"Spider" wrote ...

Talking to friends recently, I was told that they keep "old chestnuts"
(horse chestnuts, that is) in the four corners of each room in order to
deter spiders. It is supposed to be an old remedy. I have never heard
of this before and can't imagine what can be in chestnuts which so
offends spiders.

Can anyone shed any light on this? My friends didn't seem to know how
it worked, but seemed to think that it did. Don't get me wrong: I still
love spiders, but there are places where I'd rather they didn't set up home!

It's supposed to do with a gas/smell they give off, it also is supposed to
have an effect on moth so some put them in their wardrobes too. They do
contain saponin, a natural soap, so maybe it's true but if so why do the
trees suffer with leaf miner moth.
I've never seen any scientific proof either way.

-- Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK