GARDENERS—NOTE.

Putaruru Press, Volume VI, Issue 255, 27 September 1928, Page 7

GARDENERS —NOTE.

REMEDIES AGAINST SLUGS. Some experiments with slugs at Harpenden are described in the Royal Horticultural Society’s Journal, and ■as a result should interest many who Jhave not had an opportunity of reading that magazine. Twelve subjects were employed, with the object of ■testing their effect. » Curiously enough, the one most -commonly used in gardens, lime, was not among them. That may have been because it was ' tried a good many years ago and was found that -it merely made the slugs change their skins and that they seemed none the worse for it. Soot, another .substance often used in the gardens, is still less effective. So long as it remains dry it may keep them away from plants surrounded by it, for it adheres to their slimy bodies and would eventually suffocate them if they became completely covered by it; but when once it has been wetted by rain or heavy dew they can crawl ■over it in safety.

Of the 12 substances employed in ! the Harpenden experiments four pro- ; duced little or no effect; five were ir- i ritant, but the slugs afterwards recovered; the remaining three, borax, sodium fluoride and aluminium sulphate, proved to be deadly. Borax, however, had to be discarded, as it destroyed vegetation, and sodium fluoride had a scorching effect which could not be remedied. Aluminium - sulphate acted in the same way, but when lime was added, it was found to be quite safe. •> - The recipe is : Half a pound of quick lime dissolved in four gallonsof water, the clear liquid strained off when cold and added to one pound of aluminium sulphate dissolved in one gallon, the whole again strained. “ The most advantageous time to spray,” we are told, “is shortly after sundown or after a shower that is to say, when slugs are most likely to he astir. In the experiments thorough’ wettings with the spray at this concentration proved fatal to the slug. Individuals sheltering at the base of the plants were not actually killed, but would not touch the- foliage so sprayed, and being unable to crawl far on surrounding soil, eventually perished. Several applications at intervals have been

found to destroy every slug in an area so treated.” i This should good news for gardeners.