February, 1919 
WISCONSIN HORTICULTURE SUPPLEMENT 
1 1 
PROTECT YOUR GARDEN 
Prof. L. G. Genter, College of Agriculture 
If it is worth while to plant a gar- 
den, it is worth while to protect it. 
Insects cause heavy losses to garden 
crops where no effort is made to con- 
trol them, while a few simple meas- 
ures applied at the right time will 
usually entirely prevent such losses. 
One of the first things to do in the 
spring is to get the garden and fence 
corners free from weeds. At all times 
of the season gather up and destroy 
all old vines, stalks and refuse as soon 
as the crops are harvested. Refuse 
and weeds furnish food for insects and 
shelter them for the winter if left in 
the garden. 
Do not let insects get a start. After 
they once become numerous on the 
plants it does not take long for them 
to do a large amount of injury, espe- 
cially on young plants. Every insect 
that you let live through the spring 
season will produce many more later. 
Where insects are few in number 
and are easily seen, they may be con- 
trolled by hand picking and destroy- 
ing. But in most cases it is much 
more practical to spray the plants. 
Liquid sprays may be applied with 
a small hand sprayer which can be 
bought at a small cost. Dust sprays 
may be dusted through a cloth sack, 
or perforated tin can or by means of 
1 .a dust gun. 
Use Poisons on These 
Poison sprays, poison mashes, or 
contact sprays may be used to eradi- 
cate certain garden pests. Here are 
some of the most common insects, to- 
gether with the poisons to use on each 
of them. 
Chewing Insects. Insects that eat 
the leaves and tender parts of the 
plants may be controlled by spraying 
the plants with lead arsenate at the 
rate of 1 ounce (15 level teaspoons) 
to each gallon of water. When ap- 
plied to plants with smooth foliage, 
such as cabbage, it is necessary to add 
an inch cube of common laundry soap 
to every gallon of spray to make it 
spread and stick better. Instead of 
using it as a spray, lead arsenate may 
be dusted on the plants early in the 
morning while they are still wet with 
dew. When used in this way it may 
be diluted with 3 to 5 times its weight 
of air-slaked lime or fine dust. Lead 
arsenate is preferable to Paris gfeen 
because it remains on the foliage 
longer, is not so likely to burn the 
leaves, and is cheaper, especially since 
the war has greatly increased the 
price of Paris green. 
Cutworms cut off young plants near 
the surface of the soil and eat the 
foliage of older plants, feeding at 
night and hiding in the ground dur- 
ing the day. A small number of 
plants may be protected by cutting the 
tops and bottoms out of tin cans and 
placing them over the plants, push- 
ing them well into the soil. Keeping 
down weeds and thorough cultivating 
■of the soil is also of value. Larger 
areas may be protected by applying 
poison bran mash to the soil in the 
late afternoon or early evening. 
Either broadcast the material or place 
in little heaps near the bases of the 
plants. Cfare should be taken to keep 
poultry and livestock away fi-om it. 
To make up the poison bran mash 
mix 2 ounces Paris green or white 
arsenic or 4 ounces of arsenate of lead 
with 3 pounds of bran. Add 2 ounces 
of cheap syrup 'or molasses, % orange 
or lemon finely ground and a small 
quantity of water. Then mix all to- 
gether, adding enough water to make 
a crumbly mash. One half teaspoon 
lemon extract may be used instead of 
fruit. 
Grasshoppers may be controlled by 
poison bran mash made up as for 
cutworms. Tomatoes or melons may 
be substituted for oranges or lem- 
ons. The mash should be applied 
in the early morning so that it will 
not dry out before the insects feed on 
it. If the grasshoppers keep coming 
in from nighboring grass fields scatter 
the mash along the edge of the gar- 
den toward the field and renew from 
time to time. 
Plant, lice are small, soft-bodied in- 
sects which may be found massed to- 
gether on the under sides of leaves 
and on tender shoots. They injure 
the plants by sucking the juices and 
for this reason cannot be controlled 
with arsenate of lead. They may be 
controlled by applying some contact 
spray, such as strong soap (preferably 
fish oil soap) at the rate of 'one-half 
Be Careful of Poisons 
Lead arsenate, white arsenic, 
and Paris green, recommended 
in tliis circular, are deatUy poi- 
sons, and care should be taken 
to keep them away from cJiil- 
dren and domestic animals. 
Bean plants should not be 
sprayed after the pods have 
formed, nor tomatoes after the 
fruit is nearly full grown. There 
is no danger of poisoning to the 
consumer from eating sprayed 
cabbage because the cabbage 
head grows from the inside and 
t.lie outer leaves are removed 
before cooking. The outer 
leaves. however, may have 
enough poison on them to kill 
pound to 4 gallons of water; or 40 per 
cent nicotine sulfate (Black Leaf 40), 
1 teaspoon to 1 gallon of water with 
the addition of an inch cube of soap. 
The spray must actually cover the in- 
sects and should be forced well into 
curled leaves. If all are not killed by 
the first application, the spray should 
be repeated. 
Kill These Directly 
Some common garden insects can- 
not be reached or controlled by 
sprays, and must be removed by 
gathering the insects and destroying 
them, or by destroying their eggs. 
Squash bugs cannot readily be con- 
trolled by means of sprays. They will 
collect under pieces of board or bur- 
lap and may be gathered and de- 
stroyed early in the morning. The 
reddish brown eggs are laid in clusters 
on the under sides of the leaves and 
may be gathered and destroyd. 
Repellants Keep These Out 
Many insects which cannot easily 
be poisoned or killed directly may be 
kept out of the garden to a greater 
or less extent by the use of repellants 
- — which keep the insets away, even 
though they do not kill them. 
Root Maggots. The cabbage mag- 
got may be controlled on cabbage and 
cauliflower plants by placing tarred 
felt discs about the stems of the plant 
at the surface of the soil, just as they 
are being set out. After the maggots 
have begun to work on the roots there 
is no practical remedy. 
For maggots attacking ’onions, 
radish and turnips no satisfactory 
remedy has as yet been found. In- 
fested plants should be pulled up and 
destroyed. Small beds of these may be 
grown under cheesecloth screens. 
TUr nisi led Plant bugs, dull grayish 
to brownish pests abount % inch long, 
fly readily when disturbed and cannot 
be controlled with sprays. They may be 
driven from the garden by dusting 
the rows with wood ashes, working 
from one side to the other. 
Flea Beetles. These little black 
jumping beetles are quit often serious 
on potatoes, tomatoes, cabbages, 
beans, and similar plants. Arsenate 
of lead seem to have little effect on 
them, but they can be kept away from 
the plants with Bordeaux mixture. 
This is made up as follows: 4 ounces 
bluestone, 4 ounces quicklime, 12 
quarts water. Dissolve the bluestone in 
a wooden or earthenware vessel, using 
hot water, then add water to make 6 
quarts. Slack the lime by adding 
water a little at a time. When slaked 
