"The best way to apply liquid sprays in small gardens is to use a whisk
broom. Just dip the little broom into the mixture needed and shake the
brush over the plant. Then the hands need never come in contact with the
poison. Careful children can use sprays without any trouble. Josephine
has used kerosene emulsion in this fashion: she pours a little into a
saucer, takes a bit of cheese cloth and dipping it into the emulsion
wipes the lice off an infested part. Usually one application is enough.
This sounds like a much more disagreeable task than it really is. A
plant syringe may be used. But personally I like the hand method. Of
course if there are lots of lice on many plants this would not be
practical at all.

"It stands to reason that sick plants need medicines of some kind.
Sometimes to be sure they need better living conditions. Often the soil
is sour, water-logged, unaired and totally unfit for a self-respecting
plant to live in. The whole thing resolves itself into a study of
conditions, and a desire to help the plant have as comfortable a time as
possible in life."




IX

VEGETABLE CULTURE


"As a rule, boys and girls choose to grow bush beans rather than pole
beans. I cannot make up my mind whether or not this is from sheer