INSECTS. 51 



they are most easily caught. Chase's Beetle Poison, a phos- 

 phoric mixture sold in boxes, is a capital thing to destroy 

 them, if laid in different parts of the house in the evening. 

 It should be placed on oyster-shells or pieces of tile or slate, 

 two or three nights a week, and then removed for a week, 

 repeating the operation every other week until they are 

 destroyed. The pieces of shell should be collected every 

 morning, and put down again in the evening. By using this 

 preparation from time to time they may be kept under. It is 

 also a good plan to lay some damp moss as a decoy in the hot- 

 test part of the house ; this should be looked over every two or 

 thi'ee days, and I have killed many in this way. They may also 

 be destroyed by the use of a mixture of honey, lard, and 

 arsenic, the latter in very small quantity, placing some of this 

 on oyster-shells, and laying them in different parts of the house. 

 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, 



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