LET’S KILL THE BUGS 
Pest Control is one of the most important 
steps in successful gardening. Yet, too 
often, the home gardener overlooks the 
importance of a steady complete program 
of spraying or dusting, and unhealthy 
plants result. 
Damage caused by insects, disease and 
destructive animals must be prevented. 
This does not require a lot of costly 
equipment, nor a whole cupboard full 
of materials. Science has stepped into 
your garden and developed several gen- 
eral products which, when applied cor- 
rectly, will control the majority of your 
garden pests. 
There are two main types of insects, 
which may be classified as “Chewing 
and Sucking. It generally is not neces- 
sary to identify the pest to prevent their 
damage. With the proper combination of 
various chemicals, multi-purpose treat- 
ments can be made to control many dif- 
ferent pests with the same application. 
However, the following information is 
given to assist you in diagnosing the 
damage in your garden. 
CHEWING INSECTS: When you come 
across leaves which seem to have been 
eaten away in part, or entirely; or roots, 
tubers, or any other part of the plant, 
with an eaten look, your garden is being 
visited by Chewing Insects. Some burrow 
into fruit and lay eggs there, while others 
_ tunnel into other parts of the plant. 
Most of the chewing insects can be killed 
with a stomach poison, which they 
acquire at the time of eating leaves or 
other parts of the plant. 
You will find that most of the chewing 
insects are varieties of beetles, cater- 
pillars, grasshoppers and worms. 
| Rotenone, adiscoveryfrom South America, 
| which is manufactured from the Daris 
Root, is the most effective material against 
chewing insects. Its action is that of 
paralyzing the insect. It is not poisonous 
to humans and pets. Therefore, it is safe 
| to use at all times. 
| Other insecticides effective against chew- 
| ing insects include Nicotine Sulphate, 
| Arsenate of Lead, and Calcium Arsenate. 
_ However, these materials are toxic to 
| humans and pets alike, and so are not so 
| desirable for the home gardener. 
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SUCKING INSECTS: Sometimes you will 
shake a flower and many specks like 
pepper will fall out of it, or you may see 
a leaf, unnaturally 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 barnacles, or little eggs, clinging 
to a stem or twig. You may not see any 
actual insect, but only a strange yellow- 
ing of the leaves, tender young leaves 
stunted and curling, distorted buds, dis- 
coloring of the plant, etc. 
When you notice any of these signs, the 
trouble is some sucking insect. None do 
all of these things. Each has a specialty. 
The most common of the sucking insects are 
the Aphids, or plant lice, which in their 
common form, look like smal! light green 
barnacles or bumps, generally crusted on 
the underside of the leaves or blossoms. 
There are, however, a number of types 
of Aphids, and quite often they take 
on a different color. 
Because these insects derive their food 
from the plant by means of puncturing 
the stem or leaves with small needle-like 
instruments, and sucking the juice from 
within the plant, stomach poisons such 
as Arsenate of Lead are not effective. 
They are controlled by a contact insecti- 
cide, such as Pyrethrum, which is a dis- 
tilled product from the blooms of the 
Pyrethrum plant. This material works very 
quickly and paralyzes the insect. 
Most sucking insects multiply with great 
rapidity. Therefore, it is necessary to 
make an application of insecticide every 
three or four days during the early sum- 
mer season, when they are most prevalent. 
The third type of common garden pest is 
classified as ‘Night Feeders.’’ The most 
common in this category is the garden 
slug, which can completely devour a num- 
ber of tender young plants in a single 
night. 
These pests are easily controlled with the 
application of small piles of metaldehyde 
bait throughout your garden. This material 
has a strong attraction to slugs and they 
prefer it to tender foliage. You will find 
dead and dying pests around the various 
piles each morning. If once they come 
in contact with the material, they will 
not live to do further damage to your 
garden. 
