290 THE CULTIVATION OF THE 



kill them) and is best applied in the mornings when the 

 leaf is damp. Paris j^reen and London Purple, one table- 

 spoonful to five gallons of water, will destroy them 

 quickly. So arsenic, in same proportions and is cheaper. 

 These of right should be boiled to dissolve them as 

 much as possible, and agitate constantly whilst apply- 

 ing. These last poisons are perfectly safe for the first 

 crop of slugs, but don't use them on the second crop, 

 when fruit is maturing ; they might prove very dangerous 

 to those eating the fruit. Hellebore may be used at any 

 time. Mice, rabbits and moles destroy many in their 

 cocoons and birds destroy many as slugs and flies. They 

 also have an enemy of their own, a small fly which lays 

 its egg in the slug fly's egg ; from this egg a maggot is 

 hatched, and it devours the slug-fly egg, forms its cocoon 

 in it, changes to a chrysalis and hence, to a fly again. 

 The secret of getting rid of the slug is to watch it and 

 get ahead of it ; hence, it is important to know all about 

 it, and its habits ; watch carefully the first hot spell in 

 May and you will soon see the little flies. They now begin 

 to lay their eggs, and now is the time to hellebore them 

 or Paris green them, for it will be absorbed by the eggs 

 and destroy them. Now in two weeks remember the 

 eggs hatch, and now apply your remedies and don't let 

 them get ahead one day or they will get ahead of you 

 entirely. In the same way watch for the second crop, 

 which we have told all about. 



