^uAtisiCf clmA SnAouina 
Plants become ill just as human beings do. When 
you walk or work amongst them in your garden, 
watch out for trouble. You are your garden’s physi¬ 
cian. Anything that looks wrong probably is wrong: 
a spot on a leaf, a leaf eaten away, tiny objects 
clinging to a branch, etc. 
First, just what will you meet up with: Gardens 
are attacked by, (1) insects, (2) diseases, and (3) 
miscellaneous pests. 
1. INSECT PESTS 
Insects must eat—that is why they come after the 
growing things in your garden. There are two main 
kinds: biting insects, and sucking insects. The biters 
are controlled with stomach poisons placed on the 
leaves they eat. The suckers do not get their food 
from the surface of the plant, but from its juices, 
and must be fought with “contact insecticides” which 
will kill them in other ways. 
2. PLANT DISEASES 
Fungi or bacteria may be the cause of the trouble 
if you are unable to discover actual insects about a 
troubled plant. These are controlled with spraying 
or dusting of the plant. In some cases, the soil must 
be disinfected. In still other cases, when you find 
that the disease is transmitted by an insect from one 
plant to another the insect has to be controlled. 
3. MISCELLANEOUS PLANT PESTS 
These include gophers, slugs, snails squirrels, etc. 
HOW TO IDENTIFY GARDEN PEST 
TROUBLES 
The best way is to know the appearance of a plant 
after it has been attacked, and to have pictures and 
descriptions of each pest. Remembering here the 
different kinds of pests, biting and sucking insects, 
fungous and bacterial diseases, and the miscella¬ 
neous pests, we shall talk about each in turn. On the 
following pages you will find tables listing the va¬ 
rieties of pests you may have trouble with, what harm 
they do and how to control them. 
BITING INSECTS 
When you come across leaves which seem to have 
been eaten away in part or entirely, or roots, tubers, 
or another part of a plant with an eaten look, your 
garden is being visited by biting insects. Some biters 
burrow into fruit and lay eggs there. Some tunnel 
into other parts of the plant. 
Most of the biting insects can be killed with lead 
arsenate. All the control measures given in this 
chapter are sold under various trade names. 
In the table, you will notice, most of the biting in¬ 
sects are beetles, caterpillars, grasshoppers and 
worms and the chief remedy is lead arsenate spray 
or dust. 
SUCKING INSECTS 
Some times you will shake a flower and tiny specks 
like pepper will fall out. Or you may see a leaf un¬ 
naturally curled, and sticky to touch. At other times 
a tiny insect will jump from a leaf if you disturb it. 
You may see a cluster of things like minute bar¬ 
nacles or little eggs clinging to a stem or twig. Or 
you may not see any actual insects, but only a 
strange yellowing of the leaves, tender young leaves 
stunted and curling, distorted buds, discoloring of 
the plant, blackening, fungus growing in a sticky 
mass of honeydew, stunted flowers, or little galls on 
stems or the upper parts of leaves. 
When you notice any of these signs, the trouble is 
some sucking insect or other. None of them do all 
of these things; each has its specialty. 
Note in the table on the next page that a combina¬ 
tion oil nicotine spray is the remedy in most cases 
here, and that the pests are spiders, and the tiniest 
mites, bugs or flies. 
FUNGOUS DISEASES 
If there are gray, powdery growths on your plants; 
tiny red, brown or black pustules (elevations look¬ 
ing like pimples or blisters) ; holes in the leaves, 
red spot on the fruit; dying buds; soft brown spots; 
curled, distorted leaves; black spots on your Roses; 
or premature falling of leaves—the trouble is prob¬ 
ably fungi (microscopic plant organisms, living as 
parasites on your plants). 
Note, in the table, the importance of Bordeaux 
mixture in controlling fungous diseases. 
BACTERIAL DISEASES 
When your leaves, twigs or branches die in an 
unaccountable manner, they may be attacked by 
some bacterial disease or blight. Potatoes, tomatoes 
and celery so attacked may sometimes be controlled 
with Bordeaux mixture. Peaches and walnuts are 
probably doomed, however, although you can try 
the same control measure with them. It is sometimes 
effective with peaches. 
MISCELLANEOUS PLANT PESTS 
Most of the time you will see them “in person,” 
and so will know that they are around. Snails can 
either be hand picked and stepped on (wear gloves 
if you are squeamish about handling them) ; or can 
be killed with poisoned bait. 
Other pests which succumb to poisoned bait—and 
usually one preparation will do for them all—are 
sow bugs, slugs, and earwigs. Special commercial 
ant poisons are on the market, one of the best being 
light poison which does not kill the ants at once. 
They are attracted to it, drink their fill, return to 
their hills and feed it to the young; thus the entire 
colony is exterminated at its source. 
Moles are caught with regular mole traps. Squir¬ 
rels, gophers and rabbits are discouraged with poi¬ 
soned barley, which you can also buy. Success has 
been had in gopher control with fumigating bombs 
which are ignited, dropped in the holes quickly, and 
the holes covered at once. Gophers, however, are 
best trapped. 
[ 21 ] 
