CHAPTER XVI. 



INSECTS. 



"We have but little trouble with insects in our highly 

 cultivated grounds ; what with continued moving of the 

 soil by plowing and harrowing every foot, from three to 

 four times each season, incessant hoeing, and the digging 

 up of the crops, we give these pests but little chance for a 

 foot-hold. We are, however, occasionally troubled with 

 Aphides, the " Green-fly," in our forcing houses of Let- 

 tuce. A complete remedy for this trouble, in its early 

 stages, is smoke from burning tobacco stems ; or tobacco 

 stems steeped in water to give it about the color of strong 

 tea, and applied with a syringe, will thoroughly destroy 

 them. "Jumping Jack," or the Turnip-fly, occasions 

 some trouble with late sowings of Cabbages, Turnips, 

 and Radishes, but we find an excellent preventive in dust- 

 ing lime over the beds, immediately the seeds begin to 

 germinate. It is of the utmost importance to use preven- 

 tives in the case of insects, for if once they get a lodge 

 ment, it is almost useless to attempt their destruction. 

 The striped Cucumber-bug, which, with us, attacks late 

 sowings only, we have found to yield readily to a few ap- 

 plications of bone-dust, which serves the double purpose 

 of disturbing the insect and encouraging the growth of 

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