68 



GARDENING FOR PLEASURE. 



or the application of such stimulants as guano, or to some 

 other cause which has destroyed the fine rootlets by which 

 the plant feeds, and induced disease that may lead to 

 death. The case is not usually important enough 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 many of our household -physicians who apply a 

 remedy that increases the disease. Haying already de- 

 stroyed the, so to speak, nutritive organs of the plant, 

 the stomach is gorged with food by applying 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 enveloped, 

 and crush it between the hands just enough to allow all 

 the sour outer crust of the ball of earth to be shaken off ; 

 then re-pot in rather dry soil, (composed of any fresh 

 soil mixed with equal bulk of leaf-mold or street sweep- 

 ings), using a new flower-pot, or the old one, thor- 

 oughly washing it, so that the moisture can freely evap- 

 orate 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-potting, give it water enough to set- 

 tle 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 entirely evaporated from the 

 soil, then of course water must be given, or the patient 

 may die from the opposite cause — starvation. The dan- 

 ger to be avoided is in all probability that which brought 

 on the sickness, namely : saturation of the soil by too 

 much water. Other causes may induce sickness in 



