The home gardener should supply himself with a powder gun. If one must be restricted to a single implement, however, it will be best to get one of the hand-power, compressed-air sprayers. These are used for applying wet sprays, and should be supplied with one of the several forms of mist-making nozzles, the non-cloggable automatic type being the best. For more extensive work a barrel pump, mounted on wheels, will be desirable, but one of the above will do a great deal of work in little time. Extension rods for use in spraying trees and vines may be obtained for either.

More and more people are discovering the joys that come with planting an organic garden. There are many reasons for gardening the organic way, from decreased use of pesticides to lower cost to concerns about the environment.

Many gardeners are worried about the overuse of pesticides, and the possible effects it could have on their family members, their pets and their families. Other gardeners are concerned about the possibility of pesticide runoff, and concerned that such runoff could get into the groundwater and cause damage.

Another reason for organic gardening is the recent trend to incorporate fish ponds into the garden landscape. Fish are among the most sensitive creatures when it comes to chemical sensitivity, and even a small amount of chemicals in a closed environment like a pond can be toxic to many ornamental fish. Any homeowner who wishes to incorporate a fish pond into his or her landscape must be very careful about the use of pesticides, insecticides and other chemicals.

The devices and implements used for fighting plant enemies are of two sorts:

(1) those used to afford mechanical protection to the plants;
(2) those used to apply insecticides and fungicides.

Of the first the most useful is the covered frame. It consists usually of a wooden box, some eighteen inches to two feet square and about eight high, covered with glass, protecting cloth, mosquito netting or mosquito wire. The first two coverings have, of course, the additional advantage of retaining heat and protecting from cold, making it possible by their use to plant earlier than is otherwise safe. They are used extensively in getting an extra early and safe start with cucumbers, melons and the other vine vegetables.

Simpler devices for protecting newly-set plants, such as tomatoes or cabbage, from the cut-worm, are stiff, tin, cardboard or tar paper collars, which are made several inches high and large enough to be put around the stem and penetrate an inch or so into the soil.