THE 



FLORICULTURAL CABINET, 



JUNE 1st, 1836. 



PART I. 



ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. 



ARTICLE I— ON SNAILS, &c— Br Maria. 



*'JoDENis,"of Canonbury, proposes that oil should be put into the pans 

 to prevent snails from reaching the flower-pots ; assuredly oil applied 

 to the bodies of those insects that breathe through their bodies, such 

 as wasps, hornets, &c. are immediately killed by it, but then it must 

 be in a liquid state, whereas oil when exposed to cold becomes con- 

 gealed, and then, I should think, the snails might crawl over it un- 

 injured, besides which, it would be expensive in a large collection. 

 I have tried with good effect the trimmings of horses' heels and 

 manes cut small, strewed round the root, and if dug in with the 

 mould all the better, for then the slugs will be prevented from at- 

 tacking the bulb or stem under the earth ; the prickliness of the 

 horse-hair, and its inclination to adhere to the moist coat of the in- 

 sects is so hurtful that I here found it quite effectual. Any groom 

 or coachman will save a large quantity of these trimmings in a short 

 time, and it costs nothing, makes no moss, and takes little time in 

 the application. I have found a ring of tar effectual in cleaning a 

 Daphne of Ants, they had congregated in such numbers on a hand- 

 some shrub as to threaten serious injury, and I had a ring of tar pla- 

 ced around it two inches from the stem ; in a day or two all the ants 

 died, not being able to pass the barrier to return to their nests. But, 

 as this will only do for an occasional plant, I would recommend a 

 simple plan, adopted by my gardener, and which has nearly cleared the 

 beds and lawns of a profusion of these troublesome insects. He makes 

 a hole several inches deep with a pointed stake exactly in their track 

 wheresoever he observes one ; into this pit they fall headlong, and 

 the sides being of soft earth, and perpendicular, they fall back and 

 die by hundreds, or he kills them by again putting in the stake. 

 The gardener assures me he shall eradicate the whole colony in ano- 

 ther season. Clifton, \km, 



VOL. IV. It 



