DESTRUCTION OP VERMIN. 217 



were destroying a brood ; and, long before blooming time came, 

 we have not seen such a thing in the whole round of pots. But 

 this is not the time to leave off examining, because earwigs 

 fly ; and, as a proof of this, we have seen them actually stuck 

 upon newly-tarred palings and fences, with their beautifully 

 delicate wings fast to the tar, and they unable to release them ; 

 so that we must not relax a single day, if we desire to keep 

 clear of them. A swarm of these on their travels might be 

 tempted to ahght where there was anything very attractive ; 

 and if we allowed them a few days' uninterrupted hberty, we 

 might find them increased by numerous families. 



In the open ground, there is one very simple means of 

 trapping innumerable enemies. By using a smooth and rather 

 taper rod of iron or hard wood, and making holes in the 

 ground two or three feet deep, we form so many pitfalls, into 

 which earwigs, ants, small grubs, and various insects tumble, 

 and the vast majority cannot get up again. We have known 

 some of these to get half filled with ants and earwigs, for the 

 perpendicular side forms too long a journey for vast numbers, 

 even if any ever reach the top ; and near an ant-colony, it is 

 almost enough to exterminate the whole community, if we 

 make a few clean-sided holes near their haunts. The earwig 

 is not merely an enemy to flowers ; it is destructive among 

 fruits, and it is impossible to be too persevering in the 

 endeavours to get rid of the enemy. Grubs and caterpillars, 

 the larva state of butterflies and moths, are among the most 

 mischievous and formidable of all the gardener's enemies, and 

 this should be thought of while the winged insects are sporting 

 about among the flowers, trees, and bushes, for these lay their 

 eggs in gTcat numbers on the plant that is to sustain the 

 caterpillar or grub, and when hatched, we know the conse- 

 quences. Some flies lay their eggs all in one place, especially 

 those that take possession of the apple, pear, and plum-trees, 

 where we may occasionally see a web full of the creatures, 

 ready to prey upon the first green leaves ; others, infinitely 

 more mischievous, lay their eggs all over the place, — one fly, 

 perhaps, placing a future caterpillar upon a hundred cabbages. 

 How often has the gardener, to his great mortification, seen a 

 large quarter of cabbages or cauliflowers with scarcely one 

 plant untouched ! and there is nothing so disgusting as either 

 of these productions eaten into and dirtied by these filthy 

 creatures. The quickest remedy is to kill the butterflies and 



