Il8 THE FIRST BOOK OF FARMING 



bages and current bushes. This hellebore is sifted 

 on the plant full strength, or it may be diluted by 

 mixing one part of hellebore with one or two parts 

 of flour, plaster, or lime. It is also used in water, 

 putting one ounce of hellebore in three gallons of 

 water and then spraying it on the plants. Plants 

 may be sprayed by using a watering pot with a fine 

 rose or sprinkler, or an old hair-brush or clothes- 

 brush. For large plants or large numbers of smaller 

 plants spray pumps of various sizes are used. Some- 

 times chewing insects on food plants and sucking 

 insects on all plants are treated by spraying them 

 with soapy solutions or oily solutions which injure 

 their bodies. 



The work of the leaf is also interfered with by 

 diseases which attack the leaves and cause parts or 

 the whole leaf to turn yellow or brown or become 

 blistered or filled with holes. The common remedy 

 for most of these diseases is called the " Bordeaux 

 Mixture." It is prepared as follows : Dissolve four 

 pounds of blue vitriol (blue stone, or copper sul- 

 phate) in several gallons of water. Then slake 

 four pounds of lime. Mix the two and add enough 

 water to make a barrelful. The mixture is then 

 sprayed on the plants. 



For more detailed directions for spraying plants 

 and combating insects and diseases write to your 

 State Experiment Station and to the United States 

 Department of Agriculture at Washington, D. C. 



The work of the leaves of house plants is often 

 interfered with by not giving them sufficient sun- 



