The Culture of Greenhouse Orchids 



enough, squeeze all the solution out of the paper, 

 and strain. Use it as hot as is safe. After dipping, 

 assure yourself that the mixture lies in the axils of 

 the leaves ; then lay the plant upon its side for 

 ten minutes. Afterwards wash it in soft water. 



Note. — It must be used stronger to kill "scale." 



When the house is clear of insects, it may be 

 kept in that blessed state by means of Richard's 

 XL insecticide. 



Our worst plague, after all, is slugs, if they be 

 allowed to get the upper hand, and cockroaches 

 are terrible. Both attack the flower-spikes by 

 preference, as, indeed, do all the rest ; but these 

 horrid creatures devour the fruit of twelve months' 

 anxious culture in a single night. There is no 

 remedy but care and vigilance when once they 

 get established. To prevent that should be your 

 aim. 



Slugs are introduced as a rule in the sphagnum 

 moss, as are tiny flat snails, mischievous beyond 

 belief in proportion to their size. A legend current 

 among gardeners cheers us with the assurance that 

 they will not live in a house where rain-water alone 

 is used. I have heard this notion bitterly derided 

 by sufferers, and it is indisputable that if these 

 small snails cannot live under the rain-water 

 treatment, they take a long while in dying. But 



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