HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 139 



of objects near at hand, but before it can make its possessor " au courant" 

 in general science, a radical change is required, not only in the mental, but 

 in the visual organs which receive its reflections. LC. 



CLEANLINESS IN GARDENING. 



Cleanliness, the proverb tells us. is next to godliness, and one reason why 

 it is placed so high as a moral duty is, because it is essential to health. 

 And it is quite as essential to the health of plants as to that of animals. 

 Passing through the houses of a friend some time since, who considers 

 himself, and I suppose is considered by others, a good gardener, I was much 

 struck to observe that the leaves of his hard-wooded plants were entirely 

 covered with the parasite denominated the soot fungus, which gives such an 

 unsightly appearance to the orange trees in the winter, and which, together 

 with the accumulation of dust and veritable soot from the heating apparatus, 

 had so metamorphosed them, that, instead of being green, they were black. 

 And I suppose my readers have not unfrequently seen the same thing. 

 Perhaps it is not too much to say, that it is just possible, if they look into 

 their own frames and greenhouses, they may see it at this moment ; for the 

 dull and dark days of January are very likely to bring it about. Well, this 

 arises from a want of cleanliness, and it is also certain that it is very 

 injurious to plants ; for the leaves are the lungs of the plants, and if you 

 choke up these vital organs, the plant cannot breathe; and if it does not 

 breathe, it cannot live. Just as you cannot live yourself if your lungs are 

 choked up with dust, as they would be if you were a mason, or a bricklayer, 

 or a needlemaker, unless you made use of the remedy just now prescribed 

 in a leading journal for such cases, and wore a moustache. The remedy 

 for plants, to save them from going into consumption, is a free use of soap 

 and water. There is plenty of time during the snow and rain of winter to 

 get such work as this done ; and really, if the plants are intended to be 

 healthy, it must be done. When the men are frozen out or washed out, set 

 them to work at cleaning the dirty leaves, only let them take care they are 

 not bruised in the operation. 



So much for personal cleanliness among plants. But we all know that 

 this is a virtue not to be maintained without cleanliness in our dwellings 

 also, and it is just the same with plants. Under the very best management 

 leaves will become dirty in the winter ; but a good deal may be done to 

 prevent it, and here, as well as in other instances, prevention is better than 



