1120 



FRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. 



Part III. 



lowing 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 omitted 

 the day before. It was observed invariably, that in the stetches dressed with the turnips, 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. 

 The quantity of slugs thus collected was near a bushel. Mr. Rodwell is persuaded that by this plan, he 

 saved his wheat from essential injury. {Kirby and Spence, Int. to 

 Entomology, i. p. 182. note.) 



7699. The turnip net [fig. 917.) is an instrument invented by Mr. Paul 

 of Starston in Norfolk. It is the most successful expedient that has yet 

 been thought of for the capture and destruction of the little beetles 

 called by farmers the black jack, and by hop-growers the flea. It con- 

 sists 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 curved upwards, for the purpose of passing the instrument 

 smoothly and easily over the surface of the ground : towards this end, 

 the sticks are connected 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 supporting a long and ample bag, made of strong glazed 

 calico. The method 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 during the process, so as to bring them to the 

 bottom (which is made narrow) where they will remain. Vast quanti- 

 ties of insects, which from their smallness and agility defy hand-pick, 

 ing, will be thus captured. The turnip 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, 



7700. Tfic' lime-duster (fig. 978.) is a recent invention by Mr. Samuel Curtis of Glazenwood, near 

 C()ggc.shall, Essex, and has been used by him with great success in throwing pulverised quick-lime 



97g over apple trees infected by caterpillars and other insects. His orchard, con- 



taining many thousand fruit trees, and occupying fifty acres, had been for many 

 years completely divested of most of their foliage and young fruit in the spring 

 months. Washing the stems and branches with lime and water (as might have 

 been expected) was found ineffectual for the destruction of insects which fed only 

 on the young buds and leaves. The instrument in question consists of a canister 

 twelve inches long, seven inches wide at its broadest, and four inches on its nar. 

 rowestpart ; the handle (a) is five inches and a half long. The top of the handle 

 is fitted with a cap {b), which is put on when the lime is to be thrown on low trees ; 

 but when high trees are to be operated upon, the cap is removed, and a pole of 

 sufficient length to reach the height required is inserted into the handle. Quick- 

 lime pulverised (and often sifted through a fine sieve) is put into the canister, 

 and shaken over the young foliage just as it was expanding. The time for doing 

 this is in the dew of the morning, or whenever the leaves are damp; and if there 

 should be a gentle breeze, sufficient to carry the dust obliquely through the head 

 of each tree, it is the more quickly performed. Under favourable circumstances 

 of this nature, Mr. Curtis says, " I found that three men, provided with the 

 powder in a large box on a light wheelbarrow, could dress from two to three 

 thousand trees in a day : when the wind changed, I had the trees dressed on the 

 other side. Although used ever so freely, no person need fear any injury, from 

 the caustic quality of the lime, on the most delicate and fresh expanded foliage ; 

 it is only prejudicial to insects of all kinds, and to dead vegetable matter." 

 {Hart. Trans, vol. vi. p. 2. page 124.) We know not whether the lime-duster has 



ever been tried upon hop plantations infected by the green fly or plant louse ; but it appears to us equally 



well adapted to effect a great destruction among those insects. 



7701. Grain qf all descriptions that is infected by weevils, or by the grubs of other insects, should be 

 spread in the sun, and frequently turned : the warmth will bring the animals out of the grain, and consi- 

 derable numbers may be destroyed. It has been said that they may be kept away by strewing boughs of 

 elder or branches of henbane among the grain, but this wants confirmation. 



7702. Hand-picking, independent of the foregoing methods, is too tedious and too ineffectual for general 

 adoption in large crops, but is probably the best that can be resorted to in gardens or small enclosures. 

 In this way the different esculent vegetables, and the common and low kinds of fruit trees, as currants, 

 gooseberries, &c. may be cleared of a vast number of caterpillars. 



7703. Catching the perfect insect is undoubtedly the most certain plan for preventing a return of the 

 same injury the following year, for the death of one female will cut off a generation of a hundred 

 larvee ; but from the difficulty that attend* an extensive adoption of this plan, it is not likely to be much 

 attended to. 



Sect, IV. Worm-like Animals injurious to AgricuUure. 



T1(A. Of worms ( Fermes L.) generally so called, there are but few which may be considered as injurious 

 to agriculture. The principal of these are the various species of slug (Ariora F., iimax L.) and the large 

 and small snails (Hfefix hort^nsis and nemorklis L.), mostly found in garden plantations. The earth or 

 dew worm (Lumbricus terr^stris L.), unless existing in great numbers on a single spot, cannot be ranked 

 among injurious animals, notwithstanding the prejudices of farmers and gardeners against them. With- 

 out worms the earth would soon become hard, cold, incapable of receiving moisture, or of giving nourish- 

 ment to roots : they are, in fact, the great promoters of vegetation, by boring, perforating, and loosening 

 the soil beneath, and by manuring it above with their excrement, which is thrown up into lumps called 

 worm casts. The wire-worm does not belong to this tribe, but is the larva of a small beetle already 

 noticed. 



7705. Worms of the slug kind are without shells. There are several species inhabiting Britain, all of 

 which subsist on leaves, roots, and vegetables. The most common is the iimax agrfestis (fig. 979. a), of 

 which there are several varieties injurious to the agriculturist and gardener ; they devour the young 

 shoots of turnips, wheat, and indeed all kinds of grain, frequently to a ruinous extent : their eggs (6) are 

 small, round, of a semipellucid whiteness, and are deposited in the earth. The methods of destroying or 

 eradicating the perfect animal have been already described. 



7706. The shell slug (Testac(511us nuingiF., c) is a native of Teneriffe, and has likewise been found in 

 several parts of France and Spain ; it has recently been discovered in some gardens near Bristol, by 

 Mr. Miller, of that city. It is a highly curious animal, remarkable for feeding upon earth worms ; 

 and may, therefore, be beneficially introduced into such gardens as are overstocked by that otherwise 



