134 JOURNAL OJ THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Thus furnished, your cool house will be a " thing of joy and 

 foeauty," full of interest even at times when the bloom is com- 

 paratively scanty. 



It would be impossible within the limits of a paper such as 

 this to enter into details as to cultivation of each variety of 

 Orchid I have named. For this I must refer you to some of the 

 excellent books on Orchid-growing, only remarking that book 

 knowledge must be supplemented by your own observation. 

 Orchids are fastidious. Often when they refuse to grow in one 

 part of a house, they will, for no reason that we can discover, 

 do well in some other part of the same structure. This must 

 be observed, and when a plant is not at home in one place try it 

 in another. When you have found the place that suits it, keep 

 it there. 



The chief elements of success in growing Orchids lie under 

 three heads : 



1. The proper temperature according to the season. 



2. Proper watering. 



3. Perfect cleanliness, including pure air. 



The cool Orchid-house is liable to three pests, which, though 

 ©asily kept under by attention, are hard to overcome when, by 

 neglect, they have got the upper hand. 



1. Thrips. Every plant should be examined at least every 

 three weeks and this pest sought for, especially in the axils of 

 the young leaves. The Orchid thrip is so small that it often 

 escapes notice, except through a magnifying glass. It stings the 

 young foliage, which develops a black spot where wounded, 

 which is never got rid of. A camel's-hair brush should be used, 

 which, dipped in some insecticide, may be thrust into the hidden 

 corners, and so the pest is destroyed. The foliage should be 

 washed with weak soft soap and water. This treatment is 

 specially necessary with Masdevallias, which are very liable to 

 attacks of thrip. 



2. Should green-fly make its appearance, fumigate with pure 

 tobacco at once. 



3. Slugs must be trapped with pieces of orange peel or 

 carrot. A little cotton wool, fastened at the base of a flower- 

 shoot, will form an impassable barrier to the slug in quest 

 of flower-buds, to which it is most partial. 



One more word of warning and I have done. Do not be 



