HOUSE AND GARDEN 
July, 
1912 
bright day, especially following a spell of cloudy weather, the 
leaves of some plants will go down a little, but as a general rule 
it is a sign that attention is required at once. 
Curled or twisted leaves. Quite frequently the foliage is curled 
downward or distorted by the injury done by sucking insects 
sheltering themselves upon the lower surfaces, safe out of sight 
of birds and gardeners. Any 
abnormality, in fact, should 
be examined at once, and in 
the majority of cases it will 
be found that some external 
agent has caused it, and that 
an effective remedy, if ap¬ 
plied at once, can be used. 
The longer it is delayed and 
the more twisted the leaves 
get, the more difficult it will 
be to reach the intruders with 
spray or powder of any kind. 
Stunted growth of any sort, 
if it is not a sign that some 
enemy is already at work, in¬ 
vites the attacks of all the ills 
that plants are heir to. What¬ 
ever lessens the vigor and vi¬ 
tality of a plant, increases in 
the same proportion its liabil¬ 
ity to attack by insects or dis¬ 
ease. Where a plant in good 
soil, and well cared for, fails 
to make satisfactory growth, 
it will frequently be found 
that a physical injury, acci¬ 
dentally given at some stage 
of its development, has put it 
on the backward list. 
With these general signals 
of distress in mind, the gar¬ 
dener who goes among his 
plants daily, as all good gar¬ 
deners should, and keeps his 
eyes wide open, very seldom 
has any of the various garden pests steal a march on him. “Nip 
trouble in the bud” must be his motto, and of course he is pre¬ 
pared to act at once 
when the enemy is dis¬ 
covered, for he keeps 
in his tool shed the va¬ 
rious poisons and im¬ 
plements necessary for 
modern garden war¬ 
fare. Here are the 
troubles he might en¬ 
counter on his tour of 
inspection, although, 
fortunately, not many 
of them are likely to 
be present at one time 
or season. 
Asparagus. The 
tender shoots and foli¬ 
age are eaten by both 
the mature beetles and 
the larvae of the as¬ 
paragus beetle, a con- 
A type of compressed air sprayer that spicuous small yellow 
may be slung over the back with a strap red and black beetle. 
Give clean cultivation, cut and burn the vines if badly infested, 
and spray with arsenate of lead. If the tops turn brown and die 
prematurely from rust, three weeks after cutting last stalks for 
table, dust the young tops with flowers of sulphur while dew is 
still on. All growth must be covered. Repeat the dusting after 
three weeks more to insure success. 
Asters. Just as the plants 
begin 
flowering, 
wilting 
is 
A small compressed air sprayer may be carried around with ease and is a 
great labor saver 
often caused by a small worm 
boring in the core of the 
stem. Destroy by burning 
infested plants. Flower buds 
and foliage are often badly 
eaten by the black aster bee¬ 
tle. Hand picking is the most 
effective method, but where 
they are likely to be bad, 
planting either very early or 
very late varieties is recom¬ 
mended. Arsenate of lead 
will kill many, but disfigures 
plants and flowers. 
Beans. The foliage of 
beans is sometimes attacked 
by rust and by blight. The 
former may be practically 
eliminated by planting the 
“rust-proof” sorts; the latter 
by spraying. The pods are 
badly disfigured, especially in 
bad seasons, by red-brown 
circular spots, which also ap¬ 
pear on the leaves; this is 
due to anthracnose or “pod- 
spot,” which comes from in¬ 
fected seed. Spray every 
week or ten days, covering all 
parts of foliage. Beans 
should never he cultivated or 
picked while the foliage is wet. 
Beets. There is also a leaf- 
spot of beets; usually it is not 
severe enough to do much damage; it is controlled by spraying. 
Cabbage , Cauliflower and Brussels Sprouts. A sickly color 
and retarded growth 
indicate the probable 
presence of club-root— 
a contorted, knotty 
growth of the roots. 
The results may be 
partly overcome by 
top-dressing with ni¬ 
trate of soda and bone 
flour and hilling up 
with fresh earth to 
stimulate new growth 
and root formation. 
To prevent club-root, 
dress the land liberally 
with lime the spring or 
fall before planting to 
cabbage, and see that 
no allied crops, all of 
which are susceptible 
to the same disease, 
proceed or follow the 
cabbage crop. Careful 
For more extensive work the larger com¬ 
pressed air sprayer may be necessary 
