AN ISLAND GARDEN 7 



leaves must be reached, none neglected at your 

 peril! Still another box contains yellow snuff 

 for the green aphis, but he is almost impossible 

 to manage, let once his legions get a foothold, 

 good-by to any hope for you ! Lime, salt, paris 

 green, cayenne pepper, kerosene emulsion, whale- 

 oil soap, the list of weapons is long indeed, with 

 which one must fight the garden's foes ! And it 

 must be done with such judgment, persistence, 

 patience, accuracy, and watchful care ! It seems 

 to me the worst of all the plagues is the slug, 

 the snail without a shell. He is beyond descrip- 

 tion repulsive, a mass of sooty, shapeless slime, 

 and he devours everything. He seems to thrive 

 on all the poisons known ; salt and lime are the 

 only things that have power upon him, at least 

 the only things I have been able to find so far. 

 But salt and lime must be used very carefully, or 

 they destroy the plant as effectually as the slug 

 would do. Every night, while the season is yet 

 young, and the precious growths just beginning 

 to make their way upward, feeling their strength, 

 I go at sunset and heap along the edge of the 

 flower beds air-slaked lime, or round certain most 

 valuable plants a ring of the same, the slug 

 cannot cross this while it is fresh, but should it 

 be left a day or two it loses its strength, it has no 

 more power to burn, and the enemy may slide 

 over it unharmed, leaving his track of slime. On 

 many a solemn midnight have I stolen from my 

 bed to visit my cherished treasures by the pale 

 glimpses of the moon, that I might be quite sure 

 the protecting rings were still strong enough to 



