FERN FOES, BRITISH AND EXOTIC. 



177 



which it contains being digested by them without any additional nutritive 

 matter taking its place. Among the several ways of getting rid of worms, 

 the watering of the soil (whether in a flower-pot or in the open ground) with 

 a weak solution of smelling-salts or carbonate of ammonia is about the 

 simplest, as also the most efficacious, as it causes the worms to come to 

 the surface of the ground in a very exhausted condition. The same effect 

 is also produced by an infusion of walnut-leaves. The watering of the soil 

 with a solution of lime-water soon clears the ground of all worms, but there 

 are many kinds of Ferns and other plants to which an application of lime- 

 water would prove more hurtful than the presence of the worms themselves. 

 Whenever any of the processes above recommended have to be resorted to, it 

 is best to make the application in the evening, as it is then that worms are 

 near the surface of the ground. Again, it will frequently have been noticed 

 that after a warm shower, especially in the evening, worms in enormous 

 quantities crawl out of their holes in search of food, and they may then be 

 collected, if necessary, by the aid of a lantern ; but this is an operation which 

 requires to be quickly performed, for it is well known that the vibration of the 

 soil caused by footsteps, or the appearance of light, causes the worms to beat a 

 hasty retreat into their holes. Their increase may also be greatly checked by 

 the introduction, in the garden or in the Fernery, of hedgehogs, shrew-mice, 

 and frogs, all of which feed largely on worms. 



A word of protest against the destruction of a harmless, or rather of a 

 useful, creature — which, instead of being protected as it deserves, is generally 

 hunted down by persons well- 

 intentioned, no doubt, but 

 possessing no knowledge of its 

 value in the garden — must be 

 entered here in favour of the 



Testacella Slug (Fig. 20). Fig. 20. Testacella Slug (Testacella haliotidea) 



This humble creature, which, (nat - size) - 



unlike the other slugs, is 



insectivorous, may rightly be termed the gardener's friend, as it feeds exclu- 

 sively on worms, which it follows into their burrows. Its presence in the 

 garden and in the Fernery is undoubtedly beneficial to these places, and its 

 distinctive outward characters should be made widely known, so as to protect 



2 A 



