876 TKANSACTIONS OF THE HORnCULTURAL 



Study the haliits of plants; learn which require most heat, and 

 place them upon upper shelves; notice which thrive in cooler situa- 

 tions; set them near the floor. Give helitropes and geraniums plenty 

 of sun, but do not burn the leaves of delicate begonias or forget that 

 ferns and Chinese primroses love the shade. Remember the calla is 

 an aquatic plant, but that many others cannot bear wet feet; that 

 while most plants are benefited by frequent showering, the foliage 

 of others is as surely ruined by water as are the delicate fabrics of 

 your daintiest suit. Do not cut off all the ugly brown knobs from 

 your hoy a (ware plant), and then wonder why it is not cov- 

 ered with blossoms like your neighbors, as did our window gardener, 

 never dreaming those were the blossom buds; or, like another, con- 

 sign a beautiful fern to the flames, lest the little spores on the under 

 sides of the leaves might infest the whole collection of plants! I 

 am happy to be able to say the latter was a masculine blunder. The 

 young man had doubtless been reading up on insect enemies, and 

 thought he had discovered an extensive settlement of brown scale. 

 How he must have admired the beautiful regularity and precision 

 with w^iich they had stationed themselves. He had evidently 

 neglected to study the peculiarities of the fern family. 



Book knowledge is desirable; yes, necessary, but must be sup- 

 plemented by much observation and common sense. If one reads 

 that it is well to prepare soil for planting by heating, to destroy 

 insect life, she should not bake it till all vitalizing properties are 

 destroyed; or, if told that steam is good for plants, set a kettle of 

 boiling water so near as to injure the leaves. 



If obliged to confine myself to one class of plants for window 

 culture, I would select the flowering begonias. They bear dry heat, 

 and occasional neglect, as well as any, and are not liable to the attacks 

 of insects, while the number and variet}' of species is so large and so 

 varied that they alone make a beautiful collection. Some of them 

 are really tropical in rapidity and luxuriance of growth and size and 

 beauty of leaves. Some, like the rubia, are always in bloom; some 

 are suited to hanging baskets, as glarcophylea scanden, which has 

 salmon-colored flowers. Others have dark green leaves lined with 

 crimson, or fringed with bract-like appendages or beautiful coral-like 

 stems and delicate foliage. Others still have leaves silver, bronze, 

 maroon or spotted. Some of them blossom but once a year, but 

 these give such a profusion of flowers of such fairy-like loveliness, 

 one feels repaid for almost any amount of trouble. Next to begonias, 

 I would place geraniums. Every one knows how endless is the 

 variety of shades and forms of these beautiful flowers. Then the 

 scented, the silver-leaved, the bronze, the ivy-leaved, the tri-color — a 

 charming array. One can have a gay window without any flowers 

 at all. 1 need not extend the list of desirable plants; it is almost 

 endless, and one never knows where to stop. It comprises in addition 

 to the commonly-called green-house plants, many bulbs; and not a 



