in 



mcian is unquestionably a " ministering angel," but does 

 ; a sick man resent the kindly attentions of a rough and 

 ready fellow creature when no professional assistance is at 

 hand ? I fear no unkind remarks from my Brother Plant- 

 ers, and liiave already claimed indulgence from the scienti- 

 fic world, and if in the process of exposing my utter igno- 

 rance any light is thrown on the obscure subjects under 

 consideration I -shall feel amply remunerated for my trou- 

 ble. I have read recent accounts of the results of feed- 

 ing cattle on the produce .of sewage farms, and of the 

 influence on the taste of milk produced by .cows fed on 

 grass grown on land manured with soot. I leave all my 

 conclusions to be corrected, but I am strongly of opinion, 

 .that certain conditions in the soil will produce, or favor, 

 the development of fungi in plants., The question may 

 be asked ; why do not .other plants and weeds growing on 

 the same land suffer in a similar manner ? I fancy the 

 answer will be found by saying that their produce is not 

 removed from the soil, and that not being cultivated^ they 

 only grow where circumstances favoring them exist. The 

 ungi or parasites which affect man are different to those 

 found iu animals and each genus and species of plant 

 have probably their own peculiar pests. Fungi and in- 

 sects have each probably proclivities peculiar to themsel- 

 ves. The borer is supposed to be peculiar to coffee ; but 

 each jungle plant has its peculiar borer. The coffee bug 

 is, I believe, different from that which attacks the Gua va. 

 Probably certain conditions favor the appearance of cer- 

 tain pests and their non-existence can only be accounted 

 for, by either, the absence of those conditions, or of their 

 natural food, A coffee pest may be developed by per- 

 haps a single tree, to assist which in its work of evil, 

 every condition may be present once formed a fungus, 

 or a parasite, a bug, or a borer, would find no difficulty in 

 living on trees, and under conditions even slightly below 

 or above the standard of its requirements. 



