UNHEALTHY PLANTS THE KEMEDY. 105 



to call in a "plant doctor," so the amateur begins to 

 treat the patient, and the practice is, in all probability, 

 not unlike that of some of our household physicians who 

 apply a remedy that increases the disease. Having 

 already destroyed the, so to speak, nutritive organs of 

 the plant, the "stomach" is gorged with food by apply- 

 ing water, or with medicine by applying guano or some 

 patent "plant food." Now the remedy is nearly akin to 

 what is a good one when the animal digestion is deranged 

 give it no more food until it re-acts. We must then, 

 if the roots of the plant have been injured from any of 

 the above-named causes, let the soil in which it is potted 

 become nearly dry ; then remove the plant from the pot, 

 take the ball of soil in which the roots have been envel- 

 oped, and crush it between the hands just enough to 

 allow all the hard outer crust of the ball of earth to be 

 shaken off; and then re-pot in rather dry soil, using a new 

 flower pot, or the old one, thoroughly washing it, so that 

 the moisture can freely evaporate through the pores. Be 

 careful not to over-feed the sick plant. Let the pot be 

 only large enough to admit of not more than an inch of 

 soil between the pot and ball of roots. After re-pot- 

 ting, give it water enough to settle the soil, and do not 

 apply any more until the plant has begun to grow, unless, 

 indeed, the atmosphere is so dry that the moisture has en- 

 tirely evaporated from the soil, and then, of course, water 

 must be given, or the patient may die from the opposite 

 cause starvation. The danger to be avoided is, in all 

 probability, that which brought on the sickness, namely 5 

 saturation of the soil by too much water. Other causes 

 may induce sickness in plants, such as an escape of gas 

 in the apartment, or smoke from a flue in the greenhouse; 

 but in all cases, when the leaves fall from a plant, with- 

 hold water, and if there is reason to believe that the soil 

 has been poisoned by gas, or soddened with moisture, shake 

 it from the roots as before advised, and re -pot in a fresh 



