408 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. 



structive and pertinacious pest, so much so that many well 

 qualified men have hesitated to take charge of a collection of 

 plants where it was known to exist to any great extent. 

 Having had to encounter such difficulties as those just stated, 

 and at the same time having had the good fortune to com- 

 pletely overcome them, I have been led to believe that some 

 account of the modus operandi by which such a result was 

 arrived at might be useful. Let us however commence by 

 describing the general condition of the stock when I first 

 took charge of it, and then pursue in the form of a journal, 

 step by step, the way in which the work of extermination was 

 conducted, and the restoration of the plants to health effected. 

 Orchid House and Stove, April 13, 1854. — Here I found 

 a miscellaneous collection of plants, several of which would 

 have been better accommodated in the greenhouse. Tacso- 

 nia mollissima, in a pot trained along the back wall, was well 

 covered with mealy bug ; Stephanotis floribunda, Petrea 

 volubilis, Combretum purpureum, Allamanda cathartica, Jas- 

 minum Sambac, were the permanent climbers ; these, with 

 the exception of the Allamanda, were very badly affected 

 with insects. The Stephanotis occupying a considerable 

 space had been sponged frequently, the leaves were generally 

 clean, but at their axils there existed as healthy a brood of 

 scale and bug as could possibly be desired. This remark also 

 applies to the greater part of the plants all over the establish- 

 ment ; in short, the general appearance was such as to con- 

 vince an experienced person that fire-heat had been used 

 unsparingly, and that a high temperature and a close atmos- 

 phere had been the guiding rule. The leaves were pale in 

 color, and many of the plants had made premature growth, 

 Saccolabium guttatum, in a large basket, and Aerides odora- 

 tum in a similar position, were the two best plants in the col- 

 lection, and had they not been closely connected with bad 

 neighbors I might have stated that they were clean. Dendro- 

 bium speciosum, Cattleya, crispa, and many others were 

 covered with white scale and mealy bug ; Oncidium Papilio, 

 carthaginense, and two or three others were dead, or so far 

 gone that there was little hopes of their recovery. 



