Home › Contents › Insects and Depredators

Insects and Depredators

There are various kinds of depredators which find their way into gardens;--worms, slugs, caterpillars, moles, ants, birds, butterflies, snails, &c. These must be got rid of, or kept down, otherwise the gardening labours are soon at an end. In wild nature all the above "vermin," as some people designate them, are of the greatest service in some way or other; even worms and moles, which are very destructive in gardens, are of great service on commons, and therefore in destroying them we should always do so with as little pain as possible to the individuals; and, as prevention is better than cure, the young gardener should look out in winter for the eggs of various moths and butterflies, which may be often seen encircling the twigs of trees, or under the eaves of paling, &c., and destroy them. Caterpillars are best got rid of by picking them from the plants; and slugs, and snails, and worms, are ofted eradicated by turning a brood of young ducks into the ground for a short time, where they can do no injury to the beds. They may also be entrapped by laying cabbage leaves in different parts of the garden, under which they will creep in the night time. Moles must be caught with a mole-trap set in the line of their march. It consists simple of bent stick, and a wire formed into a noose, slightly attached to the neck of a peg, into which the animal runs his head and gets strangled, by the elasticity of the rod drawing up the noose when the peg is disturbed. Ants are best got rid of by destroying their nest and eggs, the latter of which are excellent food for young chickens, pheasants, &c. The most destructive insect is the aphis, which attacks the rose, and this is best destroyed by the fumigation of tobacco-smoke, either through a pair of common bellows, or by means of the whirl-fumigator, which may be purchased for a few shillings; but the most certain mode of destruction is to obtain a few "golden beetles," and put near the plants infected by aphides; these are their natural enemies, and where they are placed the aphides will soon become extinct.