176 
WISCONSIN HORTICULTURE 
August, 1918 
GARDEN SNAILS CAUSE SER- 
IOUS INJURY TO GARDEN 
CROPS 
Garden snails, slimy, soft-bodied 
creatures, are doing serious dam- 
age in many parts of the state es- 
pecially in gardens, to bean, corn, 
lettuce, tomato and potato. They 
feed at night on the leaves and 
tender parts of the stem, hiding 
under rubbish or clods or going 
into the ground during the day. 
Arscnicals are of no value for 
controlling this pest as the slugs 
feed freely on poisoned baits with- 
out being killed. Dusting air- 
slaked lime around the plants will 
give fair success. Bordeaux mix- 
ture sprayed on the plants seems 
to repel them. The slugs may al- 
so be trapped underneath pieces of 
board or burlap placed in the gar- 
den and may be collected from un- 
derneath these early in the morn- 
ing and destroyed. 
L. G. Gentner. 
CAN! 
Can surplus fruit and vegetables 
up to the needs of home consump- 
tion and no more. The selling of 
home canned products may prove 
disappointing and an expensive ex- 
perience. 
There are, however, perfectly 
good reasons why every housewife 
should can fruit and perishable 
vegetables sufficient for the needs 
of her family. 
First because it means food con- 
servation ; secondly, canned goods 
will be scarce and high-priced. Ac- 
cording to present estimates gov- 
ernment requirements are expected 
to include about 25 per cent of the 
total output of canned corn and 
snap beans, about one-third the 
output of canned tomatoes and 
one-half the output of canned cher- 
ries. 
These figures come to this office 
weekly from the Bureau of Mark- 
ets and the “expectations” of gov- 
ernment requirements grow from 
week to week. Also the govern- 
ment requirements at the canton- 
ments absorb enormous quantities 
of fruits and vegetables. 
While no figures are at hand for 
perishables the fact that the re- 
quirements for August, for canton- 
ments are estimated at 251,570 cwt. 
of potatoes and 17,310 cwt. of on- 
ions will give an idea of the drain 
on the vegetable supply. 
It is therefore plainly the duty 
of war gardeners and every one 
else who has corn, tomatoes or any 
other surplus vegetables suitable 
for canning to can. 
PRESIDENT WILSON’S 
WARNING 
“This war is one of na- 
tions— not one of armies — 
and all our hundred million 
people must be economically 
and industrially adjusted to 
war conditions if this nation 
is to play its full part in the 
conflict. The problem be- 
fore us ^s not, primarily, a 
financial problem, but rath- 
er a problem of increased 
production of war essentials 
and the saving- of the mater- 
ials and the labor necessary 
for the support and equip- 
ment of our army and our 
navy. Thoughtless expendi- 
tures of money for non essen- 
tials uses up the labor of 
men, the products of the 
farms, the mines and factor- 
ies, and overburdens trans- 
portation, all of which must 
be used to the utmost and at 
their best for war purposes.” 
Farm and Home Drying of Fruits 
and Vegetables 
Continued from page 171 
removal of moisture from the ap- 
paratus by a constant inflow of air. 
The reason is obvious; if the ma- 
terial be placed in a closed box and 
heated the confined air will very 
quickly become saturated and no 
more water can escape from the 
material. If the heating is contin- 
ued, the material will literally be 
cooked in its own juices, since the 
water content of the products 
which we dry ranges from seven- 
tenths to more than nine-tenths of 
their total weight. Therefore, a 
drier csw be efficien only in the 
degree that its construction pro- 
vides for constant removal of the 
moisture given off by its contents. 
Success in drying, therefore, de- 
pends upon the stopping by suit- 
able means of the scries of changes 
which begin as soon as the material 
is cut into pieces and exposed to 
the air, the employment of a tem- 
perature sufficiently high to pre- 
vent the growth of organisms — yet 
not so high as to produce the burst- 
ing of cells and loss of juices in 
fresh material or the scorching of 
that which has lost most of its wa- 
ter — and the provision of an ade- 
quate circulation of air for the 
prompt removal of the water vapor 
given off. Simple as these prin- 
ciples are, they have been discuss- 
ed at length for the reason that 
most failures or poor results are 
due to the neglect of one or more of 
them. — From Farmers Bulletin 984 
L T . S. Dept, of Agriculture. Free 
on application. 
If it seems necessary to water 
the garden or lawn plants, do a 
thorough job. Be sure the soil is 
moist clear to the root tips. 
