Mine Enemies 129 



is subject to the crown rot in early spring, and the remedy is 

 to cover them with ashes as a fall mulch; also to sprinkle air- 

 slaked lime about the foot, and over the crown. The larkspur 

 blight is now under advisement, and no remedy is yet assured, 

 so I was told by the Plant Industry Department at Washing- 

 ton; though I shall relate my own experiment later, which has 

 been quite successful for two summers. It assumes the form 

 of a shriveling of the buds just as they are about to appear, 

 leaving abortive stems only. The only thing recommended so 

 far by the Department is to cut out and destroy all infected 

 plants, and spray with copper fungicides, using the following 

 Government formula for Bordeaux mixture: Copper sulphate, 

 three pounds; fresh stone lime, six pounds; water, fifty gallons. 

 It is much better to use it freshly mixed, and as a small garden 

 will not need so large a quantity at one time, each of the above 

 ingredients may be dissolved separately in twenty-five gallons 

 of water to be kept as a stock mixture. If the water evapo- 

 rates, add water to make up the loss, and combine them as re- 

 quired, stirring thoroughly. Or, it may be made freshly each 

 time in the exact quantity needed, using the above formula, 

 by dissolving separately at the rate of one ounce of copper 

 sulphate and two ounces of fresh stone lime each in a half 

 gallon of water. Stir well when dissolving and when mixed 

 together. In slaking lime add but a little water at a time to 

 the lime, as it generates great heat, stirring until all lumps are 

 slaked. Slaked lime should be kept covered with water until 

 it is used. 



The hollyhock rust has proved quite as deadly and unman- 

 ageable as the larkspur blight, when once established. As I 

 have grown my larkspurs and hollyhocks from seeds, and I 

 am a mile or more from any extensive garden that might have 

 infection, the appearance of blight and rust was unexpected. 

 It is said that rust, like mildew, attacks weak plants, but my 



