughly stirred, is ready for spraying. 



In a recent bulletin published by the 

 experiment station at Cornell University, 

 a formula is given for an adhesive fun- 

 gicide which is not washed off by rains : 

 Resin, two pounds; sal-soda crystals, 



