oapy water which will kill them, If you use scap that is quick to
. they can be cumped on the cumpost pile the next day,
viost of them are caught in the first three nights. Going out oc-
asionally over the next two weeks catches new ones that were
too small in the first sweep or which have just hatched from
eggs laid in the soil. Sucha concentrated cleanup can be effective
for several months,

Another kind of Problem has been solved through observa-
tion. For example, one yeara cherry tomato bed was wilting.
Several people, including a graduate student studving insects,
told us it Was caused by nematodes. When we dug down into
the soil to look for the damage, we discovered the real source.
The soil was bone dry below the upper eight inches. A good
soaking took care of the problem and we Jearned to be more
careful about watering so the beds would not dry out. Most
important, we have learned not to take gardening advice on
faith, but to always check.it out for ourselves—as we hope you
will. ° :

Some other living control approaches to try are:

——

FHland-picking the insects from the plants once you are certain
the insect involved is harmful and the source of the probdlern.
Consult a book, such as Jusect Pests (see Bibliography), which
has color drawings of insects in their several] stages (nymph,

larva, adult). An insect is often harmful in only one stage and
can even be beneficial in others.

Spraying. In general, insects may be divided into two categories—
those which chew and bite plants and those which suck juices
frorn them. Chewing or biting insects, include caterpillars, flea
beetles, potato bugs, cankerworms, cutwor:ns, and grasshop-
pers. Aromatic and distasteful substances such as garlic, onion
and pepper sprays can discourage them. Sucking Insects include
aphids, thrips, nymphs of the squash bug, flies and scale insects.
Soap solutions (not detergents which would Gamage the plant
and soil as well as the insects), clear miscible oil solutions and
other solutions which asphyxiate the insects by coating their
tender bodies and preventing respiration through body spira-
cles or breathing holes, help control these insects.

Traps) such as shredded newspaper in clay pots turned upside
down do sticks in the garden, will attract earwigs during day-
light hours. Snails and slugs can be trapped under damp boards,
They,retreat to these places in the heat and light of the day.

Barviers, suth as the sticky commercial Tanglefoot substance,
will catch som@insects crawling along tree trunks during part
of their life cycle. When insects are caught jn this mianner,
infestation of the tree in a later season is often prevented.
(Tanglefoot barriers must be applied to apple tree trunks in July
‘to catch codling moth larvae leaving the tree. This will minimize

A Balanced Backvard Ecdsystem and Insect L tre

1¢]