CHAPTER IV 



SPRAYS AND POISONS 



The plant doctors are always at work compound- 

 ing remedies for their patients, so that today we are 

 happy in the possession of a cure for almost every 

 evil in the garden. It is interesting to note the 

 advice of an English gardener, given some years ago, 

 to hill up the potato vines, drawing the earth snugly 

 about the stems to keep the mysterious " blight 

 disease" from creeping down and rotting the tubers. 

 Of course this precaution was of no use against the 

 tiny spores that cause the blight. 



Bordeaux Mixture 



After much research Bordeaux mixture was dis- 

 covered, a compound of copper sulphate and lime. 

 This wonderful remedy not only protects the po- 

 tato vine against the blight, but also prevents many 

 other plants from having fungus diseases of all 

 kinds. Tomatoes, melons, cucumbers, beans, straw- 

 berries, and numerous other plants are saved from 

 possible destruction by its use. Bordeaux mixture 

 may be purchased at a seed house or at local stores. 



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