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War On Garden Snails
Moves Slowly
A declaration of war on
snails by an 82-year-old gard- <*>
ener, Mr. A. W. Jones, of Tor- <*>
rens Park, in a letter to "The Ad-
vertiser" yesterday, has failed to
enlist many recruits among Ade
laide market gardeners, and the
campaign seems likely to be a slow
one.
Several of the largest suburban
gardeners said yesterday that they
were not greatly alarmed by the!
threat of a snail plague, and had
experienced little trouble. '
One nurseryman. Mr. H. J. Kemp.'
of Kingswood. had fcund sr.ailsj
lingering longer in his garden this;
year, attracted by the wet spring, j-
He thought that Mr Jones's pro-'
posal to enlist householders in a
blitzkrieg on snails a good one.;
though "a bit Utopian." and re-.
quiring too much staff work to be
a complete success. ?
Messrs. R. and A. Hersey. market]
gardeners, of Sturl, said that they I
had found glasshouses the best de
fence. They had thousands of
snails on their property, but re
garded them more as pets than
pests. They suggested keeping
ducks as a profitable way to get
rid of snails. While the ducks fat
tened, the snails disappeared.
There was a general doubt
whether snails, which were smart
enough to have solved the housing
problem, would fall an easy prey
to such an obvious trap as poisoned
bran. More subtle tactics, such as
the use of proprietary snail baits,
which enticed the snails with the
prospect of an appetising delicacy,
were suggested.
The lown clerk of Mitcham <Mr.
L. D. Boormani. to whose corpora
tion Mr. Jones has offered £50 fur a
combined assault with poisoned
bran by householders in a square
mile area, was sceptical.
"I think it is an impossible pro
position. Everybody should deal
with his own snails, he said.
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