294. LIFE OF A TREE. 
either too much or too little, or not of the right 
kind, cannot but grow up feeble and sickly things, 
scarcely able to bear the exhaustive effort of 
flowering, and soon dying away, perhaps to the 
great perplexity of the careless or ignorant pos- 
sessor of them. It is quite certain that plants 
may die of the dropsy if they are too much 
watered. Succulent plants in particular will 
sometimes suddenly become diseased in conse- 
quence of the mistaken kindness of too much 
and too frequent watering. 
There is acurious disease of trees called Honey- 
dew,* which is both a pretty and expressive name. 
It consists in the leaves of the tree pouring out 
clear thick, sweet drops of honey-like liquid. 
For a long time it was thought to be the effect of 
little insects piercing the leaves; but this expla- 
nation is now generally considered incorrect. A 
gentleman in Germany possessed a plant growing 
in his house, which exuded on the surface of 
its leaves in each September large colourless 
drops, which formed regular crystals of sugar- 
candy upon drying. It has also been observed, 
* It is right to mention that the Honey-dew has been attributed to 
other causes, such as the exudation from the bodies of insects. 
