Pacifism in Pest Control
(Page 4 of 7)
If a stiff wallop is needed to knock out a heavy
infestation of bugs, you can use Ryania which is the powder
from ground roots of a South American plant, Ryania
speciosa. Recommended dose is one ounce to two gallons of
water. Rotenone and Pyrethrum also carry a lethal punch for
many insects — without harming animals. Rotenone is
derived from several tropical plants and can be had in pure
form from pet shops and veterinarians. The commercial
packages usually have rotenone mixed with other materials
which are not always acceptable, however, so try to get
your rotenone "straight and uncut". For best results it is
necessary to repeat these sprays four or five times during
the growing season.
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Just as a good whiff of garlic on the breath can hold your
fellow man at arm's length, a little garlic juice diluted
with water and sprayed on or under fruit trees will deter
some obnoxious insects. Garlic powder seems just as
effective as freshly squeezed garlic juice for making such
a spray.
Drs. W.R. Jenkins and R.A. Rohde of the University of
Maryland discovered that asparagus was less affected by
nemetodes than any other plant. Their experiments also
proved that asparagus juice killed all the types of
nemetodes found in Maryland when applied to the roots and
sprayed on the foliage of a variety of nemetode-affected
plants. The leaf spray appeared to be the more effective.
We have used milk as a spray for the tomato mosaic virus in
our small greenhouse. Whole milk, dried milk, and diluted
milk were all satisfactory.
Sweet pepper juice does a splendid job restraining cucumber
mosaic . . . and hot pepper juice has a legion of advocates
for its power to repel chewing insects. We've found hot
pepper juice diluted with 4 to 6 parts water — with a
little liquid soap added for coating and binding —
does a grand job on cabbage worms.
Green onion juice diluted with equal parts of water and
squirted on roses will clean aphids from the stems. Dousing
the rose plants no more than three successive days does the
trick.
For fighting spider mites on our several apple trees we use
a formula developed by Dr. G. Edward Marshall of Purdue
University. It is a mixture of 20 pounds of wheat flour and
two quarts of buttermilk stirred into slop and added to 100
gallons of water. For our limited needs I reduced the
proportion to two cups of flour, four ounces of buttermilk
and 2-1/2 gallons of water. I have found that being a bit
careless on the overside did not change the results so far
as I could determine.
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