Tree wounds more than 1 to 2 inches in diameter should be promptly covered with a 

 permanent -type wound dressing or pruning paint, to prevent the entry of disease -causing 

 organisms. 



USE DISEASE-RESISTANT , CERTIFIED SEED 



When ordering field crop, vegetable, flower, or other seed, select adapted varieties and 

 cultivars recommended for your area that are both disease-resistant and certified. You 

 can get information on field crops from the Department of Agronomy and the Illinois Crop 

 Improvement Association in Urbana. By checking through seed and nursery catalogs and 

 various Cooperative Extension Service circulars and other printed matter, you can find 

 what you want to know about vegetable, flower, and other types of seed. 



Many improved varieties are resistant to one or more diseases. One way to get disease-free 

 seed is to insist on certified seed. You can't tell by looking at a seed whether it's in- 

 fected. The disease -producing organisms may be dormant or microscopic. They are often 

 located under the seed coat . 



Most certified vegetable seed, and much of our flower seed, is produced under strict 

 growing conditions in arid regions in the Pacific Northwest. You may pay a little more 

 for certified seed, but you won't be taking the chance of increasing losses from seed- 

 borne diseases. 



LAWN RENOVATION AND DISEASE CONTROL 



If your lawn is thick with a heavy mat or thatch of dead, choking grass, and if the grass 

 is beginning to green-up, this is a good time to renovate the lawn and reduce future 

 disease problems. "Vertical" mowers or dethatching machines are available from most 

 garden-supply and rental -equipment centers. It is not unusual to remove two or more truck- 

 loads of dead grass from an established home lawn. Removal helps the grass to grow and re- 

 duces future losses from leaf spot and melting -out, Rhizoctonia brown patch, Schlerotinia 

 dollar spot, Fusarium blight, and snow molds. Removing the clippings, especially if they 

 are long, also reduces disease losses. 



READ THE INSECTICIDE LABEL AND FOLLOW ALL PRECAUTIONS 



This weekly report was prepared as follows: 



INSECTS: H.B. Petty, Steve Moore, Rosaoe Randell, Don Kuhlman, and Stephen Sturgeon, 

 University of Illinois College of Agriculture, Urbana-Champaign and Illinois Natural His- 

 tory Survey. 



PLANT DISEASES: MX. Shurtleff, Department of Plant Pathology 



WEEDS: Marshal MoGlamery , Department of Agronomy 



AG COMMUNICATIONS: Del Dahl 



The information for this report was gathered by these people, staff members, county Exten- 

 sion advisers, and others, in cooperation with the USDA Agricultural Research Service, 

 Plant Pest Control Branch. 



