OF THE PINE-APPLE. 



319 



of, both from public and private information. 

 Amongst the former much was promised. The 

 steam of a hot-bed made of horses* dung, also de- 

 coctions made from the several sorts of herbs, &c. 

 before mentioned, have, in their turns, been re- 

 commended as effectual : but on trial they proved 

 only impositions on the public. The application 

 of oil and spirits has likewise done the same unkind 

 office. Steeping the Pine-plants in water, heated 

 to a certain degree, regulated by the thermometer, 

 was said to destroy these insects, without injuring 

 the plants. I tried all the above, with many more 

 proposed methods of cure, and although the 

 greatest care was taken in performing each experi- 

 ment, yet I constantly found myself disappointed. 

 I generally made my experiments on small Pine- 

 plants, for the convenience of keeping them in 

 melon-frames, each parcel apart by itself. 



Oil, or spirits of wine, will certainly destroy 

 these insects instantly : this has been observed by 

 many gardeners, and has induced them to affirm 

 that they had found out the long wished for secret. 

 Had either of these methods of cure succeeded, 

 the process would have been very expensive : but 

 the misfortune is, if either of them be applied in 

 large quantities, they instantly destroy the plants 

 as well as the insects \ and if the insects are to be 

 found before the remedy be applied, they may as 

 easily be destroyed by any other means. I have 

 already observed, that there are insects fixed so 

 low between the leaves in the centres of the plants, 



