Acid Water 



Some pests, such as the troublesome leather- 

 jacket, the grub of the daddy-longlegs, or crane-fly, 

 are more prevalent in wet than in properly-drained 

 soils. 



In manufacturing districts water standing before 

 use for watering and syringing plants not infrequently 

 absorbs poisonous fumes of sulphurous acid and 

 chlorine from the air, and plants on which it is used 

 naturally suffer. Some good may be done by placing 

 lime in the tanks to neutralise these substances. The 

 same fumes often do damage to the fohage by enter- 

 ing the pores of the leaves with the oxygen and 

 carbonic-acid gas or by being dissolved in the drops 

 of water which exude from the tips or teeth of many 

 leaves when the air is moist. The cells with which 

 the poisons come in contact are killed, and brown 

 spots occur in the leaves or along the margins. At 

 times arsenical fumes escape from smelting works 

 and do much damage. Similar damage was not 

 infrequent when the old flue-system of heating was 

 in vogue and fumes from the flue escaped into the 

 houses, and at the present time sufficient care is not 

 always taken to ensure that fumes from the stoke- 

 hole are effectively excluded from the house. Gas 

 and fumes from gas lamps are equally detrimental. 

 We have had cases recently brought to our notice 

 of similar poisoning by fumes from cresoted wood 

 and the hke. 



When these causes are operative it wiU be found 

 30 



