TO KILL INSECTS
A good solution to kill all insects is to take two pounds of alum and dissolve it in three or four quarts of boiling water; let it stand on the stove until the alum is all melted, then apply it with a brush while very hot to the wainscoting and floor and wherever the vermin abound.
It is also good to use on pantry shelves and bedsteads, and is a sure cure for the pests of fleas that are apt to swarm a closed house after a damp spell in the summer time.