HOUSEHOLD PESTS 



ANTS, to Destroy.— Ants that frequent 

 houses or gardens may be destroyed by 

 taking flour of brimstone, half a pound, 

 and potash four ounces; set them in an 

 iron or earthen pan over the fire till dis- 

 solved and united; afterwards beat them 

 to a powder, and infuse a little of this 

 powder in water; and wherever you 

 sprinkle it the ants, will die or fly the 

 place. 



ANTS, Black, to Destroy.— A few 



leaves of green wormword, scattered 

 among the haunts of these troublesome 

 insects, is said to be effectual in dislodg- 

 ing them. 



ANTS, Eed, to Destroy.— The best way 

 to get rid of ants, is to set a quantity of 

 cracked walnuts or shell-barks on plates, 

 and put them in the closet and places 

 where the ants congregate. They are 

 very fond of these, and will collect on 

 them in myriads. When they have col- 

 lected on them make a general auto-da-fe, 

 by turning nuts and ants together into the 

 fire and then replenishing the plates with 

 fresh nuts. After they have become so 

 thinned off as to cease collecting on 

 plates, powder some camphor and put in 

 the holes and crevices, whereupon the re- 

 mainder of them will speedily depart. 

 It may help the process of getting them 

 to assemble on the shell-barks, to remove 

 all edibles out of their way for the time. 



BEE, Black, to Destroy.— Place two or 

 three shallow vessels — the larger kind of 

 flower-pot saucers will do — half filled 

 with water, on the floors where they 

 assemble, with strips of card-board run- 

 ning from the edge of the vessel to the 

 floor, at a gentle inclination; these the 

 unwelcome guests will eagerly ascend, 

 and so find a watery grave. 



BED-BUGS, to Destroy.— i. When they 

 have made a lodgement in the wall, fill 

 all the apertures with a mixture of soft 



soap and Scotch snuff. Take th<s bed- 

 stead to pieces, and treat that in the same 

 way. 2. A strong decoction of red pep- 

 per applied to bedsteads will either kill 

 the bugs or drive them away. 3. Put the 

 bedstead into a close room and set fire 

 to the following composition, placed in 

 an iron pot upon the hearth, having pre- 

 viously closed up the chimney, then shut 

 the door ; let them remain a day : Sul- 

 phur nine parts; saltpetre, powdered, one 

 part. Mix. Be sure to open the door of 

 the room five or six hours before you ven- 

 ture to go into it a second time. 4. Rub 

 the bedstead well with lamp-oil; this 

 alone is good, but to make it more effect- 

 ual, get a sixpence worth of quicksilver 

 and add to it. Put it into all the cracks 

 around the bed, and they will soon dis- 

 appear. The bedsteads should first be 

 scalded and wiped dry, then put on with 

 a feather. 5. Corrosive sublimate, one 

 ounce; muriatic acid, two ounces; water, 

 four ounces ; dissolve, then add turpen- 

 tine, one pint ; decoction of tobacco, one 

 pint. Mix. For the decoction of tobac- 

 co boil one ounce of tobacco in a y 2 pint 

 of water. The mixture must be applied 

 with a paint brush. This wash is a dead- 

 ly poison. 6. Rub the bedsteads in the 

 joints with equal parts of spirits of tur- 

 pentine and kerosene oil, and the cracks 

 of the surbase in rooms where there are 

 many. Filling up all the cracks with 

 hard soap is an excellent remedy. March 

 and April are the months when bedsteads 

 should be examined to kill all the eggs. 

 7. Mix together two ounces of camphor, 

 four ounces spirits of turpentine, one 

 ounce corrosive sublimate, and one pint 

 alcohol. 8. Distilled vinegar, or diluted 

 wood vinegar, a pint; camphor, one-ha^ 

 once; dissolve. 9. White arsenic, two 

 ounces; lard, thirteen ounces; corrosive 

 sublimate, one-fourth ounce; Venetian 

 red, one-fourth ounce. (Deadly poison.) 



(350) 



