CHAPTER VI 



PHOTECTING PLANTS FROM THINGS THAT PREY ON THEM 



Plants are preyed on by insects and fungi; and they are 

 subject to various kinds of disease that, for the most part, are 

 not yet understood. They are often injured also by mice and 

 rabbits (p. 144), by moles, dogs, cats, and chickens; and fruit is 

 eaten by birds. Moles may be troublesome on sandy land; 

 they heave the ground by their burrowing and may often be 

 killed by stamping when the burrow is being raised; there are 

 mole traps that are more or less successful. Dogs and cats 

 work injury mostly by walking across newly made gardens 

 or lying in them. These animals, as well as chickens, should 

 be kept within their proper place (p. 16); or if they roam at 

 will, the garden must be inclosed in a tight wire fence or the 

 beds protected by brush laid closely over them. 



The insects and diseases that attack garden plants are legion; 

 and yet, for the most part, they are not very difficult to combat if 

 one is timely and thorough in his operations. These difficulties 

 may be divided into three great categories : the injuries wrought 

 by insects; the injuries of parasitic fungi; the various types 

 of so-called constitutional diseases, some of which are caused by 

 germs or bacteria, and many of which have not yet been worked 

 out by investigators. 



The diseases caused by parasitic fungi are usually distinguished 



by distinct marks, spots or blisters on the leaves or stems, 



and the gradual weakening or death of the part; and, in many 



cases, the leaves drop bodily. For the most part, these spots 



■ on the leaves or stems sooner or later exhibit a mildew-like or 



178 



