22 THE OECHID-GEOWER'S MANUAL. 



lated according to the weather outside ; this is an import- 

 ant point to be attended to : if the weather be dull outside, 

 the house inside must be kept dry. The glass and roof 

 should always be perfectly clean, so that the plants may have 

 plenty of light and sun : it is my practice, as soon as the 

 season of rest commences, to wash every piece of glass on the 

 house, and also the woodwork. 



Insects. 



Orchids are liable to be injured by many sorts of insects, 

 such as red spider, thrips, mealy-bug, white and brown 

 scale, woodlice, cockroaches, and a small shell snail. Cock- 

 roaches are among the greatest plagues we have to deal 

 with ; they will do a great deal of mischief in a few nights, 

 if they are not sought after, on every opportunity. The food 

 they like best is the young tender roots and flower stems. I 

 have seen the roots of a plant completely eaten off in one 

 night. The only way to keep these insects under is by con- 

 stantly looking after them, both by night and day. Search 

 for them in the evening by candle-light, and in the daytime 

 by moving the pots and baskets under which they harbour. 

 They leave their hiding-places in the evening, to seek after 

 food, and it is then that they are most easily caught. 

 Chase's Beetle Poison, a mixture sold in boxes, is a capital 

 thing to destroy them, if laid in different parts of the house 

 in the evening ; lay it on some pieces of tile or slate two 

 or three nights a week; then move it, for a week, and 

 keep on every other week until you find that they are 

 destroyed. By using this at times they may be kept under : 

 collect the pieces employed every morning, and put them 

 down again in the evening. It is also a good plan to lay 

 some damp moss in the hottest part of the house ; I have 

 killed many in this way, looking the moss over every two or 

 three days. I have also destroyed them with a mixture of 

 honey, lard, and arsenic, the latter in very small quantity. 



