Butterflies and Moths (British)Furneaux, William S.
Science
Butterflies and Moths (British)
Furneaux, William S.
Butterflies -- Great Britain; Moths -- Great Britain
The first thing to do is to prepare the luring sweetmeat. Supply
yourself with a quantity of strong, dark treacle, and also some dark
brown sugar; always remembering, in the selection of these viands, that
odour rather than purity is to be the guide. The best kinds of sugar are
those very dark and moist brands imported in a raw state from the West
Indies, nothing being better than that known as 'Jamaica Foots.'
Mix about equal quantities of these with a little stale beer, and boil
and stir till all the sugar is dissolved. The consistency of the mixture
should be such that it will work well with a brush when used as a
paint--not too thick, nor so thin that it is easily absorbed by the
substance on which it is 'painted,' nor must it be in such a fluid
condition that it easily runs.
When satisfied on these points, transfer the mixture to a tin canister,
see it properly covered, and set it aside as your 'stock' from which you
can draw supplies as required. Now secure an ordinary painter's brush of
convenient size, and a number of strips of linen or other rag, each one
of which is fastened to a hook formed of bent wire. These items,
together with the usual lantern, collecting box, pill boxes, and killing
bottle, complete your outfit for the sugaring expedition.
When the selected time for operations has arrived, take sufficient
'sugar' for your night's work, mix it well with sufficient strong rum to
give it a very decided odour, and start off at dusk with this and the
other requisites just mentioned.
The night chosen should be warm and calm, with a rather damp atmosphere,
and no moon preferred. Let your locality be a well-wooded one;
abounding, if possible, with giant oaks and other trees, and containing
open spaces with plenty of underwood and rank herbage. Such localities
are to be met with at their best in forest lands, and if you would do
wonders at sugaring you cannot do better than arrange for spending your
holidays in such a spot as the New Forest, taking with you sufficient
'sugar' for several nights' work.
Having reached a likely spot of no very great extent, you prepare for
real work. Light up the lamp, and get out your sugaring tin and brush
ready for action. Take your course along some definite track that you
are sure to remember, painting vertical strips of sugar, about a foot
long, on the trunks of trees or on palings, and hanging strips of rag
that have just been steeped in the sugar on the branches of small trees
and shrubs where you do not find good surfaces for the brush.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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