IN'SECTS AND OTHER ENEMIES. (35 



as it holds them down and thus causes their death. We have also found 

 hollow bones a veiy good means of enticing them, but these should be 

 dipped in boiling water and the bones laid down again, or the water 

 may be poured on the bones as they lay on the stages. They should be 

 frequently looked over. 



The best way of getting rid of the Red Spidek and the Thrips is by 

 frequently washing the leaves with clean water, steaming \^'ith tobacco 

 juice, or fumigating the house with tobacco or tobacco paper. We 

 prefer steaming to fumigating, this process being the least injurious to 

 Orchids. We have tried it for some years with the greatest success, 

 having used it in houses where the tenderest Ferns and flowering 

 Orchids were grown. This operation is carried out by using specially 

 prepared tobacco juice in an appai'atus called the " Thanatophore." This 

 contrivance was invented by M. Martre, of Paris, and we have taken uj) 

 the sole agency for the sale of this new invention in this country. For 

 further particulars as to the use of this apparatus we must refer our 

 readers to the advertisements at the end of this book. Our method is 

 to fill the house either with steam or tobacco smoke— in the case of 

 steam twice, and tobacco smoke three or four times — at intervals of two 

 or three days, till the insects are quite destroyed ; the evening is the best 

 time to do this. It is also a good plan to mix some lime and sulphur 

 together, and rub it on the pipes in different parts of the house, taking 

 care not to use too much ; and it should be used only when the pipes 

 are warm, not hot ; there should be a good supply of moisture at the 

 same time, but not too much heat. There is also a kind of Eed Thrips 

 which sometimes gets into the heart of the plants, and is very trouble- 

 some; steaming is the best remedy for this. It is very difficult to 

 perceive, but will soon disfigure the tops of the plants if not kept under. 

 When discovered, the house should be smoked every two or three nights 

 till it is destroyed. The parts on which the insects had established 

 themselves should be washed with tobacco water. Tobacco powder may 

 also be used on the leaves, or even powdered sulphur mixed with water 

 and applied to the affected parts with a camel's hair pencil. 



The Green Fly or Aphis, which makes its appearance in spring on 

 the young flower buds, may also be destroyed by steaming; and of 

 late we have had a yellow Aphis introduced, which is a great pest if not 

 kept under, and requires more looking after than the green fly; steam 



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