[Wireworms, Grubs,] &c.—When a soil is infested with any of these pests, the gardener may be almost sure to find his choicest roots or bulbs eaten by them. He should, therefore, take the precaution to have the ground turned up, if possible, some time before planting, so that these pests may be brought to the surface and exposed to the keen eyes of the "birds in the air" who are always on the watch for any choice morsels that are likely to improve their voices.
It would not be safe, however, to trust altogether to the natural enemies of these pests who are usually endowed with keen powers for evading their attacks. It may be necessary, therefore, to lay traps of pieces of potato, carrot, parsnip, or any fleshy and enticing material in their haunts, and examine them regularly. A piece of stick thrust into these substances will make a convenient handle for lifting them up for examination. The best time of course to catch the enemy is when he is dining off his piece of potato, parsnip, or carrot. He and his friends should then be led forth for execution beneath the weight of the foot, or into a bucket of boiling water, or in any other way that the ingenious reader may devise. The main thing, however, to bear in mind is that the enemy must be killed without mercy or remorse. And no matter how ruthlessly he is persecuted, it will be found each season that there are still some of his family left to carry on a guerilla warfare against the gardener and his plants. So that one must be really always on the watch for attack, and, like a wise general, be ready to meet it, or spoil it altogether.
Besides using traps of potatoes, carrots, &c., nitrate of soda and [kainit] have been found very useful for ridding the soil of these pests. About 2lbs. of nitrate of soda or kainit to a square rod (30-1/4 square yards) has been found an ample dressing. It should be distributed evenly over the surface of the soil, when the latter is in a moist—but not sodden—condition.
[Lime and Soot].—Slugs and snails are great marauders among the young growths of bulbous and other plants, and may be kept in check by the use of nitrate of soda, and kainit, as well as by birds. These remedies may be supplemented, or even supplanted, by the use of lime and soot. These substances are always easy to obtain, and will be found of great use not only in keeping the garden free from insect pests, but also because of their manurial value.
When lime is used for checking the attacks of slugs or snails it should be freshly slaked, that is, a little caustic or quick-lime should be broken down into a fine white powdery mass by having a little water poured over it. When the heat has subsided the powdered lime may be sprinkled around and between the crowns of the plants that are being attacked by slugs. Should it come in contact with the slimy bodies of these it will soon kill them. Soot that has been exposed to the air for several weeks will be found a good preventive also against these pests, and it has the advantage of not being so conspicuous amongst the plants as lime. Fresh soot from the chimney should on no account be strewn amongst the young crowns or growths of plants, as the poisonous matters in it may kill them as well as the slugs.
Slaked lime and seasoned soot may be mixed together, and then strewn over the surface of the soil. Even common [salt ]is a good slug destroyer, and may be applied in either a liquid or solid form. Lime-water is also an excellent cleanser, and may be given to the soil freely without injury to the plants. Where large numbers of Daffodils are grown one must keep a watch for the grub of the Narcissus fly ([Merodon] equestris or Narcissi), an insect resembling a small and slender bumble-bee in appearance. It lays its eggs in the early summer months in the Narcissi, and the grubs from these bore their way into the fleshy part of the bulb, damaging the growths and flower stems for next season. When the bulbs are being lifted or planted, any that are soft to the touch are very likely affected, and should be examined for the pest. Any badly affected should be burned. Those not so badly injured may be steeped in water in July or August, for about a week, to drown the maggots which at this period have caused but little mischief. When the perfect Merodon insects are on the wing from about the middle of May to the middle of July they may be enticed to drown themselves in saucers containing strong solutions of sugar or treacle, placed amongst the plants.
Although most birds in the garden may be looked on with a friendly eye, one must make an exception in the case of Passer domesticus,—otherwise known as the common [sparrow]. He will tear your Crocuses—- especially the yellow ones—to tatters out of sheer mischief. If he would only eat the petals or make a nest of them there would be some excuse; but no, he simply tears them to pieces and flings them, so to speak, in your face. Mrs. Sparrow is no doubt just as bad, and therefore should have her nest and the eggs therein confiscated and destroyed on every possible occasion. A few strands of black cotton thread stretched over the Crocuses will be found to yield a certain amount of protection against attack.
[Fungoid Diseases.]—Of the fungoid diseases affecting bulbous plants happily there are few; and even these are not troublesome to any alarming extent in the open air.
Snowdrops are sometimes attacked with a kind of mildew known scientifically as Botrytis galanthina. The fungus attacks bulbs, leaves, and flower-stems one after the other, and effectually stops the plants from flowering. As soon as this disease is seen on the plants, the affected portions should be carefully picked off and burned. Once the disease reaches the black spot-like stage, there is little hope for the plants so that they had better be burned straight away.
Colchicums, Crocuses, Tulips, Hyacinths, Daffodils, Gladioli, and others are affected from time to time with one fungoid disease or another, probably because the soil in which they grow has not been particularly well-prepared, and is full of some organic matter that can only be disposed of by the addition of freshly-slaked lime, and deep digging at the earliest opportunity. When any of the plants referred to are badly attacked with any fungoid disease, the simplest and best remedy is to burn them—and thus kill the spores and prevent them spreading. It will be cheaper to buy new bulbs the following season, and to grow them in another portion of the garden, rather than try to reclaim the old ones whose doom in any case is only a matter of time.