Enquire within upon everything by Robert Kemp Philp

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.