HOUSE AND GARDEN 
220 
June, 1910 
abundant, start 
now a few plants 
of a main-crop va¬ 
riety. A supply of 
green tomatoes in 
the fall will be 
doubly useful for 
pickles and pre¬ 
serves, and also to 
ripen for Thanks¬ 
giving, or even 
Christmas, as will 
be described in a 
later article of this 
series. Above all, 
be sure to firm well 
in the soil all seeds 
planted at this sea¬ 
son of the year, 
when the ground 
is likely to be hot 
and dry. In nine 
cases out of ten, if 
your seed is good, 
Try planting some Brussels sprouts. The 
tiny heads are far better than cabbage 
neglect of this detail is the cause of poor 
germination. 
By care given to planning now you 
can make your late summer and fall 
garden as interesting and satisfactory as 
it should be during June and July. 
Do not, however, neglect your crops 
that are just coming to maturity. In the 
fight with weeds you should by this time 
be complete master of the situation. But 
the fight with insects is still to be carried 
to the bitter end. The following vege¬ 
tables especially will have to be watched: 
Cucumbers, musk-melons, pumpkins and 
squashes, for flea-beetle (a tiny, black, 
hard-shelled insect), striped beetle (an active little enemy, with 
a striped costume significant of his criminal instincts), and 
souash-bug (the big, spindle-legged black fellow who moves 
crab-like in any direction, and has a very offensive odor). The 
last is the most dangerous of the three, and is fatal if allowed 
to begin to multiply. 
The best protection for the young plants is afforded by boxes 
of thin board, about eighteen inches square, and four to eight 
high, covered with cheesecloth or mosquito-netting. These are 
inexpensively made, and with care last many years. If you can¬ 
not provide them, keep the leaves of the young plants covered 
with a layer of finely sifted coal or wood ashes, or common 
plaster. This affords a mechanical protection. Hellebore, to¬ 
bacco dust and kerosene emulsion will help to kill or drive away 
the pests. If you are making your garden produce as it ought, 
it will pay you well to have a compressed air sprayer, for apply¬ 
ing insecticides and fungicides in liquid form. There are two 
types, the knapsack and the cylinder, the latter for ordinary work 
being more convenient. Whichever type you get, be sure to buy 
the machine with brass working parts. It costs a little more, 
but will outwear several of the tin and iron grades. Especially 
if you have a few fruit or decorative trees, will such a machine 
be indispensable in these days of insect pests. For very small 
gardens, a tin or brass “reservoir-and-pump” sprayer will do, 
but the better grade instrument will pay for itself in longer 
Sow Kale (or Borecole) now. The fleshy 
leaf stems are edible besides the leaves 
FIGHTING THE 
DROUTH 
Have you ever 
noticed how nice 
and moist your 
foot-tracks, especi¬ 
ally the heel-prints, 
remain when you 
have pushed the 
wheel hoe through 
your garden ? That 
is not because the 
dampness is stay¬ 
ing there, but be¬ 
cause it is coming 
out. And the soil 
you have worked, 
which seems to be 
drying out so fast, 
almost to dust, you 
will find on scrap¬ 
ing aside half an 
(Continued on 
page xx.) 
service and better work,—other gardening years are coming. 
Bordeaux Mixture, for fungus diseases, such as blight, and 
arsenate of lead—which is safer than the old standard Paris 
Green or London Purple for eating insects, such as potato-bugs 
—are now put on the market in ready prepared forms, which 
need only to be diluted with water for use. There are several 
cheap and effective little “blowers,” described in most seed cata¬ 
logues, for the application of insecticides in powder form. But 
generally the spray is more satisfactory and effective, for with 
it the poison can be put on more evenly, and in a form which 
will last much longer. 
Watch cabbage, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts carefully 
for the green cabbage worm. On small patches hand-picking 
is the easiest and most effective remedy for him. The presence 
of root-maggot, a small white grub, will be denoted by the 
plants wilting and dying down without apparent cause. Affected 
plants should be taken up and carefully destroyed, or nearby 
plants will become infested. A dressing of hen-manure or guano 
and nitrate of soda will give the plants fresh strength to resist 
his attacks, and the soda seems to be effective in driving him 
away. A light sprinkling of coarse salt will sometimes stop his 
work. This aggressive and insidious invader is likely also to 
attack your onions. Use the same treatment as for cabbage. 
Keep an eye open daily for the Colorado beetle, or striped 
potato-bug on potatoes, tomatoes, and 
especially egg-plant. Paris green, mixed 
with either water or plaster (read direc¬ 
tions on the box), or blown on pure in 
invisible amounts with a bellows or 
“gun” made for the purpose, will destroy 
the young larvie, which do most damage 
to potatoes. For the tomatoes and egg¬ 
plant, where you will have only a few 
dozen plants to watch, hand-picking, or 
spraying with arsenate of lead, will be 
better and safer. It is put up prepared 
in a thin cream paste, which requires 
only stirring with water. An over-dose 
will not burn the foliage, as is often the 
case with Paris ereen. 
You will need a spraying outfit. If the garden 
is small a brass hand-pump will do 
