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Things to Use for Fighting
Plant Enemies
The devices and implements
used for fighting plant enemies fall into these two basic groups:
(1) those used to provide mechanical protection to the
plants;
(2) those used to apply insecticides and fungicides.
Of the first, the most useful is a covered frame,
often called a cold frame.
It consists usually of a wooden box, some eighteen inches to
two feet square and about eight inches high, covered with
glass, protecting cloth, mosquito netting or mosquito wire.
The first two coverings have the additional advantage of
retaining heat and protecting from cold, making it possible
to plant seedlings earlier than is otherwise safe.
They are used extensively in getting an extra early and safe
start with cucumbers, melons and the other vine vegetables.
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Simpler devices for protecting
newly-set plants from cut-worms, such as tomatoes or cabbage,
are stiff tin, cardboard or tar paper collars, made several
inches high and large enough to fit around the stem and
penetrate an inch or so into the soil.
Tools for applying poison powders.
An important tool for the home gardener is a powder gun.
Better still and more convenient and versatile is a
hand-powered, compressed-air sprayer. They are used for
applying wet
insecticide sprays, and should have mist-making nozzles – the
non-clog able automatic type being the best.
For more extensive work, a barrel pump, mounted on
wheels, would be desirable, but any one of these sprayers will
do a great deal of work in little time. Extension pipes for use
in spraying trees and vines can be obtained for either, making
the spraying task even easier.
For operations on a very small scale a good hand-syringe
could be used, but as a general thing it will be best to invest
a few dollars more and get a small tank sprayer, as this
throws a continuous stream or spray and holds a much larger
amount of the spraying solution.
Whatever type you purchase, one made of brass will out-wear
three or four of those made of cheaper metal, which succumbs
very quickly to the corroding action of the strong poisons and
chemicals used in them.
Eye and skin protection are very important, and spraying
of powders and liquid chemicals are best done safely when the
air is relatively quiet.
Exercise caution when pets or other people are in the area.
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