DISEASES AND INSECTS. 93 



tables : the ants will find them, and if the traps are often 

 examined thousands may be destroyed. 



The slugs and snails are often very destructive, attack- 

 ing the flower-stem and young shoots. They leave a 

 trail behind them and when this is perceived it must be 

 followed up and the insect destroyed. 



The brown and white scale and mealy-bug are very 

 destructive : if not looked after, they increase rapidly and 

 often kill the plants. Cattleyas are especially subject to 

 their attacks. The following mixture rubbed over the 

 plants two or three times will destroy the insects : 



To one gallon of rain water add eight ounces of soft- 

 soap, one ounce of tobacco, and three table spoonfuls of 

 turpentine ; stir well and leave the mixture for forty-eight 

 hours, then strain it through a cloth and bottle for use. 



Or : Dissolve five ounces of camphor in half a pint 

 of spirits of wine the result will be an impalpable 

 powder ; add nine ounces Scotch snuff, nine ounces each 

 of black pepper and sulphur. Keep the mixture in a 

 well corked bottle. 



If the plants infested are powdered with this prepara- 

 tion the insects will be destroyed. 



As a general rule an Orchid house should be smoked 

 twice a month. In the growing season this fumigation 

 should be light, and plants in bloom should be removed 

 from the house. 



Orchids should be washed, foliage and pseudo-bulbs, 

 at least once a month with a wet sponge. 



The walls and rafters of an Orchid house should be 

 painted once a year. 



By adopting these rules the eggs of insects will be de- 

 stroyed and the plants kept in good health. 



