ROSE SLUG. 81 



of the Kose-elng is a solution of whale-oil soap. The first use of 

 this cheap and effective article, now extensively used to destroy a 

 variety of insects, was made many years ago by Mr. David Hag- 

 o;er8ton, of Watortown, Mass., as stated by Dr. Harris, in his 

 Treatise, when speaking </f the insect now under consideration. 

 Mr. Ilaggerston used it of the strength of two pounds of the soap 

 to fifteen gallons of water. The lion. Lewis Ellsworth, proprie- 

 tor of the Naperville nursery, and his son, who make the cultiva- 

 tion of roses a specialty, informed me that they find this article to 

 be all sufficient for the purpose of destroying the Rose-slug in 

 their green-houses and elsewhere, and that they do not find it ne- 

 cessary to use more than one pound t(» fifteen gallons of water. 

 As it is a very coarse and disagreeably smelling article, it is of 

 course desirable to use as weak a solution as can be without im- 

 ]>airing its effect. It is applied with a water-pot or a garden 

 syringe. The whale-oil soap being so effectual, it is not necessary 

 to resort to other applications. 



I will take this opportunity to state, however, that I have ex- 

 perimented with the carbolic acid about which so much has been 

 said as an insect destroyer, by mixing, first, one ounce of the pure 

 acid to one gallon of water, and afterwards two ounces to the gal- 

 lon, and applying it to the Rose-slug and to the equally tender 

 slug of the Pear-leaf, but with very unsatisfactory results. It ap- 

 pears from my diary, kept at the time, that the Rose-slugs were 

 only driven temporarily from the leaves, but not killed, even by 

 the stronger solution, and that the Pear-slugs having been dipped 

 into it with the leaves to which they were attached, were found 

 the next day feeding upon the same leaves, unharmed. It is 

 probably more effectual in the form of carbolic acid soap, but 

 whether this is any better than the cheaper whale-oil soap, I am 

 unable to say, from any experience of my own. 



There are two broods of these insects in a season; the first usu- 

 ally making their appearance early in June, and the other in Au- 

 gust. Bat if the former be pretty thoroughly exterminated, there 

 will be little to fear from the late brood. 



I hope that the dissemination of this report may prove instru- 

 mental in calling attention to this subject, and in saving from ut- 

 ter destruction this favorite flower. If it should be pertnitted me, 

 when another June calls the roses to blossom, to revisit the beau- 



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