■*[ II 



70 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



100. Whale-o 

 curranls 



1 soap. Bad for scale insects. Good for 

 and gooseberries. A vile smeller 



101. Bordeaux mixlure, the standard fungicide. Small 

 cans of paste. Mix with water, and spray 



102. An inviting shingle. Its shadowy coolness attracts 

 various crawlers. " Reconcentrado " the worms ! 



103. Luring night-flying moths to destruction, 

 of them is the mother of the cut-worm 



when prepared for the table. Its long name 

 is anthracnose, and it is not at all a pleasant 

 visitor. 



SPRAYING OUTFITS FOR HOME GARDENS 



There are various outfits for spraying 

 arsenical and other insecticides. The kind 

 you need depends upon the size of your gar- 

 den. If it is large you will probably need a 

 barrel on wheels. Of these there are numer- 

 ous styles. If the garden be small, one of 

 the hand-sprayers is sufficient. The knap- 

 sack is a good one. The tank is carried on 

 the back by straps over the shoulders, and a 

 nozzle or rose spray is held in each hand. It 

 throws a spray about fifteen feet, and it is 

 therefore equally useful for both vegetables 

 and young fruit trees. 



The powders mav be blown on a plant by 

 means of various kinds of bellows and rub- 

 ber balls, or by placing the powder in a coarse 

 muslin or cheesecloth bag and dusting or 

 shaking it over the plant. Many other sim- 

 ple and inexpensive methods will occur to 

 the reader. 



THE TROUBLESOME POTATO PROBLEM 



The poor potato has a "hard road to trab- 

 ble." It not only has the Colorado beetle, 

 but scab and blight as well. The scab is a 

 fungus disease of the tuber, and this fungus 

 may be either on the potato or in the land, or 

 both. There are three ways of treating seed 

 potatoes for scab before they are planted. 

 Soak them in a solution of corrosive subli- 

 mate or a solution of formalin, or expose 

 them to the light for several weeks before 

 planting. The corrosive-sublimate solution 

 is made thus: Two ounces of the powder are 

 dissolved in two gallons of hot water. AYhen 

 dissolved, pour into a barrel that already has 

 thirteen gallons of clean water in it. Let it 

 stand for several hours, stirring once in a 

 while, then put the seed potatoes either cut 

 or whole into this solution and let them 

 remain an hour and a half. Corrosive sub- 

 limate is a deadly poison, and potatoes treated 

 in this manner should never be fed to animals. 

 I think I "pass" on this method. Eight 

 ounces of formalin in fifteen gallons of water 

 is the proportion for this germicide. The 

 seed should be soaked in the solution for two 

 hours, placing the seed in a bag and suspend- 

 ing the bag in the barrel. A crop from seed 

 treated in this manner is not poisonous. It 

 seems to me good, pure sunlight is the best 

 method, and authorities differ greatly on 

 effects obtained by chemical treatment. 



The blight affects the leaves and stems of 

 the plant and may even affect the tuber itself. 

 It looks like white mildew and should be 

 prevented, as it cannot be checked when it 

 once has a good foothold on the vines. 

 Bordeaux mixture thoroughly sprayed on 

 before this disease appears will often prevent 

 its coming at all. 



DISEASES OF BEETS 



Beets have scab like potatoes, but they 

 cannot, of course, be treated in the same 

 manner as the potato. If you have scabby 

 potatoes be sure not to plant beets in the 

 same place. 



AN ASTONISHING INSECTICIDE — CARBON 

 BISULPHIDE 



If you do not mind evil odors, there is a 

 remarkable insecticide known as carbon 

 bisulphide, which will kill the maggot. It 

 is made by passing sulphur fumes over red- 

 hot charcoal and liquefying the vapors by 

 condensation. It is a clear-white liquid, 

 heavier than water, which evaporates very 

 quickly and is inflammable. It does not 

 harm the skin or fabrics (I mean the chemi- 

 cally pure product), but the fumes do kill all 

 insect, plant, and human fife, if inhaled 

 freely. It is particularly valuable to the 

 gardener in destroying harmful insect life 

 that is in the earth, where the ordinary 

 remedies are useless. The vapor is heavier 

 than air and naturally falls; therefore, if 

 injected into the soil where the unwelcome 

 insect lives, the fumes will work their way 

 between the particles of soil, killing all insect 

 life that they encounter. It is necessary to 

 know just how much will kill the insect and 

 not kill the plant, however. And it is ex- 

 tremely necessary to handle this chemical 

 carefully and as described later. For the 

 amateur gardener it is most useful in destroy- 

 ing cabbage maggot, also an insect that 

 attacks the roots of grape vines as well as 

 borers that enter fruit trees. It can be 

 bought of druggists or direct from the manu- 

 facturers in air-tight cans or drums for about 

 25 cents a pound. 



In treating plants for root maggot, a hole 

 should be made three or four inches from the 

 stem of the plant, and running obliquely down 

 below the root. The liquid is poured into 

 this and the hole immediately closed, press 

 the earth firmly so that the vapors may not 

 escape. One teaspoonful is enough for a 

 small plant; one tablespoonful for a large 

 plant. The earth should not be in too loose 

 a condition, else the fumes will escape; nor 

 in too compact a condition, else the vapors 

 set free cannot distribute themselves through- 

 out the ground. It is wise to start this treat- 

 ment for the maggot as soon as the insect 

 is discovered, or he will make such headway 

 that the crop will be lost. 



There are injectors made for the special 

 use of carbon bisulphide. A hole could be 

 made with a sharpened stick, the liquid 

 poured in from a tea- or table-spoon and the 

 hole immediately closed. A small amount 

 of this liquid poured into a mole's run will 

 be almost sure to finish him ; but as moles eat 

 many underground insects, they are rather 

 beneficial than otherwise, unless they make 

 a run under a row of plants or ruin a sand- 

 papered lawn. 



Carbon bisulphide may be used to kill 

 sucking insects upon plants such as plant 

 lice in this wise: Take a fairly good-sized, 

 well-made wooden box. Make an auger- 

 hole in the bottom. Place over the hole a 

 wad of cotton large enough to absorb a table- 

 spoonful of liquid. Turn the bottom up and 

 fit a cork into the hole. Now place the box 

 over the plant or vine affected, making sure 

 every part of the plant is inside the box, 

 which should set firmly into the earth. 

 Remove the cork, pour on the cotton two 

 teaspoonsful of carbon bisulphide, replace 



