482 STANDARD RECEIPTS. 



it, and when the post-hole is filled to within ten inches of the surface of 

 the ground, to apply a heavy coat of tar and fill up with earth. As 

 fence-posts always decay near the surface of the ground, it is only nec- 

 essary to protect the post a few inches above the surface, and about a 

 foot below it. The timber begins to decay, usually on the surface of 

 the posts. Therefore, if the surface can be protected by some antisep- 

 tic material, posts will last a lifetime. 



ANNOYING INSECTS. 



Exterminating Insects. By scattering chloride of lime on a 

 plank in a stable, biting flies are driven away. Sprinkling beds of veg- 

 etables with a weak solution of this salt effectually preserves them from 

 caterpillars, slugs, etc. It has the same effect when sprinkled on fruit- 

 trees and shrubbery. Mixed in a paste with fatty matter, and applied 

 in a narrow band around the trees, it prevents insects from creep- 

 ing up. 



Another plan is to carry all the toads you can find to your gardens. 

 They will devour immense number of bugs. A toad will swallow the 

 largest specimen of the tomato worm, though sometimes he will have a 

 hard time of it. 



Hens, wasps, and spiders are all devourers of your enemies. A com- 

 mon duck will go up and down rows of tomato and potato vines, and 

 pick off the large worms usually found on such vines, as fast it can see 

 them; and they will see a half dozen when a man could not see one. 

 Young turkeys will do the same service, though they are not so easily 

 controlled and guided. 



All fallen fruit is to be picked up once or twice a day, and boiled, and 

 then given to your cattle to be devoured. By doing this it will pay ten 

 times over, and the result of it will be that the next year you will not 

 have insects. 



To Exterminate Bed Bugs. There are various remedies for 

 getting rid of these annoying insects. The following are the most re- 

 liable. 



1 . Put a few drops of oil of cinnamon into naptha and annoint the 

 openings and cracks. Do not take near fire or burning lamp. 



2. Two ounces red arsenic, one-quarter pound of white soap, one-half 

 ounce of camphor dissolved in a teaspoonful of alcohol, made into a 

 paste of the consistency of cream. Use to annoint the bedstead. 



