This operation should be repeated every winter, some time between the fall of the leaf and the first of February, as may be most convenient. The solution is effectually destructive to all kinds of insects, their eggs or larvæ.
1055. To kill Reptiles.—Twelve ounces of quick-lime in powder, two ounces of Scotch snuff, two ounces of basket salt, two ounces of sulphur vivum, dissolved in ten gallons of water, and thrown on the insects, either in the liquid or powder, will destroy them.
1056. To prevent Slugs from getting into Fruit-Trees.—If the trees are standards, tie a coarse horse-hair rope about them, two or three feet from the ground. If they are against the wall, nail a narrow slip of coarse horse-hair cloth against the wall, about half a foot from the ground, and they will never get over it; for if they attempt it, it will kill them, as their bellies are soft, and the horse-hair will wound them.
1057. To destroy Snails.—Snails are great enemies to wall-fruit; and any dewy morning you may easily find where they most delight to breed; but the best way is to find out their haunts in a hard winter, and then destroy them: they lie much in holes of walls, under thorns, behind old trees or old and close hedges. If you pluck not the fruit they have begun to devour, but let it alone, they will finish their repast on this, before they begin another.
1058. To destroy the Red Spider, so troublesome in dry seasons.—The red spider makes its appearance in hot, dry weather, and is always found on the under sides of the leaves, generally on roughish leaves, but not always so. It preys on the apple, cherry, fig, peach, pear, and plum—seldom on the apricot. It is among the smallest of the acari, and is sometimes not distinguishable without a microscope. If the back of the leaf be viewed through one, it appears full of its webs; and if many abound on it, the leaf appears full of punctures, becomes discolored, and brown on the upper surface, fades, and falls off.
This insect is more troublesome in dry seasons than in moist ones, and is wonderfully encouraged by heat—insomuch, that hot-houses of every description are sadly infested with it. Water, and water only, is its bane; and the syringe, or the force-pump, the engine of its destruction. It is not a mere sprinkling that will do; it requires a forcible dashing to and fro, and that often repeated, to be effectual.