Pacifism in Pest Control

Image Gallery FRENCH MARIGOLD

by CHARLES F. JENKINS

A SURE CURE AND SUDDEN DEATH FOR POTATO BUGS!
Send 25¢ to Box 007, Bunkville for full details.

Shortly before the turn of the century, advertisements similar to the above appeared in scattered news sheets. The reply was short and to the point: Find two smooth bricks. Pick one or more potato bugs from the potato patch. Place bug on one brick and smash it with the other. Since then, advertisers have gone in for more subtle chicanery . . chemical cures for all that ails the garden . . . with built-in residual problems at no extra charge.

Unfortunately, today's promoters of the "quick cure" for every gardening problem have—by the very force of their multi-million dollar advertising campaigns—collectively convinced large segments of the population that insect pests can be controlled only through the use of manufactured chemical poisons . . . and that's simply not true. You can stay ahead of harmful insects in many non-violent and nonpoisonous ways. To name only a few: companion planting and natural repellents; natural sprays and dusts; evasion and deception; intoxicants; "good" microbic agents, insect predators and parasites; birds, poultry, reptiles and small animals; and resistant varieties of plants.

COMPANION PLANTING

Some of those gentle perfumes which drift up from the garden are noxious repellants to the insect freeloaders that zero in on the vegetable patch. So planting certain "smelly" flowers like Marigolds to stand as border guards and in ternal sentries is the first—and easiest—step in organic pest control.

French or African marigolds do an excellent job of keeping bean beetles on the other side of the fence. I find French Dwarf marigolds very effective with bush beans and beetles stay clear of my bean rows when every third plant is marigold. For larger plants which are appetizing to beetles, I use the taller African marigolds. Marigolds are also credited with destroying Verticillium wilt on potatoes and for making the soil in their root area uncomfortable for wireworms and eel worms. Yes, marigolds will do a good job in the vegetable patch.

Other flowers which make suitable garden sentinels (all terrible stinkers as far as the enemy is concerned) are asters, calendula, chrysanthemums, cosmos, geraniums, nasturtiums and tansy. Undoubtedly there are many others.

I find it handier to start my guardian flowers in flats or a row of their own and transplant them (as you do cabbage plants) to their final location in the garden. You may, however, seed such flowers directly into the vegetable patch if you prefer.