Tools For Fighting Plant Enemies
The devices and implements used for fighting
plant enemies are of two sorts:
- Those used to afford mechanical
protection to the plants.
- Those used to apply insecticides and
fungicides.
Of the first the
most useful is the covered frame. It consists
usually of a wooden box,
some eighteen inches to two feet square and
about eight high, covered
with glass, protecting cloth, mosquito netting
or mosquito wire. The
first two coverings have, of course, the
additional advantage of
retaining heat and protecting from cold, making
it possible by their
use to plant 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.
Simpler devices for protecting newly-set
plants, such as tomatoes or
cabbage, from the cut-worm, are stiff aluminum,
cardboard or tar paper
collars, which are made several inches high and
large enough to be put
around the stem and penetrate an inch or so into
the soil.
For applying poison powders the home gardener
should supply himself
with a an EPA approved powder gun. If one must
be restricted to a single
implement, however, it will be best to get one
of the EPA approved hand
power, compressed air sprayers. These are used
for applying
wet sprays, and should be supplied with one of
the several forms of
mist-making nozzles, the non-cloggable automatic
type being the best.
Extension rods for use in spraying trees and
vines may be obtained for
your sprayer. For operations on a very small
scale a good hand-syringe
may be used, but in general, 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 is
procured, get a brass machine--it will out-wear
three or four of those made
of cheaper metal or plastic, which succumbs very
quickly to the, corroding
action of the strong poisons and chemicals used
in them.
Of implements for harvesting, beside the
spade, prong-hoe and spading fork
already mentioned, very few are used in the
small garden, as most
of them need not only long rows to be
economically used, but tractors also.
Running the hand-plow close on either side of
carrots, parsnips and other
deep-growing vegetables will aid materially in
getting them out. For fruit
picking, with tall trees, the wire-fingered
fruit-picker, secured to the end of
a long handle, will be of great assistance, but
with the modern method
of using low-headed trees it will not be needed.
Another class of garden implements are those
used in pruning--but where
this is attended to properly from the start, a
good sharp jack-knife
and a pair of pruning shears will easily handle
all the work of the kind
necessary.
Still another sort of garden device is that
used for supporting the
plants; such as stakes, trellises, wires, etc.
Altogether too little
attention usually is given these, as with proper
care in storing over
winter they will not only last for years, but
add greatly to the
convenience of cultivation and to the neat
appearance of the garden.
Various contrivances are illustrated in the seed
catalogs, and many
may be home-made--such as a stake-trellis for
supporting beans.
As a final word to the intending purchaser of
garden tools, I would
say: first thoroughly investigate the different
sorts available, and
when buying, do not forget that a good tool or a
well-made machine will
be giving you satisfactory use long, long after
the price is forgotten,
while a poor one is a constant source of
discomfort. Get good tools,
and take good care of them. And let me repeat
that a few dollars
a year, judiciously spent, for tools afterward
well cared for, will
soon give you a very complete set, and add to
your garden profit and
pleasure. |
