THE CULTURE AND 



fresh lime as large as an ordinary coffee-cup 

 in a pail of water. It will soon dissolve. 

 Pour off the clear water and apply this to your 

 plants, using enough to wet all the soil in the 

 pot. A smaller quantity would be of no bene- 

 fit. Many persons fear to use lime-water lib- 

 erally, as they have an impression that it may 

 injure their plants. Such is not the case, how- 

 ever. Water can hold only a certain amount 

 of the active properties of lime in suspension, 

 and this amount is never enough to injure the 

 most delicate plant, except such varieties as are 

 averse to lime in the soil. Ordinary plants 

 receive considerable benefit from its use as a 

 plant-food. That it will kill worms I know 

 from repeated trials, but one application may 

 not be sufficient to do this. If any are found 

 after the first trial, give another application, 

 and repeat the process until no worms are to be 

 found. Worms do great harm because they 

 attack the tender roots, thus bringing about a 

 diseased condition which greatly weakens the 

 plant and lays the foundation of chronic ill- 

 health, which, in time, will most likely result 

 in death. If they do not kill the plant, they 

 spoil its appearance, and a dead plant is better 

 than a disfigured one. If the leaves of your 



222 



