Florida Agricultural Experiment Station


straight rows as do the salamanders." Probably the best way
to get ride of these turtles is to put into the holes they make, a
wad of cotton which has been soaked in carbon bisulphide.
 ANTS
 One of the nuisances with which the gardeners and truckers
 have to contend is ants. The amount of damage they will do
 depends to a large extent on the species. Following are men-
 tioned some of the ways in which they are annoying in a garden.
 They eat off growing plants such as cabbage. Most species
feed to a limited extent only on growing vegetables, but many
species seem to object to the presence of vegetation about their
nests. This is particularly true of the large yellow agricul-
tural ants which will keep a space many feet in diameter about
their nests absolutely free from vegetation. The leaf-cutting
ants which are found in the southern part of the State, cut off
and remove to their nests a large number of leaves. They do
not use these directly for food, but to grow a kind of fungus
of which they are particularly fond. They were the first mush-
room growers. They are particularly annoying to citrus trees
in the tropics where they abound.
 One of the most annoying habits of ants is that of carry-
ing away seeds from seed beds. They are particularly fond of
lettuce and romaine seed. They use the seeds for food and will
begin to carry them to their nests as soon as planted and will
continue their pernicious activities all thru the germination
period and until the young seedlings have used up all of the
material in the seeds. Ants often cover up plants by building
mounds over them.
 Ants are very fond of the honeydew given off by aphids,
some jassids, mealy bugs and other scale insects. For the sake
of this substance many kinds will tend those insects, sometimes
driving away their enemies and more commonly carrying those
pests from one plant to another. (See garden aphid under
cabbage plant-lice, page 144.)
 Ants in the truck patch and garden, especially those that
sting, are somewhat of an annoyance to workers.
 Control.-Ants are best destroyed in their nests. For this
purpose carbon bisulphide can be used but potassium or sodium
cyanide is cheaper and more efficient. Dissolve the cyanide in
water, an ounce to each quart of water. With a cane or sharp
stick punch a hole to the depth of a foot or more in the center
of the hill and pour into it a few ounces of the solution. The