Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-09-19
THE PLANT HOSPITAL
Special Corner in Nurseries for Sick
 Vegetation.
eAu Sorts Of MaIndtes Attack the VartOws Varieties of Plants and They Require Special
 TEeatmen4.

Leading nnrserymen of New York have curious department in their lbusiness. It may be called the plant hospital. In every large nursery there is 3 special corner set aside for ailing plants that patrons have sent to be treated, for plants get out of sorts Through being under artificial condi. tions, just as humans do, and must either be doctored and get change of air or die. says the New York Press.
 Plants are subject to all sorts of mala- dies. The commonest are worms, im- proper potting, want of washing and too much watering. The lack or excess of water is the commOnest of all causes. Many plants, such as the palm and the fern, when kept indoors, become as sem sitive to changes of temperature as a delicate woman. A cold dranght will set them sneeHng, as it were, inside ot an hour. At best it is difficult for most plants to thrive in living rooms The air is too dry and the light insufficient. This is true in general, yet plants vary and more than people do-in the con Fditions that agree with them. For in- stance, cacti do best in an environment l., Tropical things require a warm, moist climate.
 The effect of sudden changes of tenn peratHre on the plant is the loss of some Of the root hairs which are on the small lrootlefs and are an important part of Ahe feeding apparatus. They rot, and I4he plant Is then unable to take enough nourishment- When plant gets of it's feed general debility and nervous ex- haustion set in. With vigor gone, the plant falls an easy prey to all diseases proving round Fungi and animal parasites complete it's ruin.
 Prof Earle, of the New York botani- cal garden, says: Tn the thrifty plant khare is 8 constant balance between the activity going on in the leaves that draw sustenance from the air and the root hairs that absorb moisture and soluble food from the soil. Anything That interfares with either soon throws the plant out Of health. The most un- zssual causes are lack of light, smoke and sudden changes of temperature The aeaves are first affected and react upon the root hairs. When the plants begin 10 drop their leaves, it may be taken as an evidence of Illness. All florists have trouble with the begonia in this way
 The causes of diseases in plants, besides being numerous are often ob- scure. They are grouped for conven- dence as envtronmertal functional and parasitic Uncongenial surroundings such as improper soil conditions, too much or too little water, the absence or uverabundance of some of the food ele- nents, the pollution of the air with smoke or gases, or unfavorable position as to sunlight, often cause slow and feeble growth that is not a disease. In stead of sickness it is starvation or semi starvation. The sealding of plants af- Ter heavy and long continued rains, and
 tip burn Of lettuce and potatoes, . tc to 8 burning sun after wet, cloudy weather, illustrate this condition.
 Functional diseases spring from de- rangement within the plant itself. 1t may secrete too much or too little acid, and it's organs of nutrition get deranged The mosaic disease of tobacco and the syellOw disease of the China aster are examples of too little acid or ferment when a plant gets this way 1t may be gaid to have bad attack of indigestion. The acid Is insufficient to convert the starch of the green leaves into so4nhae sugars that cam be taken uphy the sap and used in forming new tissues.
 ssVast numbers of parasites fnfest plants. Scarcely any plant Is wholly free from them. They invade every part of the plant. roots, stems, leaves, flowers and fruits. They attack the surface and