HOW CAN PESTS BE CONTROLLED?

  Pests may be considered as groups, among which are insects, rodents, and diseases. Foremost among control methods are good garden care and neatness about the premises, including the elimination of rubbish, weed and brush patches, and other places where pests may be harbored. Next in order may be placed those practices which favor rapid, vigorous growth of vegetables, such as timely planting and cultivation, fertilization, and choice of vigorous varieties.
  Rotation of crops, or planting vegetables of different kinds, and, as far as possible, of different plant families, in succession, is another valuable part of pest control.
  Certain insects, however, may be troublesome regardless of measures such as those just named. Hand-picking of adult insects such as potato beetles, bean and asparagus beetles, squash bugs, and the like, and crushing of egg masses found on the under side of leaves are practicable methods in small gardens.
  Other insect pests require the application, in sprays or dusts, of the proper insecticides. Instructions on choice of materials and time of application may be obtained from the County Agent or through Victory Garden Committees.
  In small gardens, practical disease control consists mainly in planting of disease-free seeds and plants to be obtained from reliable dealers, in control of weeds and insects, in timely planting and cultivation, and in proper drainage. Most of the varieties and kinds of vegetables recommended for small gardens may be grown successfully without further measures than those already stated.
  Rodents present special problems, which must be met by group or community action on the part of gardeners.

RABBIT CONTROL

  Among the pests which the home gardener finds specially trying are cottontail rabbits. They are more troublesome to home gardeners than to commercial growers, chiefly because most suburbs of cities have ordinances forbidding residents to shoot them, but partly because, on open farm lands, foods other than vegetables may tempt them.
  Control measures include trapping in box traps and transporting into localities where they may be desired for game. Game wardens will assist both in trapping and relocating the cottontails.
  Another control measure is the sprinkling of repellents on the soil about the plants. Among the most effective repellents are dried blood and naphthalene balls or flakes. Several materials have been suggested as sprays, among them nicotine extracts, Lysol, and magnesium sulphate