Osage orange fruit and spiders

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

So whadayado with 'em??
Squish 'em up and spread the innards around? or leave 'em whole?

[Jim Becker]

I've heard rumblings of that, but never actually tried it...

[Leigh Costello]

Well, Cliff, I can't explain the why and how, but around here (Missouri) folks put Osage oranges, aka hedge-apples, in the basements and cellars to keep nearly all bugs at bay. We did this when our original house was here. No bugs most of the time.

After the old homestead was burned and later levelled, we rebuilt and used hedge-apples to ward off any bugs during the final phases of construction. Nine years later, we are bug free for the most part - excluding hitch-hiking infiltrators.

[Jim Dunn]

Best fishing on the lake is around the base of hedge-apple trees. Naarley things at their best.

[Leigh Costello]

No, Cliff, you just set them where you think they will do the most good and leave them alone. They will rot after some time so keep an eye on them, but it takes awhile for them to rot. itsy bitsy spider, ran up the wall and out...