30 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



if they had been allowed to accumulate undisturbed. Other 

 garden pests, such as cutworms, hibernate in the soil over winter. 

 Therefore, if it be possible to plow the garden late in the fall and 

 thoroughly harrow it, many of these hibernating insects will be 

 destroyed by being exposed to the weather and their natural enemies. 

 In the case of insects attacking the roots or boring in the stalks or 

 \ines of plants, when it is impossible to reach them with any in- 

 secticide it is often possible to so stimulate the plant with a liberal 

 use of quickly available fertilizer that a fair crop may be secured in 

 spite of the attack and it is well known that starved plants are 

 always more readily attacked by insects and diseases than those 

 which are vigorous and thrifty. 



But though much may be done by way of prevention we must be 

 prepared to give battle to the insect invaders of the garden promptly 

 and efficiently if we would save our crops from their attack. To 

 await injury by an insect and then attempt to fight it usually means 

 failure as far as preventing considerable loss is concerned. Those 

 gardeners who control their insect enemies most successfully are 

 those who are constantly on the watch for them, and knowing the 

 best means of handling them, are prepared to combat them at once 

 upon their appearance. A good spray pump should be part of the 

 equipment of every garden. For the small garden a good bucket, 

 compressed air or knapsack pump will be most satisfactory, while 

 for larger gardens a barrel pump, with an attachment for spra}dng 

 several rows when occasion demands, or an automatic pump geared 

 to the wheels of the truck will be found more economical of time and 

 labor. The small compressed air sprayer is handy in that it leaves 

 both hands free for use and is therefore useful if it is desired to spray 

 two or three small trees, possibly with the use of a step ladder to 

 reach their tops. A supply of those insecticides which are needed 

 every year, such as Paris green, arsenate of lead, whale oil soap, 

 tobacco dust, copper sulphate or prepared Bordeaux mixture, should 

 be laid in at the beginning of the season so that no time may be lost 

 when an insect invasion occurs. 



Among the first insects to annoy the gardener are the voracious 

 cutworms. Hardly has a plant been set before it is often cut down 

 by one of these nocturnal depredators. There are many species 

 of cutworms which differ more or less in habits, but for practical 



