THE ORCHID REVIEW. 249 
on a raft or in small pans. When the latter are used they should be very 
small, just large enough to hold the base, or the roots of the plant. The 
new growths will then turn over the rim, taking a downward course, and 
will continue to grow well. Use perforated pans, so that the roots may go in 
and out. Itis a species which requires but little water to keep in good health. 
Lycaste Skinneri is now in full growth. It is discarded by some, and 
liked by others, and certainly some of the varieties are very chaste and 
delicate. If grown in the Cool house, it should not be left there too late in 
the autumn, but removed to the Intermediate house. Here again, root 
disturbance is most harmful, and need only take place at long intervals if 
they are potted well and watered carefully. A compost consisting chiefly 
of peat is the best in which to grow them. Odontoglossum_ grande, 
another good showy old species, wants very much the same kind of 
treatment as the foregoing. It certainly succeeds better when treated 
as an Intermediate house Orchid than as a Cool house one. 
Phalenopsis and other inmates of the East Indian department must be 
kept growing actively, and not be allowed to suffer for want of moisture, which 
is their mainstay. If ants are troublesome in this department—and_ they 
frequently are, for these pests are particularly fond of Phalenopsis—they 
should be destroyed by some means. They seem to pierce the leaves so 
that a sweet substance exudes, upon which the ants feed, and are continually 
on the plants in great number. It is needless to say that the plants so 
attacked quickly dwindle away. They first assume a yellowish appearance 
round the margin of the leaves, which colour gradually spreads until the 
leaf ultimately falls off, and Phalznopsis without leaves are as good as dead. 
There are various ways and means for getting rid of ants, but the very best 
poison that I have ever had the pleasure of using is that which I have 
previously recommended, known under the name of Ballykillrain Ant 
Poison. 
As it is most important that the plants should receive as much light and 
sun as they will endure without causing injury, it will be as well now to 
slightly reduce the summer shading wherever possible. For instance, 
there are often many places on the roof more or less troublesome and 
difficult to get at to shade witha roller blind, and in such places some 
kind of permanent shading has to be employed. For such purposes 
““Summer Cloud” or ‘‘ Lime wash” is usually sufficient, and this may be 
reduced in density if the exposure to the weather has not already done so. 
There is still a great deal of that pest known as “Cattleya Fiy ” about 
in different collections. It seems to me that nearly every importation is 
affected with it in a more or less degree, and this makes it necessary for 
every grower to be strictly on his guard. When newly-imported plants 
come to hand, isolate them, cut he infected parts away and wash them, 
