times the volume of water for roses. Apply when sun is off the roses 
being careful to spray the underneath side of the foHage. 
Sarah W. Hendrie, 
Grosse Point Farms, Mich. 
Take four pounds of unslacked lime, put in a gaUon of boiling 
water; add one pound of tobacco dust, mixing thoroughly. Add 
enough water to make five gallons. Apply to the roots of the plants, 
one teacupful at a time, being sure that the soil is well loosened 
around the roots before pouring on the mixture. When we cannot get 
tobacco dust, we use tobacco stems, soaking those till the water is 
very brown, and then mixing with the lime water. We begin these 
treatments when plants are about six inches high in the Spring; two 
or three applications for a week or two, then discontinue, and start 
again in two or three weeks or when we see signs of the bhght. 
This is usually the most rehable remedy for that deadly attack 
on the blue of our gardens. It came originally from Miss McGregor 
of Springfield, Ohio to the Garden Magazine, and is a balm in Gilead 
to those who gaze with dismay at the crumpHng and darkening of 
sky-blue buds before their time. It is Miss McGregor who practices 
cutting back her Ampelopsis Veitchii to five feet each year, — a sug- 
gestion which I have followed with a consequent reward in deUcacy 
of growth not secured in any other way. 
Remedy for 
Delphinium 
Bli^t 
The most common trouble in the raising of plants by seed, es- 
pecially in boxes or flats, is the damping off of the young plants. 
This is the rotting off of the seedHngs near the surface of the soil, 
and is the work of fungi. Cause, too much moisture. 
Prevention is worth more than cure. Some authorities recommend 
covering the soil with a thin layer of fine white sand or finely sifted 
coal ashes. Seeds to be sown in this and covered according to need. 
The sand counteracting the tendency to damping off. 
See that the soil is wet clear through, not wet on top and dry 
beneath. Keep it as dry as possible on the surface. 
Should damping off threaten, a crochet hook or hat pin, if plants 
are not too close together, may be used to scrape the fungus off the 
earth, as this slight disturbance often serves to destroy the fungus. 
Set in an airy place, till surface has dried, or if soil gets too dry, water 
from the bottom by setting flat in pan of tepid water. 
In severe cases lift seedUngs carefully with a sharpened splinter, 
and replant quickly in fresh earth, continuing the treatment as in the 
first germination of the seed. 
39 
"Damping 
Off" 
