(GROWING PAINS continued from page 14) 
which are perfectly hardy in your area will winter- 
kill if they are not growing properly. Too rank 
erowth from too much push on the nitrates, or lack 
of vigor because of lopsided fertilization, or too 
heavy mulches, too wet, too dry, or soils which com- 
pact too much, are to be avoided. Healthy, happy 
plants will take some pretty rough weather, and like 
It. 
Bugs you will have. But with all of the modern 
chemicals, control of insects and diseases is compar- 
atively simple. Over a period of some years, together 
with the chemist of a local firm, we have worked out 
a nicely balanced dust which gives us wonderful 
control of insects and leaf diseases. This material 
has been offered by the manufacturers under the 
trade name of “PEST-HEX”. At the moment, the 
new so-called “Miller Act” has all of the chemical 
manufacturers in a dither, and unless the law is 
changed, very likely many of the “packaged goods” 
manufacturers will pull their brands off the market. 
It seems that under this Miller Act (Pure Food and 
Drug-Not Dept. of Agriculture) if you spray your 
petunias, and your cat comes searching for a nice 
cool place to bury a bone, and gets sick and then ups 
and dies, the manufacturer has to stand for the cat. 
The act makes the maker responsible for accidents 
to humans and animals. 
So PEST-HEX as such may not be available but you 
can have the same mixture made locally. Or you 
can buy it from most chemical firms for ‘experi- 
mental purposes”. It contains: 
Lindane 2 % 
Captan 5 % 
Aramite 414% 
Inert 8816 % 
(Continued on page 18) 
We like to send out nice plants like these. 
16 
