SPRAYING FOR PESTS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 164, 13 July 1935, Page 6 (Supplement)

SPRAYING FOR PESTS.

ANTICIPATE AND PREVENT.

It must bo noted that no matter liow (rood the material used for epraying, in all cases prevention id better than cure. When one is dealing with plants that are known to bo subject to a certain pest, such as cabbage fly on cabbage, etc., aphis on broad beans, aphis on herbaceous calceolarias, mealy bug on indoor plants, the sensible thing to do is to anticipate the arrival of the pest and to apply the antidote and prevent it netting a start. Much more effective control of plant pe.sts and diseases can be gained by anticipation than by attempts at curing. Next spring hundreds of peach trees will be affected with leaf curl. The time to attack this disease is by a strong dormant spray now, followed by sprayings when the buds begin to move, when the buds show pink, when the petals drop and when the young leaves show "green tip," as it is known. Brown rot must be attacked in the same way by applying a dormant spray now, and further sprayings directly fruit has formed. These are the only methods of control; no cure is possible for diseased leaves or fruit.