INSECTS AND VERMIN. 159 



and clay, or a solution of potash, destroys the hiding 

 places of insects, and many of the insects themselves, which 

 infest trees. 



Birds aiid Other Animals. The encouragement of in- 

 sectivorous birds and other animals, instead of their 

 thoughtless and injurious destruction, is one of the most 

 promising methods of lessening the insect tribes. A single 

 pair of breeding swallows, Bradley has calculated, destroy 

 over three thousand worms in a week. Toads live almost 

 entirely upon insects, and do not injure plants. A large 

 class of insects also live entirely upon insects that are 

 injurious to plants, and should be encouraged. 



Lime and Salt. Dressing the soil with lime, sowing 

 in autumn six or eight bushels of salt to the acre, turning 

 over the soil and exposing it to frost just before winter, 

 or during the winter months when the ground is open, 

 are all found to be beneficial. Rolling the surface soil 

 smooth when crops are planted destroys the hiding places 

 of many insects, and renders them less destructive. 



Any insect peculiarly injurious must be watched as to 

 its habits, mode of feeding, and its transformations, in or- 

 der to discover where it may be most successfully attacked. 



As healthy plants are less subject to attack, keep the 

 ground in good order, sow good seed, cultivate thorough- 

 ly, and the crop will be less endangered. 



Fires, Insects also maybe destroyed and their increase 

 prevented by bonfires of brush, just after dark, which will 

 attract and destroy immense numbers of moths and 

 beetles. 



" Erect a post in the centre of the garden, on which 

 nail a platform of planks some thirty inches square, which 

 cover with sand ; on this build nightly a fire of fat light 

 wood for some weeks, from the time that moths, millers, 

 and butterflies begin to infest the garden. Large numbers 

 will fly into the fire and be consumed." 



