December, ’23] 
BASINGER: WHITE SNAIL IN CALIFORNIA 
525 
green vegetation they also eat such materials as weathered wood, paper 
and earth. 
Methods of Eradication 
In eradication work against this pest the first step taken was to clear 
off all the vegetation, excepting trees, in the canyon and open lots through¬ 
out the infested area. Heavy eye hoes were used for this purpose and 
everything was cut down to the bare ground. It was then worked 
into piles or windrows where it was left to dry for several days before 
burning. Leaving the ground bare made an extremely unfavorable 
condition for the snails, as it reached an uncomfortable temperature 
during the heat of the day. The disturbance caused by the hoeing stirred 
the snails into action and many took refuge in the windrows where they 
were later burned. 
Following the clearing of the open areas they were next burned overby 
a flamer. The outfit for this work consisted of a power sprayer with 
distillate as the fuel. Nozzles producing a fine spray were mounted on 
16-foot iron rods. The distillate was forced through the nozzles and 
the spray set on fire. The effect was that of an immense blow torch. 
The flame was played over the ground leaving in its wake a black, 
barren waste. Of course, some snails under stones and in crevices and 
other protected places escaped the direct flame and were not killed. 
However, they were easily picked up later by hand as the disturbance 
caused them to crawl about and they could be readily located by their 
slimy trails on the black ground. Two line of hose each seventy-five 
feet long were operated from the spray rig. This was necessary in order to 
reach the remote parts of the canyon. Several times it was necessary 
to join the 75-foot lengths into one in order to flame distant parts. 
While the open properties were being cleared and flamed we were 
carrying on a series of experiments to determine the best means for 
eradicating the snails from about the many dwellings where we had to 
deal with lawns, flowers, shrubbery, trees and vegetables. We had no 
intention of applying the devegetating and flaming process about these 
places except, possibly, as a last resort. Fortunately our efforts were 
successful,, for in the use of calcium arsenate and bran as a bait we 
found one of the most effective measures in the fight against Helix pis ana. 
This poison bait was adapted from Lovett and Black (3), who used 
calcium arsenate and chopped lettuce leaves as a control for the gray 
garden slug in Oregon. We used it in the proportion of one part of 
calcium arsenate to sixteen parts of bran. It was first mixed dry and 
then water added until a moist but not wet mash was obtained. Nothing 
