1 Jvxy, 1899.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 69. 
‘should, if possible, be opposed. Although its capability for extending its range 
of occurrence—as a wert of the exercise of its natural faculty of locomotion— 
is relatively great, there are grounds for concluding that its present distribution. 
has been principally brought about, unintentionally, through traffic in living 
plats The slug has been found even within flower-pots containing growing 
erns, having doubtless entered at the drainage-hole when in an;immature 
condition; if has also been met with in cases in which plants have been either 
established or packed, prior to transmission ; and, moreover, its eggs have been: 
remarked in the soil which these boxes have contained. In fact, any case of 
plants left durmg asummer’s night ina spot frequented by them, unless a 
specially tight one, is almost certain to be visited by, and subsequently harbour, 
the pest. The roots of certain plants, and, above all, densely-clothed rhizomes, 
even when all soil has been removed, may again be occupied by the slug or its 
eggs. Bird’s-nest ferns, if left lying upon the ground in the haunts of the 
animal, offer a favourite retreat for it. It is accordingly expedient that all 
plants, and the packages that have contained them, be carefully examined upon 
their receipt, and the soil, if practicable, burned. The roots, again, should be 
washed under a tap to remove any adherent matter, care being especially taken 
that no slug, however small, or slug’s egg, be allowed to escape detection and 
destruction. Consignors of plants should also be required to forward them— 
whenever practicable—without any soil being contained in the case or package. 
These injunctions, moreover, are applicable to plants that are received from all 
tropical or sub-tropical lands, as well as to those transmitted or brought from 
Brisbane or its suburbs. They should be especially respected by those residing 
along our sea-board. The climatic conditions obtaining west of the Dividing 
Range may, it is thought, prove an obstacle to their establishment in that part 
of the colony—except quite locally there, in shade-gardens or bush-houses. 
When slugs are established in the immediate neighbourhood of a garden, 
or have eyen already become denizens of the cultivation itself, it is still possible 
to protect portions of land that are either already free from or have become 
artificially relieved of their presence, by the employment of certain deterrents. 
Amongst these the use of “tobacco-waste” may especially be recommended. 
This is composed of the discarded mid-rib, or stout central rib, of the leaf after 
it has been cured, and at present may be obtained at tobacco factories at a 
merely nominal cost, say about 5s. per load. Applied to land, it has. 
also the additional value arising from the fact that it is a fertiliser. Indeed, it 
is already availed of by pineapple-growers on account of possessing this 
feature. This waste has simply to be laid upon the soil so as to form a barrier © 
around the portion of ground that it is purposed to protect from the slugs’ 
visitations. A band of the width formed by three or four pieces of tobacco- 
waste laid side by side has been found, in the course of an experiment, to be 
adequate to confine the slug in a space of but a foot or two square, from which 
it would effect its escape in a few minutes were no such obstacle present to 
intercept its progress. On contact with this material, it secretes a thin film o 
transparent mucus from its strap-like foot, as if to protect it from injury. Should. 
it succeed in finding its way on to a few pieces of the tobacco, its progress is 
soon stayed, and death ensues ; for this material is not only repugnant but is 
also fatal to the pest. Already the employment of tobacco-ivaste, as has been 
stated by more than one correspondent, has been successfully resorted to in 
dealing with anticipated incursions of this slug. Of course, also, the application 
of tobacco-extracts—more than one of which is on the market—might be 
expected to prove similarly effective; but in using them it would be necessary 
to impregnate some absorbent powder with the fluid. Their employment, 
however, would involve a greater cost than would be involved in that of the 
waste product mentioned.* ; 
“In gpen Sonor the use of tobacco-waste, it is due to the writer to acknowledge his 
obligations to Mr. A. J. Boyd, editor of the Queensland Agricultural Journal, who was the 
first to bring under his notice an instance of its successful employment for the purpose mentioned: 
