402 ERADICATION OF GARDEN VERMIN 



they are feasting on. A weak solution of salt may be used to cleanse 

 Cabbage, Cauliflower, &c., when much infested by Caterpillars, for 

 it acts instantly on their tender bodies, and does not injure the 

 plant. 



SOFT SOAP is much employed in mixtures, but is efficacious when 

 used alone in solution to remove Mealy Bug and Aphis. 



SULPHUR is employed in mixtures and also alone. When injudi- 

 ciously handled, it is a terrible destroyer, and many a house of Vines 

 has been ruined by an unskilful use of it. It is customary to paint 

 the hot-water pipes in vineries with sulphur, and the philosophy of 

 the proceeding is that the moderate heat causes it to sublimate 

 slowly, and mix with the air in sufficient quantity to destroy Red 

 Spider, and yet in insufficient quantity to injure the Vines. Seeing 

 the salutary effects of sulphur wisely employed, it is no unusual 

 thing for a novice in Grape-growing to burn sulphur in the house, 

 and the result is shrivelling of the leaves and loss of the crop ; 

 and if the Vines recover in the next season, the owner may consider 

 himself fortunate. Dry flowers of sulphur may be sprinkled on 

 plants with safety, and is a valuable remedy in the case of mildew ; 

 but this mode of using it requires care. 



TOBACCO is the most extensively used of all insecticides, for in 

 truth no insect can withstand its poisonous power, and if employed 

 with reasonable caution, it does not in the least injure vegetation. 

 In the form of dry powder, it is at once a cheap, cleanly, convenient, 

 and efficacious destroyer of soft vermin, such as Aphis &c., and 

 under Excise regulations is sold free of duty for horticultural purposes, 

 being first doctored with sulphur, as alcohol is for a like reason 

 doctored with naphtha. In purchasing tobacco, the strongest shag 

 should always be preferred ; but tobacco paper and tobacco liquor are 

 useful, and in every case it is advisable to purchase the best. 



TURPENTINE is used in mixtures and also separately. It is not 

 safe to touch plants with pure turpentine, but the vapour is a destroyer 

 of insects, and does no harm to vegetation. In the case of delicate 

 plants, such as Orchids, Ferns, &c., growing in closed cases, spirits of 

 turpentine may be introduced in an open vessel, and the vapour 

 diffusing in the atmosphere of the case will soon make an end of 

 insect life there. 



