PERSONAL EXPERIENCES. 37 



been observed that in what are called unhealthy seasons 

 the crops of fruit and cereals are likely to be inferior, 

 yet the observation has never before been given its full 

 practical import. 



Frorn the grapevines I turned my attention to straw- 

 berries, and there I found similar enemies. Worms, 

 large and small, were on them, destroying alike fruit, 

 leaves, and roots, besides large quantities of bacteria and 

 fungi that were no less injurious. A group of geraniums 

 might be apparently in perfect health, and in twenty- 

 four hours the enemy would come in upon them like 

 yellow fever upon the people. I could go through a 

 garden of flowers and not only demonstrate all this read- 

 ily, but prove, without much difficulty, that each variety 

 has a host of enemies that destroy it. 



In the open air there is great difficulty in contending 

 against these enemies. It is not so easy to bring plants 

 under the immediate influence of the remedies, and ex- 

 posure to the atmosphere makes them, of course, more 

 liable to any deleterious effects; but in the greenhouse very 

 much can be done if the plants are attended to in time. 



Flowers go through the same processes and functions 

 as man. They take nourishment, and die as he does. 

 They need air, food, and water ; they suffer from dis- 

 ease, go through various phases of health, and are sub- 

 ject to similar disturbances as those which afflict men 

 and animals. Kespiration is as essential to them as to 

 us. Changes are constantly going on in their tissues, 

 and fluids circulate through them in constant directions, 

 und even with considerable force. 



Thus the relations between animals and plants are 

 Very intimate, and if we would know how to treat dis- 

 ease in the former we must study it in the latter. If 

 we would cure members of the human family, let us see 

 how disease affects the vegetable world, and ascertain, if 

 we can, what remedial agents are necessary and safe 

 there. If in our experiments we kill a few plants, the 

 loss is not very great ; but if in the same way human life 

 be sacrificed, the process becomes a serious one. 



