THE PLANT WORLD UXDI'-R CARE 



II 



An Adventurous Ivy Vine. 



Seattle. Washint^'ton. 

 To the E litor : 



It is a welLknown fact that ivy is Iiard 

 to check in growth, and many ])eople can 

 testif}- tliat it will i^row u]) inside of a 

 window casing and ont at the top, but 

 it remained for a house in Morton, 



in the boards of the entrance building and 

 sent a branch of luxurious grow'th into the 

 interior in Arcadian picturesc^ueness.— Ed. 



You are producing a marvelous maga- 

 zine and each number is a joy to any 

 lover of nature. — Ximena AlcGlashan, 

 Truckee, California. 



LR'ING I^'Y THAT MADE ITS W'AY THROUGH WALLS AND WALL PAPER. 



Washington, to prove that it can pierce 

 wall paper. In this house the tendency 

 to explore led the ivy that cover.s the out- 

 side of the house through the walls into 

 the living room and into the kitchen. At 

 three diiTerent places it has broken 

 through the wall paper and is still grow- 

 ing. The illustration shows wdiere it has 

 forced itself into the living room near 

 the clock shelf and already grown long- 

 enough to festoon the picture on the ad- 

 joining wall. 



Resoectfull\-. 



Helen L. Bushnell. 



In replv to an inquiry in a later letter 

 Miss Bushnell wrote : 



'T took the picture myself, and the 

 old lady who lives in the house said that 

 the vine broke through the paper of it- 

 self. She cut it off several times and 

 kept it cut off in the kitchen, but finally 

 decided it would make a good decoration 

 in the living room, so let it grow and 

 trained it around the picture." 



A rambler rose on the Home Of^ce of 

 The Agassiz Association is true to its 

 name. In its randdes it found a crack- 



Keeping Lettuce Fresh. 



In picking lettuce from the garden, 

 do not cut oft' the root or even pull 

 it violently from the ground. Instead, 

 lift the plant carefully with a trowel 

 as if for transplanting ; then shake the 

 root free of earth without injuring the 

 small fibers. 



^^'ash. Set in tumbler of water, 

 leaves resting on the end ; root im- 

 mersed. In a cool place, the plant will 

 keep fresh for several days, wdthout 

 losing flavor as wdien the leaves are 

 wet. Plants treated in this way, even 

 though plucked while wilted by the 

 sun's heat, become crisp and edible in 

 a couple of hours. 



The device is especially useful in 

 the absence of ice. 



Lipman and Fowler report the first 

 successful attempt to isolate in pure 

 culture and directly from the soil the 

 nitrifying bacteria which forms the 

 nodules on the roots of peas, beans, 

 and other legumes. 



