GARDENING: FIGHTING PLANT ENEMIES

This article comes to us from our friend; and occasional contributor O.L. Thymer.  Thanks OLT, The devices and implements used for fighting plant enemies are of two sorts: (1) Those used to afford mechanical protection to the plants; (2) 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 inches 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, tin, 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 powder gun. If one must be restricted to a single implement, however, it will be best to get one of the 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. For more extensive work a barrel pump, mounted on wheels, will be desirable, but one of the above will do a great deal of work in little time. Extension rods for use in spraying trees and vines may be obtained for either. For operations on a very small scale a good hand-syringe may 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 is procured, get a brass machine it 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. Of implements for harvesting, beside the spade, prong-hoe and spading- fork, very few are used in the small garden, as most of them need not only long rows to be economically used, but horse- power also. The onion harvester attachment for the double wheel hoe, may be used with advantage in loosening onions, beets, turnips, etc., from the soil or for cutting spinach. 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. 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. Post Views: 114

What Does Our Future Hold?

While watching recent news casts, and some reality show, which I rarely do, I began wondering, what DOES our future hold?  Will we be prepared? Here in the good old USA,  (The A is there.  It just doesn’t show up too well on a white background).   Our forefathers lived primarily off the land.  Hunting, Trapping, Fishing, and Tilling the land.  Yes we had merchants, who for the most part bartered their wares for their needs.  We now live in a more industrialized nation. Few people are self sufficient any more.  We mostly rely on someone  else to provide our wants and NEEDS.  NEEDS, being the operative word here.  What I will be addressing today is our Needs.  We all want somethings, but we can live without them.  Needs is what it takes for us to maintain life.  If for some reason our Dollar fails, what will we do?  Revert to the way of our forefathers. Today we have a much larger population.  Less farms, and woodlands.  Less farmland means we have less ground to grow our food.  Looking at it this way the farmer has an edge; very slight.  They will be able to grow crops, plant gardens, and may, or may not,  have a wooded area to Hunt and Trap,  or somewhere to Fish. Will they be able to support all of us?  Let’s probe deeper. When I was a child we had an 80 acre farm.  We grew crops, we had a garden we planted every year.  We had livestock, so we had meat, milk, and butter.  We had chickens, so no problem with eggs, or chicken to eat.  In our garden we also had berry bushes.  We knew our neighbors well, even though there may be a mile or more from us.  We knew if there was something we needed, and our neighbor had it they would help us our,  maybe just out of friendship, or maybe they needed or just wanted, we would trade.  Maybe it was feeding their livestock, or pets, while they were away for a day or more.  Maybe, it was something to be made.  My Mother was an excellent seamstress.  My Father was pretty much a Jack of All Trades.  Now, farmers have fields bigger than our farm. On the obverse side of the coin.  Farmers will need fuel for their machinery, Electricity, to run some of their equipment.  But if our dollar collapses, where will they be able to get the fuel?  Barter for it?  Maybe until the current supply runs out.  Then WHAT? During this time how will people react?  Will they be willing to help?  Or will they become hoarders?  Can’t blame them.  Family comes first. So what will you and I do?  Will we become Looters, or poachers.  Living in the city now, I may become a poacher.  Depending on if someone gives me permission to hunt or trap, or fish, on their land.  Unlike the days of our forefathers there is little open wilderness to pursue these necessities.   I can not see myself becoming a looter.  I have heard depression era survivors, admit stealing bread or some food item to feed their family. Now with loss of so much open land, and the increased population, will there be enough wildlife to  support all of us? There is a group out there referred to as “PREPPERS”.  They tend to stockpile food, guns, ammo, etc..   How long will their stores last?  In a prolonged dollar collapse, they too will be in the same boat as the rest of us.  Personally I do not have the funds available to “prep”.  So I will try to keep my rifles, and shotguns, in good shape, and buy a box of ammunition, when I have a few dollars to spare. (Note to self: invest in real traps, not just the ones I built).  But I doubt I could ever amass enough to last.  (Unlike my teen age hunting buddy, I miss occasionally).  It is not like you could stock up on wild game, you need a freezer or some way to preserve the meat.  Some you could make into Jerky, extending it’s shelf life.  (If you know how to do that the old fashion way, without electricity). Communication:  How will we communicate.  If you are like me I must have the TV on or I can’t sleep.  If for some reason it goes off during my sleep hours, I will awake, and stay awake until it comes back on.  I am sure I will adapt, but not without a struggle.  As a HAM radio operator, I will be able to communicate with other HAMs, until my batteries die.  So I suppose I should look into getting some sort of hand crank generator made to be able to charge my HAM equipment.  Or Better yet,  I need to set up a small solar power system just to keep my batteries charged.  (So you see we do have at least one option to electric power, (as long as the solar batteries last). We all need to prepare ourselves.  I’m not saying I believe anything like such a disaster will happen.  But as Benjamin Franklin said in reference to fire prevention: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”.  We need to hone our survival skills.  As a whole I think the AMISH people now have the best chance of survival. Maybe I should look into buying a canoe.???? That Is How I See It. Afterthought: Tools are another thing we should be sure we have on hand.     Post Views: 112

Tools Names and How to Use Them

I grew up on a farm.  We used a lot of tools.  My grandfather was a house painter and carpenter.  He used a lot of tools.  Later I was a hardware store manager.  It may just be the area we all grew up in but I have a problem when people (even the pros on TV)  call tools by different names that I grew up knowing them as. Where I grew up in the Midwest what they now call a a  jig saw, was called, and the description on the box called it a  Sabre Saw. What is now called a scroll saw, was and labeled as a  jig saw. Confusing?  Yes a bit. But the obvious things are people do not know the difference from a Brand name and an actual tool.  For example not all  Locking Pliers are made by VICE GRIP. But some of these so called experts will say give me a vice grip, even though it may be a CRAFTSMAN locking plier. Adjustable Wrenches, are often referred to as Crescent wrench.  Even though they may not be made by the Crescent Tool Co. Slip Joint Pliers, are called Channel Locks, regardless of the manufacturing name.  Channel Lock, makes other tools. For example if you have a Channel Lock screwdriver in your tool box you could be referring to the screwdriver instead of the locking pliers. I have worked with some of these Professionals who use brand names in place of the real name for the tool they are wanting to use.  If they ask me to hand them a Vise Grip.  I will look for a Vise Grip, but maybe all they have is Snap-on.  No Vice Grip.   I have never heard a plumber (and I have worked as a plumber) say, “Hand me a Ridgid”.  They say hand me a pipe wrench, and they tell you what size.  Nor will some say give me a Matco, when what they want is a screwdriver.  They even tell you flat, phillips, or torx. It is just a matter I suppose of some brand names so dominating a certain variety of tool that the brand name becomes synonymous with a certain tool.  And the area you grow up in.  In Indiana the glass behind the goal has always been called a bankboard, because you bank a shot off of it.  In some areas it is called a backboard,  which is probably more descriptive now because there is rarely a shot banked in anymore it is net or nothing. Another thing, while I’m on the subject of tools.  If you ever watch any of the do it yourself, or auto repair shows, (the guys on “Two Guys Garage” are real good at doing this.)  They use their Slip joint and adjustable wrenches backward.  The two tools are designed so the short end is on the bottom,  You turn toward that side.  Take your pliers for example you have the the long jaw on the top and push down, you can take your hand off the the bottom and you still have grip.  Do it like the pros on TV and try taking your hand off the long handle you lose grip.  I don’t understand the professionals using tools wrong. Any way …. That Is How I See It. Post Views: 150

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