52 obchid-grower's manual. 



Some growers mix the arsenic with tallow, and put it on a 

 stick, which is stuck in the pots ; care must, however, be taken 

 that the mixture does not touch the leaves or bulbs of the 

 plants. Bell-glasses are also used for catching these pests, 

 placing them so that they are level with the soil or moss, 

 and then half filling them with treacle, to which some water 

 has been added to make it a little thinner ; it should be thick 

 enough to stick and prevent them from climbing up the glass ; 

 the dead ones should be removed every day. 



Small ants are another pest in the Orchid house, as they 

 carry the dirt to the flowers, and thus spoil their appearance. 

 The best plan I know of by which to catch these little 

 troublesome insects, is to cut apples in halves, scoop out some 

 of the inside, and lay the pieces in different parts of the house, 

 looking them over very often. I have in this way destroyed 

 hundreds in a very short time. Treacle is also a good thing 

 as a trap for these pests ; place some in a bell-glass where they 

 frequent — they are fond of anything sweet ; they go to feed, 

 get into the mixture, and cannot get out again, as it sticks to 

 them, and thus causes death. I have also found hollow bones 

 a very good means of enticing them, and these should be 

 dipped in boiling water and the bones laid down again ; look 

 them over often. 



The woodlouse and the small snail (Helix alliaria) are also 

 very destructive. These, like the cockroach, are very fond of 

 the young roots ; they may be trapped by cutting some 

 potatoes in two, scooping out the inside, and placing them 

 on the pots and baskets, looking them over every night and 

 morning till the house is cleared of these vermin. Turnips 

 cut in slices will answer the same end. Some dry moss put 

 into flower- pots also form capital traps for the woodlouse ; 

 lay them on their sides in different parts of the house, and 

 examine them frequently, destroying those which are caught. 



