190 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



May, 19 18 



green, london purple, lead arsenate, etc.). 

 In other words don't experiment but stick 

 to the recommended mixtures so as to avoid 

 damage to the foliage and the fruit. 



To make self-boiled lime-sulphur wash 

 place four pounds of fresh stone lime in a 

 barrel or a large keg, add a little hot water 

 at a time till slaking is complete and a creamy 

 mixture is formed. Sift in four pounds of 

 sulphur and mix thoroughly, cover closely 

 and let cook by its own heat for 15 minutes. 

 Then dilute with enough water to make a 

 total of about 25 gallons. 



Resin-bordeaux mixture sticks to hairy 

 and very smooth (glaucous) foliage better 

 than ordinary bordeaux. Melt 5 pounds of 

 resin with 1 pint of fish oil over a gentle fire, 

 cool slightly and stir in one pound of soda 

 lye. Then add five gallons of water and boil 

 until the mixture will dissolve in cold water. 

 It is now ready to use at the rate of one 

 gallon to each 25 of ordinary bordeaux 

 mixture. 



For bordeaux mixture, dissolve copper- 

 sulphate (a pound to the gallon) in water, 

 hanging the crystals in a bag which just 

 touches the surface of the water held in a 

 barrel or keg. In another barrel slake, little 

 by little, fresh stone lime. When creamy add 

 water to make a pound to the gallon. Strain 

 out the lumps through burlap. Pour a 

 little naphtha or kerosene on each solution to 

 check evaporation. When ready to spray 

 dilute each mixture so the diluents will each 

 contain half the quantity of water called for 

 by the formula used but all the lime and 

 copper sulphate respectively. Now pour the 

 two dilute solutions together into the spray 

 tank. Finally test a teaspoonful of the 

 mixture with a drop of yellow prussiate of 

 potash dissolved in water. If any color shows 

 add more lime and test again till no change 

 occurs. Formulae are: 4 lbs. each of copper 

 sulphate and of lime to 50 gallons of water 

 for most fruits; but 6 lbs. of lime instead of 

 four for peaches and other stone fruits. 



On "Listening post" 



TJ/'HEN bugs arrive, be sure to strive to find 

 ' ' out how they eat. All those that bite, 

 with poison fight; with caustics, suckers treat. 



*Peach and other trees that have started 

 their buds very irregularly and sparsely may 

 have been "winter injured." The only 

 remedy is to cut back the tops very severely 

 so as to conserve the plant food and direct it 

 all into a greatly limited area. New shoots 

 will or should develop and form new tops. 

 Thinning out the twigs is all that need be 

 done — next spring. In spite of this treatment 

 the trees may die. 



A/TAKE the gardens that are shirking help 

 -*■*■*- the gardens that are working. "Gardens" 

 strewn with weeds and stones are like beehives 

 full of drones. Till them; make them do their 

 duty. Stop their stealthy theft of booty. 



*Howitzers loaded with "summer 

 strength" lime sulphur wash (1 to \\ parts 

 to 40 or 50 of water) should "play" on the 

 possible emplacements of fungi. Their work 

 must be preventive for once the foe gains a 

 footing it will deal deadly destruction to 

 hopes of fruit. 



T EAD arsenate paste, the tiniest taste (an ounce 

 ■*—' to the gallon of water) is the " onliest" 

 drug that each chewing bug will need for its 

 premature slaughter. 



*Slacker bugs — there are no such creatures! 

 Every bug is a fully armed soldier either a 

 foe or a friend. Challenge each one and make 

 it give the password. Be ruthless in destroy- 

 ing those that fail. 



Better buy commercial lime-sulphur rather 

 than attempt to make it. In fact, most of 

 the spraying materials and mixtures may 

 better be purchased than made at home. 



*Soapsuds made from one ounce of hard 

 soap in half a gallon of water will clean off 

 plant-lice, red spider and many other sucking 

 insects if sprayed on the under sides of leaves 

 and the tips of the young twigs. 



ZfEROSENE emulsion: One ounce of soap, 

 ■*■*- one quart of oil, one pint of hot soft water; 

 one quarter hour churn up with power. Dilute 

 ten times, you oughter. 



*The hairy caterpillars that appear during 

 May on pear and other foliage in New Eng- 

 land are the larvae of the Brown-tailed 

 moth. Lead arsenate sprayed after the 

 blossoms fall and again in August will prove 

 effective. 



*Bombard plant lice with nicotine prepa- 

 rations. Direct the fire to the under sides of 

 the leaves and the tips of the twigs where the 

 foe is chiefly entrenched. 



*Halt the insidious advances of the goose- 

 berry fruit worms by opposing a battalion of 

 chickens kept on this front from May until 

 midsummer when the fruit ripens. 



r I T HE saw fly has come from her winter re- 

 -*■ treat, on the gooseberry bush you will 

 find her; she deposits her eggs underneath the 

 first leaves in the place Mother Nature assigned 

 her. The larvae will hatch in ten days, p'rhaps 

 a week, if the weather conditions be kindly; at 

 first they are whitish, have appetites meek, but 

 they later turn green and eat blindly. These 

 worms you may combat with lead arsenate, very 

 simple if done while they're little; a spray when 

 the leaves are still tender and fresh will be death 

 if they eat the least tittle. 



WHEN NOT TO SPRAY 



"^TEVER spray while the trees are in 

 ■*■ ^ blossom because the poisons would 

 kill good friends, the insects that carry 

 pollen and thus help settings of fruit. 

 Wait till the petals have fallen before 

 spraying. 



'fHERE'S not a fertilizer for mountains, 

 -*■ valleys, plains, that's worth a continental 

 when laid 'longside of brains. 



Ei^" The most destructive sapper and miner 

 is the peach borer. His tunnel is just below 

 ground. Notice his dump of borings and 

 gum. Follow him up his burrow and meet 

 him with cold steel. Trust no other weapon 

 nor means of defence, all else have failed. 

 It's a case of "come to grips" with him. 



$d^" On general principles spray the under- 

 sides of currant leaves with nicotine solution 

 or kerosene emulsion to destroy the plant 

 lice that later will make the leaves look like 

 savoy cabbage because of contortion. At that 

 stage spraying is useless because the creatures 

 can't be reached. 



Identifying the Divisions 



' I 1 HE war on bugs and blights is won only 

 ■"• piece by piece. 



■fc Quince curculio makes knotty fruits. 

 Treat the same way as plum curculio. 



*tt For oyster-shell scale found on the bark 

 of apple and many other trees storm with 

 nicotine solution this month. 



■^■Raspberry saw-fly larvae and several other 

 chewing insects feed on the leaves. Lead 

 arsenate is the remedy. 



-^After currant and gooseberry fruits 

 become half grown use hellebore instead of 

 lead arsenate. It will give the worms fatal 

 tummy ache without menacing human health. 

 Half an ounce to the gallon of water is enough. 

 If more convenient to apply as powder, dust 

 it on while the leaves are dewy. 



■^•Espionage agents report a drive of rose 

 chafers scheduled for late May and early 

 June. Many divisions will reinforce the 

 shock troops. Grape vines, rose bushes and 

 raspberries are among the leading objectives. 

 The defence must be desperate. Lead 

 arsenate is about the only ammunition to use, 

 but it is not safe on ripening fruit. When 

 the first scouts appear open fire. 



^•Canker-worms when disturbed hang by 

 "silks" from apple trees which they defoliate 

 if numerous. Attack with lead arsenate 

 before the blossoms open and again soon after 

 the petals fall. The later spray will also 

 catch the first brood of codling moth larvae 

 that make "wormy" apples. Tent cater- 

 pillars make ugly nests in branch crotches. 

 Fight them like canker worms. 



■^tCut off branches and twigs of plum and 

 cherry that show black knot wart-like 

 excrescences. Make cuts several inches below 

 the knots. Burn at once. Spray with 

 bordeaux mixture to which is added 25 per 

 cent, more lime than for apple spraying. 

 This will not cure but will at least partially 

 prevent further attacks. 



-^■Leaf blight of quince also affects the 

 fruit, making reddish-brown spots with black 

 centres. Bordeaux mixture applied just 

 before the blossoms open and again soon 

 after they fall with one or two later treat- 

 ments at intervals of about two weeks will 

 prevent cracking of the fruit. 



if Wilting of leaves on currant twigs here 

 and there indicates borers in the stems. Cut 

 off several inches below the lowest wilted 

 leaves. If the centre shows a hole cut lower 

 still. The pith should be intact. Burn all 

 cuttings. 



■^•Grape leaf hoppers, lively little yellow 

 and red marked sucking bugs on the under 

 sides of the leaves are best fought with 

 nicotine solution sprayed upward. Chewing 

 insects on grape are best controlled by lead 

 arsenate. The treatment for rose chafer will 

 settle them. 



•^Plum curculio grubs make wormy and 

 "gummy" plums. Prevent or reduce damage 

 by jarring the trees every morning at dawn, 

 catching the torpid beetles in sheets and 

 dumping them into kerosene. This work must 

 be kept up for six weeks after the blossoms 

 fall. Spraying with lead arsenate is only 

 partially effective. 



