If these simple instructions are carefully followed, you will have perfectly filled rows.
Plants will begin to blossom soon after they are set. The blossoms or fruiting stalks of all standard varieties should be pinched or cut off throughout the first year. This strengthens the plants by preventing exhaustion which results from early pollen secretion and seed production. It is very important that this be done as early as possible to relieve the plants of unnecessary strain. This work is easily and quickly done and is usually necessary only once or twice. (See also “The Everbearers” Page 58.)
The runners also should be removed in accordance with the system you wish to follow.
For all insects which work upon the foliage either eating or folding the leaves, pour sufficient water over three pounds powdered arsenate of lead to make a paste and continue adding water until it becomes a creamy solution. Pour this into fifty gallons of water and mix thoroughly before spraying. For small gardens use at the rate of one ounce of the powdered arsenate of lead to each gallon of water.
For rust or leaf-spot which may be detected by reddish, rusty-looking spots which destroy the leaf cells, use Bordeaux mixture made as follows:
Suspend a coarsely woven sack containing four pounds blue vitriol into twenty-five gallons of water so that the vitriol in the sack will float on the surface of the water. Put four pounds lump or hydrated lime into a bucket and pour over it hot water, stirring until you have three gallons of creamy mixture. Pour this into twelve gallons of water, then combine this lime solution with the vitriol solution and the result is a Bordeaux mixture known as 4-4-40 solution. Mix thoroughly before spraying. This is a preventive rather than a cure and should be used at the first appearance of any leaf-spot.
The presence of black ants indicates that aphides or root lice are working upon the roots. Repeated cultivation and hoeing are the best remedies.
White grubs which eat off the roots of plants causing them to wilt and die can be destroyed only by digging about the roots of the wilted plants and killing the grub. While this may not always save the affected plant, it will prevent the grub from doing further damage. Late fall plowing is the best preventive against root lice, white grubs, and all other underground insects.