Efficiency in the Flower Garden 
THE INSECTS THAT ATTACK THE GARDEN NOW AND HOW TO FIGHT THEM—DISEASE 
AND DROUGHT—SUMMER PRUNING—THE DUST MULCH AND CONSERVATION OF MOISTURE 
F. F. Rockwell 
T HE different troubles to which the flower garden is sub¬ 
ject are not generally known as those attacking vege¬ 
tables. Moreover, they are not so easy to get at. The vegetable 
garden, laid out in straight rows with foot room between, and 
with each thing by itself, makes an ideal battleground for an 
attack on the enemy. In the flower garden exactly the reverse 
exists. Furthermore, in the flower garden one is somewhat 
restricted as to the weapons he may use. If arsenate of lead 
or Bordeaux mixture leaves the potato patch or the rows of 
beans streaked or discolored, or if kerosene emulsion used against 
the pea lice or tobacco dust used on the melons 
causes a disagreeable odor there is no serious objec¬ 
tion. But it is, of course, desirable to keep the foli¬ 
age of flowers clean and green and to 
avoid disagreeable smells about the 
house. For this reason, in 
place of the standard 
sprays, it is often desirable 
to use substitutes which, 
not perhaps as effective, 
are free from some of the 
undesirable qualities. 
The first and most im¬ 
portant step in carrying on 
a successful fight is to di¬ 
agnose correctly the trou¬ 
ble. Some of the most 
powerful remedies are ab¬ 
solutely ineffectual against 
certain kinds of bugs and 
spores. The treatment 
must be adapted to the dis¬ 
ease. The troubles most 
likely to be encountered 
may be considered in three 
general classes — the eating 
insects, the sucking insects, 
and parisitical diseases In 
addition to these there are 
sometimes encountered 
root grubs, borers and con¬ 
stitutional diseases. But 
in nineteen cases out of 
twenty, the trouble with a 
plant in the flower garden 
will be found to belong to 
one of the three classes 
first mentioned. 
The eating insects are 
the most general and the 
easiest to identify. They 
work, however, in many different ways. Some eat the leaves 
as they go; others chew or cut out holes; others merely skeleton¬ 
ize the leaf by chewing off the “skin” and leaving the frame¬ 
work, often working from below, so that often a great deal of 
damage is done before their presence is discovered. Still others, 
like the rose bug and the aster beetle, seem to take special delight 
in working on the buds and flowers themselves and in seeing 
how many they can ruin in a long working day. There are two 
methods in treating this type of intruder; the first is to put them 
out of business with an internal poison applied on the leaves, so 
that they take it along with their daily bread; the second is to 
gather them by hand and destroy them. In the flower garden 
the latter method has several advantages; and where only a few 
plants are to be cared for anyone who has given it a fair trial 
will be quite likely to make use of it. Rose bugs, aster beetles 
and some of the worms and other bugs usually appear first as 
matured specimens; while quite active and hard to get on warm 
days, they are usually sluggish and dopey in the cool of the 
morning, and it is then not a very long task to rid the plants 
of them thoroughly if one is provided with the proper 
equipment: a wooden handle about two feet or so 
in length fastened to an old skillet or a large tin can. 
The can should be about half filled with 
a mixture of kerosene and water. A 
paddle about 18 inches long and of con¬ 
venient shape can be readily 
whittled out; this should have a 
sharp point at one end. With 
this equipment the bugs 
can be very rapidly ga¬ 
thered in. 
Where spraying is pre¬ 
ferred, however, there are 
a number of poisons to 
choose from; Paris green, 
for many years the favor¬ 
ite, has to a large extent 
been superseded by arsen¬ 
ate of lead, which can be 
applied either as a wet 
spray, or may be procured 
in the powder form; the 
latter is equally as effec¬ 
tive and less conspicuous. 
Apply in the dust form 
when the foliage is dry. A 
powder gun should be used 
so that the under as well 
as the upper surface of the 
leaves can be covered. Ar¬ 
senate of lead is particu¬ 
larly valuable where pro¬ 
tection is needed for a con¬ 
siderable time. For inter¬ 
mittent use hellebore, which 
will wash off at the first 
rain, and is not so dan¬ 
gerous to use near the 
house, may be applied. Tobacco dust, while not a poison, is very 
obnoxious to most insects and is usually effective in keeping them 
from reappearing. 
The sucking insects are much harder to control. The various 
forms of aphids or plant lice and scale, and the newlv hatched 
young of the white fly and the squash bug belong to this class. 
(Continued on page 48) 
Having diagnosed the plant disease, waste no time in getting at the source of trouble with 
spray; meantime feed the plant to strengthen it against attack 
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