98 



SNAILS AND SLUGS, CONSIDERED. 



have become tender and somewhat sweet by incipient decay. Snails are 

 very fond of greasy matter ; and where a snail has been killed by crushing, 

 its remains are preyed on by living snails, which crowd to it in numbers. 

 About the end of autumn, when the weather begins to grow cold, the snail 

 retires into sheltered places, where it will be protected from the weather 

 during winter. Where there are evergreens, such as the Box or the Ivy, it 

 resorts to them ; or if these be wanting, it will retire under loose stones, or 

 rubbish of any kind, such as branches, spray, leaves, or litter ; and if no 

 other covering is at hand, it has a power of burying itself in any soil not too 

 hard on the surface. Whatever has been said of the habits of the snail will 

 apply to those of the slug ; and the uses and the natural enemies of the 

 two animals are exactly the same. 



303. To destroy snails in gardens, the only effectual mode is hand-picking, 

 either in the evening, early in the morning, or immediately after rain. 

 Empty flower-pots reversed and distributed over the surface, if an opening 

 under the rim is left on one side by making a small depression in the soil, 

 will attract a great number of snails ; and the more so if some greased cab- 

 bage-leaves or slices of turnip, carrot, &c., be placed under the pots. In 

 the course of the autumn, winter, and early in spring, all their hiding- 

 places should be searched, and the animals taken out and destroyed by 

 crushing, or by giving them to swine, which are said to be very fond of 

 them. Hedgehogs and weazels, being their natural enemies, may be kept in 

 gardens, and poultry which do not scratch, such as the turkey, duck, &c., 

 may be admitted occasionally ; though no mode of subduing the snail but 

 hand-picking is to be depended on. 



304. To destroy slugs in gardens, less labour is required than in destroying 

 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 m 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 night ; and if the leaves are 

 examined every morning, and the slugs which are found destroyed, 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 destroyed by 

 watering with lime-water. Thin slices of turnip or potatoe placed under 

 inverted empty flower-pots form an excellent 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 seedlings, 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 a foot or more in depth, according to 

 its state of pulverization. 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 foot, 

 but they will not be deterred by this annoyance so effectually as to starve 



