This past summer I had the occasion to drive around a lot of southern Maryland, USA.  As I was driving I noticed many of the Amish and Mennonite farms.  I was intrigued that they all looked great.  That is the plants like squash, cucumbers and egg plants.  My egg plants looked like they were shot with a shot gun from the flea beetles.  The squash was dying from the squash vine borers.  The cucumbers were dying from the bacterial wilt from the striped cucumber beetle. 
I couldn’t stand it any more and I pulled into the dirt driveway of an Amish farm, got out of my vehicle and went to observe the plants up close instead of just from the road.  They looked even better close up.
I drove up the the vegetable stand and an Amish lady came out from the house.  I explained to her what my dilemma was and how nice the plants looked on most of the farms.  
She went into the house and returned to tell me that they were using AD - MEER - RAY.  I said I never heard of that.  I asked her to spell it for me.
a-d-m-i-r-e.  OH!!  admire.  She said  they put it in the ground when they plant the plants.  You can also use it as a spray.
I looked it up on the internet when I got home.  It is a neonicotinoid: imidacloprid.  
Now I have to wonder about what happened to the pollinators.  All the plants sure looked good.

Bill Bartlett
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