The plant now under consideration requires the same treatment as other Odonto-. 
glossums of the O. crispum (Alexandre) section, a class of plants we consider to 
be the very easiest to manage, when once their requirements are understood ; yet. 
few plants show signs of distress more rapidly when not treated in a rational 
manner. Too high a temperature is frequently a source of failure, and although 
we do not advocate an extremely cold atmosphere, we consider the thermometer. 
should not rise above 55° during the day, nor fall below 45° at night during the 
winter months. Odontoglossums require an abundant supply of moisture, but water 
must be given in a judicious manner; rain, or, as it is popularly called, soft- 
water, is the most congenial to these plants, and a constant supply of this may 
be secured by building tanks sufficiently large; indeed, if the value of rain-water 
was better understood, plant growers would not allow any portion of the supply 
which falls from the clouds to run to waste. As an example, in the cultivation 
of Odontoglossums, we have frequently observed that when spring-water is used 
the sphagnum does not long continue in a flourishing condition, and anything that 
is uncongenial to the moss is equally injurious to the Orchid. This source of 
failure, however, is too often ignored. | | 
Odontoglossums must be kept free from all insect pests, which, happily, is now 
easy of accomplishment, and unattended with danger, since we can steam with 
tobacco juice instead of fumigating with tobacco; the discovery of this process is a 
great boon to all plant growers, and especially so to the growers of Orchids, for 
not only may the tenderest leaved Odontoglossums be subjected to this process, but 
even the most delicate flowers pass through the ordeal without receiving the slightest 
blemish. Various kinds of molluscs must be constantly searched for, as these are 
most destructive in an Orchid house, the members of the genus Limax being the 
greatest depredators; these pests, familiarly known as slugs, are the most persistent 
enemies to the Orchid grower—hiding in crevices and holes by day, and issuing 
forth after dark upon their marauding expeditions, always selecting for their evening 
repast some fine flower-scape just issuing from amongst the leaves, which they 
either bite through and destroy, or they consume the entire top of the raceme; these 
must be searched for by lamp-light and killed; they may also be trapped with 
bran. Another pest belonging to this family is the onion snail (Zonites alliaria) a 
little brown-shelled species, deriving its name from its offensive onion-like odour 
when crushed; it chiefly devotes itself to the destruction of young roots and 
flowers, and must be carefully searched for and destroyed, as we do not know of 
any bait. sufficiently attractive to entrap it. These molluscs are mostly introduced to 
the Orchid houses with the sphagnum moss and other potting material, either in a 
dormant condition or in the egg state, and, therefore, become permanent evils, and 
are 4 perpetual source of trouble to the cultivator. We often prepare a place of 
safety for the plants which are sending up their spikes by isolating a portion of 
the stage—raising it above the ordinary stage and setting the pedicels upon which 
it rests, in pans of water; but even then, if any of the leaves are allowed to 
touch those of non-isolated plants, they form a most convenient bridge, which the 
slugs are not slow to avail themselves of. 
