INSECTS. 



shaken to the ground can be destroy- 

 ed. Insects may be farther injured 

 by watering the phints upon which 

 they feed, either with tobacco or lime- 

 water, solution of whale-oil soap, or 

 by scattering upon the leaves pow- 

 dered quicklime, soot, ashes, salt, itc. 

 The smell of tar is particularly offen- 

 sive to all insects, and the effects pro- 

 duced by the fumes of tobacco, sul- 

 phur, urine, &,c., are well known. 

 Hot water maybe applied with much 

 advantage. Water heated to 120 or 

 130 degrees will not injure plants 

 whose leaves arc fully expanded, and 

 it may be increased to 200 for such 

 as are without leaves. 



" Insects may be destroyed in a 

 much more effectual manner by en- 

 ticement, or placing in their way oth- 

 er food as a trap. The late Sir Jo- 

 seph Banks has the merit of having 

 recommended and made known this 

 most efficient method. It simply con- 

 sists in cutting slices of potatoes or 

 turnips, slicking them upon skewers, 

 and then burying them near the seeds 

 sown : the vermin will collect upon 

 them during night, and by examining 

 them every morning, vast numbers 

 may be destroyed ; this plan has been 

 very advantageously tried with the 

 wire-worm, and, no doubt, W'ould be 

 equally beneficial in clearing all crops 

 that are attacked by under-ground 

 feeders. Mr. Kirby states ' that it 

 was very successfully employed to 

 preserve some wheat-fields from the 

 ravages of a small, gray slug, which 

 threatened to demolish the plant. 

 Having heard that turnips had been 

 used with success to entice the slugs 

 from wheat, he caused a sufficient 

 quantity to dress eight acres to be got 

 together, and then, the tops being di- 

 vided and the turnips sliced, he di- 

 rected tbe pieces to be laid separate- 

 ly, dressing two stetches with them, 

 and omitting two alternately, till the 

 whole field of eight acres was gone 

 over. On the following morning he 

 employed two women to examine and 

 free from the slugs (which they did 

 into a measure) the tops and slices ; 

 and when cleared, they were laid 

 upon those stetches that had been 



E E 



omitted the day before. It was ob- 

 served invarial)ly, tbat in the stetch- 

 es dressed with the turiiijis no slugs 

 were to be found upon the wheat, or 

 crawling upon the land, though they 

 abounded upon the turnips ; while, 

 on the undressed stetches, they were 

 to be seen in great numbers both on 

 the wheat and on the land. Tbe quan- 

 tity of slugs thus collected was near 

 a bushel. 



" The turnip-net is the most suc- 

 cessful expedient that has yet been 

 thought of for the capture and destruc- 

 tion of the little beetles, called by 

 farmers the l)Iack jack, and by hop- 

 growers the flea. It consists of two 

 pieces of stout wood, the ends of 

 which, at one extremity, are fixed 

 into a handle in a forked direction ; 

 the other ends are left thick and curv- 

 ed upward, for the purpose of passing 

 the instrument smoothly and easily 

 over the surface of the ground ; to- 

 wards this end, the sticks are con- 

 nected by a cross-bar formed by a 

 thin iron rod, that may be taken on 

 and off at pleasure ; these three sides 

 constitute the frame work for sup- 

 porting a long and ample bag, made 

 of strong, glazed calico. The meth- 

 od of using it is by the operator 

 shoving it before him on the ground, 

 over the tops of the turnips or other 

 plants ; by this means the insects that 

 are upon the leaves fall into the bag, 

 which may be occasionally shaken du- 

 ring the process, so as to bring them 

 to the bottom (which is made nar- 

 row), where they will remain. Vast 

 quantities ofinsects, which, from their 

 smallness and agility, defy hand-pick- 

 ing, will be thus captured. The tur- 

 nip-net may be made either large or 

 small ; perhaps two feet and a half 

 for the side sticks is the best length, 

 it being obvious that the wider they 

 are apart, the greater space will be 

 brushed at once. 



"The lime-duster (F/^. 6) is a recent 

 invention by Mr. Samuel Curtis, and 

 has been used by him with great suc- 

 cess in throwing pulverized quick- 

 lime over apple-trees infected by 

 caterpillars and other insects. His 

 orchard, containing many thousand 



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