94 ESSAY ON FUEL PLANTATIONS. 



bottles carefully corked, and sealed up. Care should be 

 taken that it is thoroughly dry before it is put into the bottles 

 or ifc will get mouldy. After your seed has been planted, 

 you will very likely find that a good deal has been dug up 

 and eaten by field rats, &c., during the night, if it happens 

 to suit their taste. 



No sooner has the seed sprouted, than you find you have 

 a fresh set of enemies to contend with, the larva of beetles, 

 and of moths, to say nothing of mole-crickets, and the 

 larvae of certain butterflies, which look on the foliage as 

 their special property. The first two burrow underground 

 and only come up to feed at night. The young plants 

 will be found to have been cut down at the base by the 

 powerful nippers of these grubs, and often, row after row 

 will be destroyed, and scarcely a plant eaten. The only 

 remedy for this is to search for the depredator and destroy 

 him. A tiny burrow will be seen where the larva has 

 entered, after his night's work, generally near the stem of 

 the last plant cut over, and if the ground is carefully turned 

 up with a pointed stick, the insect will be found not far off. 

 Mole-crickets cut down plants in the same way at night. 

 They can be caught by placing a lantern at night where they 

 are troublesome with a pit 14 x 15 inches in which a tin pot 

 with a little oil at the bottom has been placed. The crickets 

 attracted by the light, fall in, and get drowned. Sometimes 

 the roots of seedlings are attacked by worms and other insect 

 foes. A mixture of salt, lime, and powdered tobacco 

 sprinkled round the base of plants so afflicted, will be found 

 an excellent remedy, as the whole of this is dissolved by the 

 water applied to the plant, and wash down to the roots, 

 which it does not injure. If rats are found troublesome, 

 apply the pods of the cowhage creeper (Mucuna pruriens) 

 to the base of the plants. Not a rat will go near them, as the 

 velvety prickles which thickly coat the pod, cause an intol- 

 erable itching if touched, this must be remembered by the 

 person applying the pods, or he will get the bristles into 

 his own hands uud sutler severely. There are two species 



