10 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, January 8 , 1861. 
Some Avill require large blocks, let sueli be attended to at once. 
Dendrobiums will also be showing signs of vegetation, attend to 
them and give them fresh food in the shape of new compost. If 
the spring is early, a great part of the work instructed to be 
done in April may be done in this month. 
Insects. 
Every attention to grow Orchids well may be bestowed upon 
them in a proper manner, but if insects are allowed to increase 
to an injurious extent all the labour will be thrown away : hence 
Mr. Bateman, of Knypersly, says in his large work most em¬ 
phatically, Beware of noxious insects. Frequently, when col¬ 
lections of Orchids arrive from abroad they are covered with 
white scale ; and if they are sent in boxes, that destructive insect 
the cockroach will be found in great force. Such being the fact, 
the importer will, or at least should, try to destroy every one 
before he places such plants in the house. In addition to these 
two, the following insects are too frequently found in Orcliid- 
liouses—namely, woodlice, thrips, large black and small white 
slugs, red spider, and sometimes, though rarely, the green fly. 
As such insects when they abound (which they will soon do if 
neglected), are so injurious to these my favourite plants, I shall 
lay before my readers the methods I have employed to destroy 
them. 
White Scale. —This is the most pernicious of all the tribes 
of insects to Orchids. It first appears like a white speck on the 
leaves. It grows larger, lavs eggs, which when hatched, by some 
means which I never could discover, the young creep away and 
fix themselves in clusters, and there increase again, and so on till 
the whole plant is covered with them. Feeding upon the leaf, 
they eventually destroy it, and finally the whole plant. I saw a 
plant that was much infes ed with this pest: the gardener 
washed them over with a weak solution of Gishurst Compound, 
and it completely killed them. I, however, have destroyed them 
years before Gislnu’st was heard of by a mixture of sulphur, 
Scotch snuff, and pepper in equal parts, dusted over them when 
steam was in the house. This mixture appeared to stick to 
them, and its pungent qualities killed them without injuring the 
leaf. No doubt with great care Gishurst would answer. 
Cockroaches are the next worst enemy, and are more difficult 
to come at. They secrete themselves in cracks of the walls, and 
also amongst the drainage of the pots, or any out-of-the-way 
corner during the day. I have captured great numbers by 
inverting a bell-glass and half filling it with sweetened liquor, 
taking care that a pathway for them was made to enable them 
to get to the brink of the vessel. Into it they fall, attracted by 
the sweet fluid; and there they are prisoners, being unable to 
travel up the smooth glass : this is an excellent trap for them. 
They are also trapped by laying slices of Turnips or Potatoes on 
the surface of the pots, and then taking a light at night, and 
with a piece of wood, like the handle of a small painter’s brush, 
•stuck full of pointed wires, spearing them whilst feeding ; but the 
spearman must strike very quickly and suddenly, or they will be 
too nimble for him. Poison may be laid for them also. I have 
used lard and boiled Carrots crushed into a paste, both mixed 
with arsenic, and made into small balls and stuck upon short 
sticks. These baits may be stuck into the pots, baskets, &c., 
at night, and removed in the morning if any fear is entertained 
of the poison being eaten by domestic animals. All these 
methods to get rid of these pests should be diligently resorted 
to and followed till not one is left alive. 
Woodlice. —In old houses more especially these devourers 
will abound. They also, like the last-named insectB, secrete 
themselves during the day. I have found them in the drainage 
and in baskets. The poison recommended for cockroaches will 
kill these also. I have got rid of great numbers by the following 
plan :—When the compost in the baskets is dry I take them 
clown, and gradually force the basket down into the cistern. 
The insects do not like wet: hence, as the basket descends, they 
•creep upwards and finally appear on the surface. They are 
then easily caught and killed. I have found that two or three 
toads will devour great numbers of woodlice. It is a curious 
sight to witness the toad catch his dainty morsel; but the 
spectator must be very sharp, for the toad darts out his tongue 
and draws in the insect as quick as lightning. 
Thrips.— These tiny enemies feed on the under side of the 
leaves. They only abound in cases of great neglect. The 
sponge is the best remedy for them. By washing the leaves 
with it, using tepid water, the plant may be cleansed ; but the 
operation should be performed in a warm shed, or some of the 
insects will escape. I have killed them also by filling the house 
with tobacco smoke. 
Larue Black Slugs. —If one or two of these voracious 
enemies find their way amongst the Orchids, they do a serious 
mischief by feeding upon the young roots, leaves, or flower-sterns 
when just starting. They may be easily traced to their con¬ 
cealment by the slime they leave behind them. 
Shall White Slugs frequently abound, especially after 
repotting. Most probably they are brought in amongst the new 
compost. As they are so small they are not as easily found 
as the larger species. The only way I could ever find out to 
catch them was by laying slices of Potatoes, Cabbage and Lettuce 
leaves, in the places they resort to, turning these traps over 
every morning or in the night, and destroying them directly. 
Red Spider. —Though this formidable tiny enemy seldom 
abounds amongst Orchids on account of the moisture, yet, when 
the plants are at rest and little water used, they do appear; and 
by feeding upon the foliage of such plants as are of a thin and 
delicate texture, they turn them yellow and cause them to be 
sickly. Like the thrips, the best and most effectual remedy is 
washing the affected leaves with a sponge dipped in warm water, 
Sulphur laid on the warm pipes like paint is a good preventive. 
Should a plant be much pestered with them, it is a good plan 
some warm day to lay it on one side on grass, and give the 
under side of the leaves a severe syringing. Do this in the 
morning, and then the leaves will become dry before night. 
The Green Fly is, as every gardener knows, effectually 
killed with tobacco smoke ; but it must be carefully used, never 
allowing it-to break out into a flame. 
In conclusion, I would press upon the cultivator never to tire 
in keeping these tiny enemies in complete subjection. Use all 
the above means, if necessary, for their destruction. Whenever 
a root is observed to be bitten off at the end, or a leaf spotted, 
look diligently out for the spoiler and destroy it. It is much 
easier to keep a collection of plants clear from insects by destroy¬ 
ing them before they begin to breed than if they are neglected. 
DISEASES. 
Happily Orchidaceous plants are not subject to many diseases. 
The Spot is the most common and the worst, and is most 
prevalent on the Indian species, such as HCrides, Saccolabiums, 
and the like. It is brought on by excessively forcing the plants 
to grow, thus extending and stretching the cellular tissues, till 
in one or more parts they rupture ; and the part so torn rots, 
and thus causes a black spot, which spreads and eventually 
destroys the leaf, and too often all the young leaves at the top 
of a shoot. The only remedy is to cut off all the affected leaves, 
and place the plant in a lower and drier temperature, till fresh 
healthy shoots and leaves are produced. It is a bad practice 
to force young plants to grow too rapidly, for the sake of 
quickly making a large plant. Keeping them in a high, moist 
temperature all the year will almost be certain to bring on this 
disease. 
Mildew also will occur, but it is brought on by a cold damp 
atmosphere. The genus Anoeetochilus is very subject to this, 
owing to being kept under a bell-glass in winter. The stagnant 
moist air brings on black mildew, the beautiful leaves perish, 
and the cultivator asks, Why ? The reason is plain enough— 
the cold damp air has caused the mischief. The remedy is, Keep 
the plants drier, give more air, and, when the warm long days 
arrive, fresh shoots will spring up as healthy as could be wished 
for. T. Appleby. 
{To be continued .) 
SPERGULA P1LIEERA. 
Some time in the autumn of last year (1859) I inquired, 
through The Cottage Gardener, how the Spergula pilifera had 
endured the heat of the summer, and what were its merits as a 
substitute for grass. This inquiry was replied to in a very 
courteous way by Mr. Summers, saying that it had fully con¬ 
firmed all that had been said about it at Forest Hill, and inviting 
me to see it—an invitation I have unfortunately been unable to 
accede to, but feel assured it does answer well at that place; for 
Mr. Bennett, at page 156 in Yol. XXIII., confirms what Mr. 
Summers had said in its favour of withstanding the drought, 
though he had considerable doubts of its acting as a substitute 
for grass in many other respects. But as another season has 
passed away, differing widely from that of 1859, I again ask. 
