38 Southern Gardener^ s Practical Manual 



An analysis of the soil to the depth of six inches from 

 two plots under identical conditions except that one was 

 cultivated shallow after a rain while the other was not, 

 one having the soil mulch on the surface while a crust 

 covered the other, showed that there was twice as much 

 moisture under the mulch as there was under the crust. 



The weeder, the smoothing -harrow or the heel -scrape 

 will produce the mulch on a large scale — the garden- 

 rake or the push -plow on a small area. Stir the soil 

 after every rain and hold the moisture. 



INSECTS— FRIENDS AND ENEMIES 



It is too common for gardeners to regard all insects 

 as enemies. The friendly little lady-bug is too often 

 the victim of such ignorance. There are some families, 

 however, which are all injurious in some form of their ex- 

 istence, and quite a number of beetles that are destructive 

 in both the larval and the perfect stage. All butterflies 

 and moths are destructive in the larval stage, the parent 

 doing no harm except to lay eggs which hatch the 

 destroyers. Every gardener should learn enough about 

 insect life to distinguish friends from foes and the most 

 effective means of combating the latter. It is not my 

 intention to discuss insects in a general way, but I will 

 take up the more common kinds injurious to garden 

 vegetables, as the latter come under consideration later 

 on. A spray calendar will be found on page 204, which 

 gives detailed instructions for combating the various 

 insect pests and fungous diseases that attack our vege- 

 tables and fruits. 



