FARMEKS' INSTITUTES. J>G7 



have a like effect on the phmt. The most effective phiii to get rid of worms is, 

 to heat the soil before using. It involves some trouble but is very effective. 



Plants to Bloom in Winter. 



About the latter end of May plants intended to flower in winter may be 

 placed in the ground up to the rim of the pot; they should be turned two 

 or three times during the summer, to prevent rooting in the ground, atid lib- 

 erally watered ; though if well rooted in their pots, most plants will do better 

 turned out of their pots and planted in the ground. If treated in this manner, 

 they should be potted early in September, and stood in a shady place until they 

 become rooted in their new quarters. Wiiile in the ground during summer, 

 they must not be allowed to tlower, because the plant we wish to flower at an 

 unnatural time of year must not have exhausted its flowering powers during 

 summer. A plant well prepared for winter flowering should be well rooted in 

 its pot, with plenty of flowering wood, ready, when properly supplied with the 

 stimulus of heat and moisture, to burst into bloom ; but plants taken from the 

 ground after flowering all summer, potted, and placed in heat at once, meet 

 every difficulty unprepared, and will generally fail, the steady high tempera- 

 ture allowing the formation of blossoms only to a limited extent, and by spring 

 such plants are worthless. On the contrary, if tiie plants when brought indoors 

 in the fall were placed in a cool, airy room, they would ripen their wood, be- 

 come strong and vigorous, storing up strength against the demand that will be 

 made upon them in the future, and when brought into the warmer air of 

 another room and carefully treated, flower as liberally, and as beautifully as 

 the average of green-house plants. A general idea prevails that all plants 

 must have just so much heat. This is true during the period of growth ; but they 

 also need a period of rest, and this rest can only be obtained by reducing the 

 temperature below that point at which growth is excited, and still not so low 

 as to endanger life. In summer nearly all plants have a tendency to increased 

 vigor, and when taken indoors in the fall, if this heat is maintained they con- 

 tinue to grow, but such growth is unhealthy. Some of the mistakes most com- 

 monly made by the inexperienced are, potting too loosely, filling the pots too 

 full of soil, and making no provision for drainage. These matters seem snaall, 

 but it is usually the attention to small matters that makes the difference 

 between success and failure. It has often been truly remarked, that the gar- 

 dening carried on under the greatest difficulties often yields the greatest enjoy- 

 ment. Some of the most enthusiastic, determined gardening has been success- 

 fully accomplished in our large cities and towns. It should be thoroughly 

 understood that no amount of instruction can compensate for any lack of per- 

 sonal attention, as the art of plant-growing can not be acquired from books; 

 books are useful to give the impetus and to direct our energies aright; but pro- 

 ficiency is attained only by attention to causes and effects ; if there is an inter- 

 est in the work at its commencement, that interest will increase as skill and 

 dexterity are acquired. The plants suitable for house culture are far more 

 numerous than is generally supposed, we can therefore mention but a few, and 

 those such as are more generally known ; and first, there is no plant with which 

 success is more certain than the Chinese jirimrose, as it readily accommodates 

 itself to all conditions, and is in bloom from December to May. In the latter 

 month place them out of doors, where they get but little sun, and during the 

 summer pick off all flower buds as they appear. They should be repotted in 

 spring. The Calla lily should be in every collection. It is not a lily, but pop- 



