n as
possible. Later in the season, it is customary to hang vessels of
beer, or water and sugar, in the fruit-trees, to entice them to drown
themselves. A wasp in a window may be killed almost instantaneously by
the application of a little sweet oil on the tip of a feather.

288. To protect Dahlias from Earwigs.

Dip a piece of wool or cotton in oil, and slightly tie it round the
stalk, about a foot from the earth. The stakes which you will put into
the ground to support your plants must also be surrounded by the oiled
cotton or wool, or the insects will climb up them to the blossoms and
tender tops of the stems. Insects may be prevented from climbing up
stakes, trees, &c., by encircling them with a broad ring of tar, which
may be renewed as often as may be necessary. Small pots inverted and
placed on the top of stakes form a useful trap for slugs, snails,
earwigs, &c., which crawl into them for shelter in the early morning,
and may thus be caught and destroyed. When it is sought to take
earwigs by this means, the bottom of each pot should be filled with a
wisp of hay or dried grass, or a little cotton wool.

289. To free Plants from Leaf-Lice.

The following is recommended as a cheap and easy mode of getting
rid of this pest:--Mix one ounce of flowers of sulphur with one bushel
of sawdust; scatter this over the plants infected with these insects:
they will soon be freed, though a second application may possibly be
necessary.

290. A Moral.

I had a little spot of ground,
Where blade nor blossom grew,
Though the bright sunshine all around
Life-giving radiance threw.
I mourned to see a spot so bare
Of leaves of healthful green,
And thought of bowers, and blossoms fair,
I frequently had seen.

Some seeds of various kinds lay by--
I knew not what they were--
But, rudely turning o'er the soil,
I strewed them thickly there;
And day by day I watched them spring
From out the fertile earth,
And hoped for many a lovely thing
Of beauty and of worth.

But as I marked their leaves unfold
As weeds before my view,
And saw how stubbornly and bold
The thorns and nettles grew--
I sighed to think that I had done,
Unwittingly, a thing
That, where a beauteous bower should thrive,
But worthless weeds did spring.

And thus I mused; the things we do