64 Observations on various Insects 



upon there are few, probably, more acceptable to them than clover 

 and vetches. 



Abundance of remedies for destroying slugs will be found in 

 the ' Gardeners' Chronicle ' and various works on horticulture; and 

 it is not so difficult to decoy and destroy them in gai'dens ; but 

 in turnip and pea fields, young corn-crops, clover-layers, Sec, 

 their destruction is almost impracticable. I expect that ducks 

 turned into our fields are by far the most effectual remedy ; but no 

 doubt, if cabbage-leaves or slices of turnips be scattered along the 

 furrows, enormous quantities might thus be collected and given 

 to the pigs. Wood-ashes, or charcoal-dust, are perhaps more effi- 

 cacious than soot or lime. Salt sprinkled over the land is certain 

 destruction to the slugs when they come forth at night, or after a 

 shower, to feed : it should be scattered at the rate of four or five 

 bushels per acre before the crop is sown. Lime-water is well 

 known to kill slugs. The watering should be repeated as soon as 

 possible, for slugs have the power of throwing off their slimy 

 coating and crawling away ; but a second sprinkling soon causes 

 their death, as they are unable so speedily to secrete a fresh 

 covering of slime. Nitrate of soda dissolved in water is another 

 excellent remedy. 



In alluding to these remedies I would observe that, as far as 

 clover crops are concerned, their application seems to be imprac- 

 ticable ; and I think it doubtful whether the presence of slugs in 

 clover-fields be of any real consequence, except as regards the 

 crop which is to follow. 



Grass and Pasture Lands. 



Although there is no portion of the globe which may not 

 sustain insect life, whether hot or cold, wet or dry, high or low, 

 barren or cultivated, yet, no doubt, woods, forests, and grass- 

 land, have been from the earliest ages the homes and habitations 

 of the insect race. Grass especially is the natural covering of 

 the soil, which has been increasing in depth and bulk from the 

 creation, not only from the natural and annual decay of vegetable 

 matter, but from the manure produced by herbaceous animals 

 and the labours of the insect race. These again attract certain 

 birds which feed upon them, as well as upon seeds, and supply, 

 no doubt, an enormous amount of guano. Insects have therefore 

 revelled unmolested in their native haunts from the creation, 

 through the pastoral ages to the present period, and such localities 

 will ever be the head-quarters of this pigmy but formidable race, 

 which, were it not for the natural checks provided by Providence, 

 v^ould overrun the earth and eventually annihilate all vegetation. 

 It is accordingly to be expected that grass-lands would swarm 

 with insect life, both above and below the surface ; and being 



