62 orchid-grower's manual. 



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 alliarid) 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 sUces 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. 

 Toads are very useful in catching insects ; a few of them in a 

 house do a great deal of good. 



The best way of getting rid of the red spider and the thripg 

 is by frequently washing the leaves with clean water, and by 

 fumigating the house with tobacco. My method is, to fill the 

 house with tobacco smoke three or four times, at inteiwals 

 of two or three days, till the insects are quite destroyed; 

 evening is the best time to do this. It is also a good plan to 

 mix some lime and sulphur together, and rub it on the pipes 

 in different parts of the house, taking care not to use too much ; 

 and it should be used only when the pipes are warm. There 

 should be a good supply of moisture at the same time, but not 

 too much heat. There is also a kind of red thrips, which 

 sometimes gets into the heart of the plants, and is very 

 troublesome ; tobacco smoke is the best remedy for this. It 

 is^ very difficult to perceive, but will soon disfigure the tops of 

 the plants if not kept under ; when discovered, the house 

 should be smoked every two or three nights till it is destroyed ; 



