8 AN ISLAND GARDEN 



save them, for the slug eats by night, he is invisi- 

 ble by day unless it rains or the sky be overcast. 

 He hides under every damp board or in any nook 

 of shade, because the sun is death to him. I use 

 salt for his destruction in the same way as the 

 lime, but it is so dangerous for the plants, I am 

 always afraid of it. Neither of these things must 

 be left about them when they are watered lest the 

 lime or salt sink into the earth in such quantities 

 as to injure the tender roots. I have little cages 

 of fine wire netting which I adjust over some 

 plants, carefully heaping the earth about them to 

 leave no loophole through which the enemy may 

 crawl, and round some of the beds, which are 

 inclosed in strips of wood, boxed, to hold the 

 earth in place, long shallow troughs of wood are 

 nailed and filled with salt to keep off the pests. 

 Nothing that human ingenuity can suggest do I 

 leave untried to save my beloved flowers ! Every 

 evening at sunset I pile lime and salt about my 

 pets, and every morning remove it before I 

 sprinkle them at sunrise. The salt dissolves of 

 itself in the humid sea air and in the dew, so 

 around those for whose safety I am most solici- 

 tous I lay rings of pasteboard on which to heap 

 it, to be certain of doing the plants no harm. 

 Judge, reader, whether all this requires strength, 

 patience, perseverance, hope! It is hard work 

 beyond a doubt, but I do not grudge it, for great 

 is my reward. Before I knew what to do to 

 save my garden from the slugs, I have stood at 

 evening rejoicing over rows of fresh emerald 

 leaves just springing in rich lines along the beds, 



