144 VEGECULTURE 



LIME, AND ITS APPLICATION. Lime can be applied either as quick- 

 lime, slaked lime, or chalk. In the latter form it is of little value, although 

 it may be used if it can be had in plenty, and the other forms are not easily 

 procured. Quicklime should be spread on the surface and left to " slake " ; 

 immediately after slaking it should be worked into the soil. The length 

 of time it should be left exposed varies with weather conditions, but for 

 " shell-lime " a period of from twelve hours to two days is generally 

 effective. Quicklime can now be had ground into a fine powder, and this 

 is undoubtedly the best form in which it can be applied to the soil. Slaked 

 lime, being of a moist and adhesive character, is difficult to apply evenly. 

 A larger amount is necessary, but it can be had much cheaper. The 

 refuse from acetylene gas plants consists mainly of slaked lime, and after 

 a brief exposure to the air may be used as such. Lime which has been 

 slaked for some time is always inferior to freshly-slaked lime ; hence the 

 best method is to get quicklime, and dig it in immediately after slaking. 

 Gas-lime, in its crude state, kills almost everything in or on the soil ; but 

 it is the cheapest form of lime, and the most profitable. It should be applied 

 as slaked lime. Gas-lime will soon lose its poisonous gases if spread over 

 the soil, and on vacant ground no harm is done ; but it takes months to 

 lose these gases if kept in a heap, without constant turning, and deprecia- 

 tion and loss inevitably ensues. Of course, if gas-lime is to be spread 

 among plants, it must be previously exposed to the air ; on vacant soil, 

 however, it can be dug into the surface after a day or two, where it will 

 act as an insecticide, and the injurious properties will soon pass away. 



DESTRUCTIVE PESTS. Wircworms and leather-jacket grubs make 

 their presence in the garden obvious by the extensive damage done to 

 seedlings and tender plants. The wireworm remains in the soil for from 

 two to four years, then changes into a click beetle. The leather-jacket 

 appears in early spring, has a short but gluttonous life until June or 

 July, then, after a month's rest, is transformed into a " daddy-long-legs." 

 We have the latter only during spring and summer ; the former is ever 

 with us. Correct tillage and manuring are the best remedies. Too much 

 farmyard manure in the soil encourages the pests, and the cultivator 

 should see that the soil is open, sweet, and not too moist. Lime will 

 help to keep the soil in good condition, and afford an antidote against too 

 much organic manure. Gas-lime, applied in the autumn, is the best soil 

 iumigant for wireworms ; also sulphate of iron or copperas applied at a 

 quarter-ounce per square yard. Salt or kainit may be applied in 

 autumn, but, unless on heavy soil, it can be used at any time. Soot is 

 sometimes advised against these pests if it is well dug into the top two or 

 three inches of soil. When these two insects are expected in a garden, 

 all pl.-ints should be given nitrate of soda, or some quick-acting manure, 

 to hasten them past the seedling stage of growth, which is the most 

 susceptible and critical period of plant-life. Slugs and snails are dealt 

 with most effectively by means of hand-picking, after a shower or water- 

 ing, and the marauders thrown into a can of hot water. Salt, soot, and 

 lime the first especially are three good destructive agents, also preven- 

 tives, as the slimy creatures abhor them. Worms succumb to the 

 application of lime-water. Caterpillars should be gathered by hand, 

 as they are so easily found ; a dusting of soot or lime will prevent their 

 attacks, and, indeed, rout them effectually even in the midst of their 

 depredations. 



