1059. To destroy Vermin in Granaries and other Outbuildings.—Cover completely the walls and rafters, above and below, of the granaries, &c., which are infested with weevils and other vermin, with quick-lime slaked in water, in which trefoil, wormwood, and hyssop have been boiled. This composition ought to be applied as hot as possible.
1060. To destroy Worms in Gardens.—Water your beds with a strong decoction of walnut-tree leaves where there are worm casts; the worms will immediately rise up out of the earth, and you may easily take and cut them to pieces, and fatten your poultry therewith, or feed fish in ponds with them.
By laying ashes or lime about any plant, neither snails nor worms will come near it. As the moisture weakens it, you must, more or less, continue to renew the lime or ashes.
1061. To destroy Worms in Gravel Walks, &c.—Pour into the holes a ley, made of wood ashes and lime; this will also destroy insects, if trees are sprinkled with it. Salt and water will do as well.
1062. Usefulness of the Wren in destroying Insects.—As a devourer of pernicious insects, one of the most useful birds is the house wren. This little bird seems to be particularly fond of the society of man, and it must be confessed that it is often protected by his interested care. It has long been a custom, in many parts of the country, to fix a small box at the end of a long pole, in gardens, about houses, &c., as a place for it to build in. In these boxes they build and hatch their young. When the young are hatched, the parent bird feeds them with a variety of different insects, particularly such as are injurious in gardens. An intelligent gentleman was at the trouble to observe the number of times a pair of these birds came from their box, and returned with insects for their young. He found that they did this from 40 to 60 times in an hour, and in one particular hour, the birds carried food to their young 71 times. In this business they were engaged the greater part of the day; say 12 hours. Taking the medium therefore of 50 times in an hour, it appeared that a single pair of these birds took from the cabbage, salad, beans, peas, and other vegetables in the garden, at least 600 insects in the course of one day. This calculation proceeds upon the supposition that the two birds took only a single insect each time. But it is highly probable they often took several at a time.