with reference to Horticulture. 349 



no mode of subduing the snail but hand-picking is to be de- 

 pended on. 



Slugs in gardens are destroyed with less labour than snails ; 

 because, their bodies being comparatively unprotected, they are 

 liable to be operated on by any caustic or bitter liquid as readily 

 as worms. Cabbage leaves in a state of incipient decay, with 

 the side which is to be placed next the soil rubbed over with 

 greasy matter of any kind, or even with the bruised bodies of 

 recently killed slugs, distributed over any surface, will attract 

 them in great numbers during the nights; and if the blades are 

 examined every morning, and the slugs which are found de- 

 stroyed, the piece of ground so treated will soon be freed from 

 them. Pea haulm being very sweet when in a state of incipient 

 decay, forms a powerful attraction to slugs ; and if handfuls of 

 it are distributed over a piece of ground in the same manner as 

 cabbage leaves, the little heaps of haulm may be examined 

 every morning, and the slugs shaken from them, and then de- 

 stroyed by watering with lime-water. Thin slices of turnips or 

 potatoes, placed under inverted empty flower-pots, form an excel- 

 lent attraction, as do the dead bodies of slugs themselves, some 

 parts, or the whole of which are greedily devoured by the living 

 animals. Where slugs are very abundant in a soil not covered 

 with plants so large as to shelter them, as for example, with 

 rising seeds, the slugs may be destroyed by watering the soil 

 thoroughly with lime-water or tobacco- water, late in the evening 

 or early in the morning. Abundance of water should be applied, 

 in order that it may sink into the soil, which the slugs penetrate 

 1 ft. or more in depth, according to its state of pulverisation. 

 Quicklime has been laid round plants to protect them from 

 snails and slugs, but it soon becomes mild, and of no use as a 

 protection. Coal ashes and sawdust annoy slugs by sticking to 

 their feet, but they will not be deterred by this annoyance so 

 effectually as to starve for want of food. Soot is also a great 

 annoyance to slugs ; but, to keep them from a plant, it requires 

 to be frequently and liberally renewed. " A stout, coarse, horse- 

 hair line, such as is used for hanging clothes out to dry, coiled 

 round the stems of wall-fruit trees, and stretched along the wall 

 will operate as a protection to the fruits from both snails and 

 slugs, in consequence of the bristly surface presented to them, 

 and which they shrink from encountering. Care, must, of course 

 be taken that they do not get under it." {Penny Q/c, Limax.) 



No gardener ought to rest content with merely protecting his 

 plants or fruits from snails or slugs; because, while they are in 

 the garden, as they must live, if they are debarred from attacking 

 one plant they will only have recourse to another. Nothing 

 short of extermination, therefore, ought to satisfy him ; and this 

 he may accomplish by enticing the larger slugs into empty pots, 



