80 HOW TO DESTROY INSECTS. 



cevfli' worth of tar employed in this way will, without 

 any further trouble, be the means of destroying innu- 

 merable numbers of these insects, whose larvae are 

 amongst the most destructive pests the gardener or 

 farmer has to contend against." 



Zo Destroy Blnck Beetles. 



A certain remedy is to procure some bracken, Pteris 

 aquihna, or common fern, plentiful on commons, and 

 put it down about the house at night. The black 

 beetle will eat it ravenously and POOH die. It is com- 

 monly used in the north of England. 



Insect Enemies of the Cabbage. 



jl small black flea in great swarms eats the leaves of 

 cabbage-plants, after being set out in the open ground 

 from hot-beds. A slight dusting of fresh -slacked lime 

 over the plants in the morning, while wet with dew, 

 will drive them oft or kill them. Dust the plants one 

 morning, and again the second morning after that ; then 

 the job is finished. The flea is mere fond of pepper- 

 cress than cabbages, so that if the cress is sown thinly 

 along with the cabbage-seed it will save the cabbages. 



Lice on Cabbages. A greenish, mealy louse, in vast 

 numbers, attacks cabbages when nearly full grown. 

 Two dustings of fresh lime will kill them. 



Grubs. A black grub, which lodges in the ground, 

 eats through the stems of young cabbages after being 

 transplanted, causing the heads to drop off. Whenever 



