92 ORCHIDS. 



only way to keep them under is by constant search by 

 day and night : by day, by moving the pots under which 

 they conceal themselves, and by night, by lamplight. At 

 dark they leave their hiding-places to seek food, and it is 

 then they are most easily caught. 



If damp moss is laid in the hottest part of the house, 

 they may often be found hiding in it. A mixture of 

 honey, lard, and arsenic, placed in oyster-shells round the 

 house will poison them, or any of the vermin extermina- 

 tors. Arsenic and tallow may be placed in the pots, but 

 care must be taken that it does not touch the roots or 

 shoots of the plant. 



The red spider and thrips are destroyed by washing 

 the leaves with a weak soap-suds to which flowers of sul- 

 phur has been added ; allow this to remain upon the 

 foliage for a day and then wash with pure water. Every 

 part of the pseudo-bulb should thus be treated, that all 

 eggs and insects may be destroyed. A house thus in- 

 fested should be well fumigated with tobacco every 

 evening for three or four days till the insects are de- 

 stroyed. This smoking will also destroy any green-fly 

 that may infest the young shoots, but an Orchid house 

 should always be smoked lightly, as many Orchids are in- 

 jured by tobacco smoke. 



Lime and sulphur mixed together and rubbed on the 

 pipes in different parts of the house when they are warm 

 is fatal to red spider. This remedy should be used with 

 care, as too much would seriously injure the plants. At 

 the time of its application there should be a moist atmos- 

 phere in the house, but not much heat. 



The small ants are easily trapped by cutting apples as 

 above directed for potatoes and placing them around the 



