PESTS AND DISEASES. 
97 
Woodlouse (Armadilla vulgaris) is the chief kind. This is of a 
leaden hue, and rolls itself up when disturbed. Another kind, 
Oniscus asellus, is greyish brown, with yellow-coloured spots on 
its sides and back. Yet another, Porcellio scaber, is of a slaty 
colour, with a rough dotted back. Being nocturnal feeders, 
they are not often seen at their mischievous occupation, and 
their handiwork is often attributed to other pests. During the 
day they hide under dry rubbish or in crevices. It is evident, 
therefore, that all rubbish should be removed from the 
neighbourhood of the plants, and that any crevices likely to 
form a harbour for them should occasionally be treated with 
boiling water. 
Remedies — Traps in the form of dirty flower pots filled 
with hay or moss, or with their insides smeared with treacle, 
should be laid about to entice the woodlice to enter. Examine 
these daily, and kill all found therein. Potatoes, swedes, or 
turnips cut in halves, and their insides scooped out, also form 
excellent traps. Beetle poisons placed near their haunts will 
be equally effective. 
Worms. — These unquestionably do a large amount of 
mischief if allowed to remain long in the soil of a pot plant. 
They not only damage the roots, but render the soil spongy, 
stagnant, and sour, and speedily bring the plant into ill- 
health. 
Remedies. — Put a lump of unslaked lime the size of your 
fist in a pail of water. Allow the solution to stand twenty- four 
hours, then skim off any film on the surface and quietly stand 
the pot invested with worms in the pail. In a few seconds the 
worms will come to the surface and may be caught. Watering 
the soil with a solution of carbonate of ammonia, half a tea- 
spoonful to a gallon of water, will effect the same object. 
Plants in pots should never be stood on the bare soil, but on 
tiles, slates, boards, or cinder ashes, otherwise worms will 
readily gain ingress to the roots. 
