Continued from last month...

Myth #5: Wives' tales are information passed down from generation to generation with a grain of truth.

There are many wives' tales that at one time might have contained some truth but over time become so distorted that they are pure fiction. I'm sure that everyone can think of a wives' tale. My thought is why are there no husband tales?! I placed a request on the Internet to receive some wives' tales from different parts of the country. Here are three of the better responses that I received:

1. There is an important feature about sowing parsley. It has to be sown by the head of the household or it is very unlikely to grow at all. So, get out and put it in the ground before your husband is up! Not that there could be any dispute on this point, but better be on the safe side.

2. From Virginia, "I recently gave a new neighbor in rural Virginia some camellias, but she said she could not thank me. If thanks is expressed for a gift plant, the plant will die."

3. Not proven or disproved as far as I know, but last summer my aunt told me to be sure to keep my daughter away from the cucumbers when she is on her menstrual cycle or the cucumbers would not bear fruit. I thanked her and ignored the advice but have not been observant enough to note if it was without merit.

Myth #6: Snake Oils are materials that are supposed to enhance plant growth or control pests. Many products are marketed or are traditional remedies that are said to have value. When placed under scientific scrutiny, little if any response is observed. Granted there are things that cannot be measured scientifically, however when products claim to produce growth responses they should be measurable. One product that has been tested is the root stimulator B-1. When tested against other compounds it turned out that the small amount of fertilizer in some B-1 preparations is what produces the growth response. B-1 in and of itself was no better than water in producing growth response. This research has been conducted at the University of Arizona by Dr. Jimmy Tipton and Elizabeth Davidson. Copies of this paper are available. If you would like a copy contact me. Dr. Norm Oebeker, Vegetable Specialist for Arizona, said that when he was a graduate student at Cornell University in the late 1940's they tested B-1 and found no growth response. Ultrasonic flea killers for pets do not kill, repel, affect jumping rates, or interfere with reproduction or development of fleas. This work was done by Dr. Michael Dryden of Kansas State University. These are only two of many products that have made claims and then not performed as expected.

Some interesting home remedies were suggested when I inquired on the Internet. Here are some of them. From San Juan Capistrano, CA; Society garlic planted around roses or other aphid susceptible plants will keep aphids away. The reason is that aphids are defended and moved by ants and ants cannot stand the smell of garlic. The only problem is that one's rose garden smells like garlic. My question is, can ants smell? From North Carolina: Chewing tobacco plus Ivory dish soap in water will keep insects in check. Boil the chewing tobacco (gross) with water and strain it so your sprayer will not clog. Add Ivory soap. Use as an insecticide. My question is how much soap and tobacco in how much water? Bay leaves in flour bins used to keep roaches out. This was found ineffective by Dr. Mike Rust. I ask, "Why not use a lid?" Mix one clove of garlic, one onion, one table spoon of cayenne pepper, and one quart of water. Steep for one hour, add a tablespoon of liquid soap and spray it around the house for ant and roach control. Sugar and yeast mixture for killing house flies attracted more flies than it killed. Spearmint gum for mole and gopher control were found useless by Bobby Corrigan, Purdue University. Plaster of Paris in rat baits changed the color of rodent droppings to light gray and nothing more, according to Dr. Bill Jackson, Bowling Green University, except it caused sore rectums of the rats!

Myth #7: Gardening Is hard work. It turns out that more work is done in the garden harvesting than all other activities combined. Time harvesting, in relationship to other gardening activities, increases as the size of the garden increases. This from work done by Dr. Michael Stevens and other researchers, Brigham Young University. They timed the various activities of planting, weeding, harvesting, and miscellaneous work in 4 X 4, 10X 10, 20 X 20, and 50 X 50 foot gardens throughout a growing season. The time spent harvesting is more enjoyable and passes more quickly than the work of preparing for planting, weeding, and other activities. They also found that the 4 X 4, 10 X 10, 20 X 20 and 50 X 50 foot gardens yielded 8.06, 7.22, 10.12, and 22.75 pounds of produce per hour of total time spent in the gardens respectively.