A GARDEN PEST. WOODLICE.

Hutt News, Volume 3, Issue 5, 26 June 1930, Page 9

A GARDEN PEST. WOODLICE.

A very ti'oublesome pest, and one which does a considerable amount of harm when present on the beds, is the different varieties of woodlice. In soil of a decaying turfy nature, they ■breed very fast, and if it be used troufble is sure to follow. When the :beds are made up.in glass houses or sheds, there are sure to be .woodlice liyrking in cracks in the walls, or round the piers, or underneath any light covering inateriail. Prevention is. better than cure, and a few cans of boiling water poured in or on such places will kill them off!

Whenwoodilice are troublesome on established beds, they should be trapped or poisoned.' There are several methods of trapping them, one f>£ the best being to partly fild dirty pats with dry, mouldy hay or dung, and place these neaT their •haunts. If a thick paste of flour and water bo made, and insides of the pots are smeared witih. it, the substance attracts them. The pots should be examined and the woodliee tipped into a pail containing boiling water to destroy them.

Another excellent tra-p can be made ■iby U3ng two pieces of old jand running a 3cresw through, the centre of them bot>h, so as to keep thejm a quarter of an inch apart. The woo.dlice readily crawl into the space, and can then 'be shaken out into hot water and killed. - —

■When the beds are covered with litter, or where the grower cannot give the necessary >time to trapping, the woodliee should be poisoned.