20 



BESTRUCTlOiN OF VERMIN. 



"A feeble race! yet oft 

 Tiie sacred sons of vengeance; on whose course 

 Corrosive Famine wails, and kills the year." 



"Nothing is more vexatious and discouraging for the gardener, 

 than to see the objecs of his care actually swept away by vermin 

 of all kinds and sizes, -of whose habits he is wholly ignorant, — 

 •unless their paitiality for tender vegetables be excepted. He 

 may have labored diligently for weeks perhaps months; yet in a 

 vsingle night, his choicest plants will be destroyed. Of the whole 

 vegetable kingdom, there is scarce a useful member which is not 

 liable to these attacks at different stages of its growth. Some 

 vermin prey upon the root, others choose the stem and branches, 

 ^ third class prefer the leaves, a fourth select the flowers, while 

 a fifth reject everything but the fruit or seed. For example; if 

 the seed of the common turnip is so fortunate as to escape a mi- 

 •nu't-e weevil, another enemy awaits the unfolding of the firsrt 

 leaves; another buries itself in the bulb or rootlets, so that they 

 •become diseased, and covered with unseemly excresences; and 

 the mature foliage falls the prey of caterpillars. It is, therefore, 

 the duty of the gardener to study the character and habits of these 

 •depredators, so as to guard against their attacks. The reader 

 who may desire a thorough acquaintance with the subject, must 

 refer to works of greater pretensions than this volume. We 

 have room for only a few practical hints. 



An ounce of prevention is said to be worth a pound of cure and 

 thestudent will naturally fiist inquire for the best inc.des of pro- 

 tecting his plants. This will in a measure be secured by high 

 tiulture, — having the ground rich, sowing healthy seed, and has- 

 tening the maturity of the crop. As the young stems and leaves 

 are sweetest, so are they most liable to injury; and everything 

 that accelerates their grovv^tli, adds to their security. It is the 

 policy of some cultivators to turn over the soil late in autumn, in 

 order that the grubs and insects which have taken up their winter 

 quarters may be exposed to the action of frost. We are acquain- 

 ted with many gardens which have tlius been almost entirely rid 

 of these pests. The application of salt at the rate of two or 

 'three bushels per acre, in spring, or the occasional use of strong 

 brine, is highly recommended; but, salt is a very powerful agent, 

 and in every form must be applied with caution, lest vegetation 

 should also be injured. Rolling or pressing the surface of the 

 ground compactly, after sowing, is an excellent plan, as the flies 

 are thereby deprived of hiding places around the little lumps of 

 •dirt. 



Reproduction should be prevented as much as possible. W^hen 

 crushing a grub under foot, or stifling a beetle, the gardener less- 

 lens the number of his enemies by millions in embryo. The 

 aphides, or plant lice, multiply with astonishing rapidity, and s. 



