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Manual of GardeningPROTECTING PLANTS FROM THINGS THAT PREY ON THEMPlants are preyed on by insects and fungi; and they are subject to various kinds of disease that, for the most part, are not yet understood. They are often injured also by mice and rabbits (p. 144), by moles, dogs, cats, and chickens; and fruit is eaten by birds. Moles may be troublesome on sandy land; they heave the ground by their burrowing and may often be killed by stamping when the burrow is being raised; there are mole traps that are more or less successful. Dogs and cats work injury mostly by walking across newly made gardens or lying in them. These animals, as well as chickens, should be kept within their proper place (p. 160); or if they roam at will, the garden must be inclosed in a tight wire fence or the beds protected by brush laid closely over them. The insects and diseases that attack garden plants are legion; and yet, for the most part, they are not very difficult to combat if one is timely and thorough in his operations. These difficulties may be divided into three great categories: the injuries wrought by insects; the injuries of parasitic fungi; the various types of so-called constitutional diseases, some of which are caused by germs or bacteria, and many of which have not yet been worked out by investigators. The diseases caused by parasitic fungi are usually distinguished by distinct marks, spots or blisters on the leaves or stems, and the gradual weakening or death of the part; and, in many cases, the leaves drop bodily. For the most part, these spots on the leaves or stems sooner or later exhibit a mildew-like or rusty appearance, due to the development of the spores or fruiting bodies. Fig. 211 illustrates the ravages of one of the parasitic fungi, the shot-hole fungus of the plum. Each spot probably represents a distinct attack of the fungus, and in Next Page |
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