-424 
FAMILIAR LESSONS ON PRACTICAL GARDENING. 
frequently cleared away, the entire mass being 
charred or smother-burned to convert it into 
manure. Old walls, hedge?, and old fences of 
all kinds, and all other similar harbours for 
these creatures, should be frequently searched, 
and those which arc collected should be put 
into a vessel alternately with layers of salt or 
fresh slacked lime, either of which will destro)' 
them. Hot lime, in the state of fine powder, 
should be thinly scattered over such tender 
crops as beds of seedling plants, or young 
transplanted plants generally ; or a layer of 
lime may be placed around the bed so as to 
enclose the plants within a ring, which, as the 
slugs cannot pass it while the lime is fresh, 
will serve as a protection if the space is not 
too great. The lime loses its caustic proper- 
ties after being wetted. The slugs often bury 
themselves under the clods of earth, so that 
besides this, in situations where they are abun- 
dant or in seasons favourable to their increase, 
other means should be resorted to for the pur- 
pose of destroying them. One of the best is 
to drop down about the garden, in the even- 
ing, (showery and damp days are preferable,) 
small handfuls of fresh brewers' grains ; these 
heaps attract the slugs, and should be ex- 
amined, either very late at night or very 
early in the morning, by candlelight, and some 
salt or lime strewn over them, the heaps being 
taken away in the morning. Perseverance in 
this practice, and in the other matters previ- 
ously hinted at, will keep a garden as free from 
these pests as is possible. 
Mice are very destructive to seeds, such as 
peas and beans newly sown. They should be 
caught in traps, of which the figure-of-four 
trap is the simplest, and quite effective, if 
enough of them are set. It is also a good 
plan when sowing the seeds to strew along 
with them some chopped fragments of any 
accessible spiny plant, as furze or gorse, which 
serve as a check upon their depredations. 
Small Birds both pick up seeds and seed- 
lings, and destroy the buds of fruit trees. An 
indiscriminate w r ar upon these, however, is 
not proper, as some of them do much good in 
the destruction of injurious insects. The best 
plan is to scare them away from those objects 
they are likely to damage, of which the chief 
are newly sown seeds, ripening fruit, seeds 
approaching maturity, and the buds of fruit 
trees. 
Caterpillars of all kinds are very destruc- 
tive, as they feed chiefly on the leaves of 
vegetables or fruit trees, and in some cases 
entirely strip them. The kinds which attack 
garden crops are numerous, and very diverse. 
It should be remembered that the size of the 
caterpillars is no index to the damage they 
work, for some of the smaller kinds are so 
numerous as to do far more injury than larger 
kinds which are fewer in number. There are* 
four stages in which these "pests of the garden" 
may be warred against : viz. in the egg, by 
searching the situations where the mother 
insects are seen hovering about ; the larva or 
caterpillar, by handpicking ; the pupa or chry- 
salis; and the imago or perfect insect, for the 
prompt destruction of the female insect pre- 
vents the deposition of her eggs. If the eggs are 
sought for (on the leaves or bark) and crushed, 
the young brood is destroyed in embryo. The 
young caterpillars, when first hatched, should 
be watched for and destroyed, which prevents 
the most part of their depredations. And 
finally, wherever the chrysalis can be de- 
tached and killed, the maturity of the insect, 
and consequently the deposition of eggs for a 
future generation, is prevented. If the cater- 
pillars are suffered to become strong, and to 
disperse themselves, which they shortly do in 
most cases, it is much less easy either to de- 
stroy them, or to prevent their depredations. 
In all such cases, however, hand-picking is 
beneficial so far as it goes. 
The Cockchafer in its grub or larva state 
is very destructive to the roots of plants. The 
grub is large, white, and fleshy, and is four 
or five years reaching maturity. Wherever 
the grubs are turned up, they should be de- 
stroyed; but the best means of lessening their 
numbers is to destroy the insect in the perfect 
or beetle state. 
Wire-worms and some allied insects eat the 
roots of plants, especially those which are 
fleshy, as the carrot. They are difficult of 
extirpation : one of the best means is perhaps 
to bury slices of potato or turnip, as traps, 
and to examine these from time to time and 
destroy such as have been caught. 
Earwigs often do considerable damage, but 
their depredations affect flowers more than 
vegetables. They are caught by placing any 
hollow tubular bodies, closed at one end, as 
traps, among the foliage. The traps have to 
be frequently examined, and this should be 
done in the daytime. 
The Turnip-fly is a little skipping beetle ; 
it eats up the leaves and so destroys or mate- 
rially damages whole acres of this crop. There 
is no very sure remedy when the attack is 
once made. It is recommended to dash sharp 
dry dust among the plants while wet with 
dew, which renders the leaves uncomfortable 
to those which it does not beat off. The best 
way is to get the turnips to grow as fast as 
possible, and if they once get fairly started they 
seldom suffer ; this is effected by sowing wood 
ashes along with the seeds, and moreover, 
choosing, if possible, a showery time for 
sowing. 
No class of gardening operations requires to 
be more diligently followed up, than whatever 
