Gardening for Amateurs 



687 



Green poison for caterpillars and other 

 pests should be used with care ; don't spray 

 it on bushes within a fortnight before fruits 

 are to be used, and if the bush is bearing 

 fruit it is always a safe plan to syringe 

 with tepid w r ater the next day. Stir 1 oz. 

 of Paris Green (or some other arsenic poison) 

 into 5 gallons of lime water ; keep stirring 

 when using this liquid. 



OTHER GARDEN ENEMIES 



Birds usually visit the gardens in large 

 numbers during spring. At this time they 

 greatly benefit the garden by feeding on 

 caterpillars and grubs infesting the bushes ; 

 if they confined themselves to that they 

 would be welcome guests, but as their diet 

 is varied with a vegetarian course from 

 the trees, consisting of nice fat buds, then 

 something has to be done to keep them 

 away. They often spoil the blossom that 

 decks the fruit trees in May, and cause 

 further loss in that way. Spraying with 

 soft soap and quassia, or dusting the foliage 

 and buds w r ith sulphur, are to be preferred 

 to the old-fashioned method of hanging 

 cotton threads or bits of paper about the 

 branches. Birds will seldom touch any 

 foliage which has been treated with insecti- 

 cides or fungicides. Black cotton over a 

 seed bed will keep them from eating the 

 seedlings when they appear. 



Moss and Lichen may attach them- 

 selves to old walls and trees. They fur- 

 nish homes for many pests, and as they 

 derive nourishment at the expense of the 

 subject on which they live, means of eradica- 

 tion should be adopted. The usual plan is 

 to scrape the pest off and whitewash the 

 parts with quicklime. Caustic soda applied 

 as a wash will kill them. 



Weeds are unsightly and troublesome 

 pests on garden paths. Salt is a good 

 weedicide if used regularly, or carbolic acid 

 dissolved in water may be used at the 

 rate of Ib. per 20 to 25 gallons of water. 

 Protect any plant edgings by means of 

 of a board. 



Mice, moles, and rabbits should be 

 trapped. 



A simple way to get rid of moles is to put 

 a lump of calcium carbide in the run and 

 cover with soil. 



PESTS IN THE GREENHOUSE 



No mention has yet been made of the 

 particular pests to be expected in an 

 amateur's greenhouse. They are many, 

 nevertheless, and only by repeated efforts 

 can their numbers be kept down. 



Fungoid diseases, including rusts, mil- 

 dews, and the like, may be prevented in 

 the same way as advised for outside work. 

 If rust attacks some of the plants with fairly 

 hardy foliage, sulphur should be painted on 

 the pipes for two or three nights in suc- 

 cession when the atmosphere is dry. This 

 is a method that must be carried out with 

 care, and the house must be well ventilated 

 before the plants are watered the following 

 morning. 



Aphides and injurious flies like the 

 parents of leaf-mining maggot can be 

 easily removed by fumigation. The amateur 

 cannot do better than obtain one of the 

 fumigating cones now so widely adver- 

 tised, or if he cares to buy a small fumi- 

 gating apparatus, he can get one for a 

 shilling or two large enough to perform 

 repeated fumigations. The nicotine com- 

 pounds advertised are most efficient, but 

 they require the simple apparatus men- 

 tioned. Auto-Shreds will kill the leaf- 

 miners which disfigure Chrysanthemums, 

 Cinerarias, and other plants. Pinching be- 

 tAveen finger and thumb will remove any 

 isolated maggot. Tobacco paper is quite 

 an old-fashioned fumigant, but a red-hot 

 brick and the ordinary tobacco can also 

 be used. 



When fumigating, allow the house to 

 become dry ; then at nightfall, or at least 

 after the sun goes down, close all openings 

 tightly. Measure out the required amount 

 of fumigant and place it near the centre of 

 the house, either on the floor or on top of 

 a box. Light the material or the lamp 

 below the apparatus, and immediately come 

 out and lock the door. Open the house in 

 the morning and air well before watering 

 the plants. All plants should be removed 

 from the fumigating apparatus, for if too 

 near it some are likely to be damaged. 

 Never fumigate during the day, as a hot 

 sun would burn the plants in the closed 

 house. Always proceed carefully according 

 to the directions given with the fumigant. 



