810 



GARDENERS- CHROMCLE 



bottom of the tray, on which pots can freely drain themselves 

 without standing in water. For the purpose of keeping some 

 moisture in the air it is advisable to always have half an inch 

 of water in the tray. A further advantage is that a tray pre- 

 vents slopping of water about the floor or table. 



Soft, or rain water is the best to use when it can be ob- 

 tained; in the case of snow it can be gathered and allowed to 

 melt and the resulting water is very good for plants provided 

 it is not given them until it has reached a temperature of forty 

 degrees. It is not considered of any particular advantage to use 

 warm water for plants in Winter, although the question has been 

 frequently discussed by greenhouse men, in fact some large plant 

 growing establishments under glass have been equipped with 

 means of raising the temperature of all the water used ; the gen- 

 eral consensus of opinion is, however, that there is little, if any, 

 practical benefit derived from the system. 



Cleanliness is an important point which makes for success 

 with house plants. It is no more possible for them to thrive 

 and live happily if their bodies are covered with dust and insects 

 than it would be for ourselves. In a dwelling house dust will 

 always accumulate upon them, which iills up the stomata, or 

 what corresponds to pores, in their leaves, which decreases the 

 power of, or absolutely prevents, the leaves from carrying on 

 their functions, which functions are of the utmost importance 

 inasmuch as practically the entire process of digestion is carried 

 on in the leaf; this was set forth somewhat in detail in pre- 

 vious lessons on plant physiology. 



Plants with broad foliage may be cleaned by a wet sponge ; 

 standing plants in the sink, laundry tub, or bath and spraying 

 them will effect the purpose. .Advantage can at this time be 

 taken of the opportunity to scrub the pots, as keeping the outside 

 of them clean helps to ventilate the roots. Also remove all dead 

 leaves. 



Insects sometimes appear upon house plants, especially upon 

 those which are not doing w-ell, as these pests generally attack 

 sick plants before they do healthy ones. The almost invisible 

 red spider finds the dry atmosphere of a dwelling house very 

 congenial, and, if present, will multiply with great rapidity : 

 aphis and thrips are other pests likely to give trouble. A fre- 

 quent shower hath as suggested above will do a great deal to 

 prevent them from making any headway, or of obtaining any 

 foothold at all. If they have been allow-ed to become numerous 

 spraying with some reliable insectide. such as Aphine, should 

 be resorted to. In the case of plants with which the method 

 is practicable, the most efifective way is to mi.x sufficieiit insec- 

 ticide in a pail or other vessel deep enough so that the entire plant 

 except the pot may be submerged by holding it upside down and 

 moving the plant about so as to be sure the insects are washed 

 off ; both hands should be used, one to hold the pot and the 

 other to prevent the ball of the plant from dropping out of it. 

 When scales appear — plants like palms and rubbers being most 

 subject to them — the scale should be loosened with a strong solu- 

 tion of whale oil soap and the plants then sprayed with clear 

 water; a sponge can also be used to wash off the scale. 



The common earth worm is sometimes found in pots ; it does 

 no harm directly to the plant and does not eat any of the plant's 

 roots as some people think, but it creates conditions in the soil 

 which are inimical to a plant's health inasmuch as it tunnels 

 round and through the ball of earth to such an extent as to 

 reduce the soil to mud : also it will invariably work down into 

 the drainage and render it abortive. The use of lime water will 

 either kill them or cause them to come to the surface when 

 they can be removed. Lime water can be obtained from a drug- 

 gist, but is easily made by stirring a pound of builder's, or lump, 

 lime into two gallons of water, after settling the clear water 

 on top is ready for use. Using this clear solution at intervals 

 of a month will not harm any plants excepting azaleas, heathers, 

 and others of the same family. If pots containing the latter are 

 troubled with worms they can be drowned by placing the pots 

 in water deep enough to cover the rim for about ten minutes. 

 Mustard water is also effective against worms, and it can be 

 used for any kind of plant, by watering them with a solution 

 made by mixing a teaspoonful of fine mustard thoroughly with 

 one pint of water. 



Mention has just been made of worms destroying the pot's 

 drainage, thev do this bv filling up the spaces between the pieces 

 of broken pot, or "crocks."' which are placed over the hole to 

 keep a free passage for the water to drain away. Drainage is 

 the most important point connected with plant culture, and if 

 plants are to do well the pots in which they are placed must 

 first be properly "crocked." In a complete sense, crocking a pot 

 can only be taught through an experienced man showing how to 

 do it. but the underlying principle of it is that the crocks are 

 so placed that there is a hollow space, or spaces, between the 

 soil and the hole at the bottom of the pot, the crocks preventing 

 this hole from becoming filled un ; obviously the larger the pot 

 the greater the thickness of crocks required. The concave side 

 of the crocks should face downward, and over them a layer of 

 charcoal about the size of beans, these not only assist in keeping 



the passage for water open but exercise a sweetening effect; 

 also in pots of larger sizes, five inches and over, the crocks and 

 charcoal should be covered with sphagnum moss which prevents 

 the soil from being washed into the drainage. 



Pots which have been used should be thoroughly cleaned in- 

 side and out, as the material of the pot possesses a certain 

 amount of porosity and if clean it absorbs moisture and also 

 allows soiTie air to get to the roots of plants. On account of 

 their deficiency in these respects glazed pots are not desirable 

 to grow plants in. 



■frouble with pot plants is frequently caused by using pots 

 too large for the plants, whereby there is more soil than the 

 roots can occupy until perhaps several months have elapsed 

 after potting, during which period the soil becomes sour from 

 frequent watering and the roots refuse to grow freely. The 

 actual size to use will of course depend upon the amount of 

 healthy roots a plant has, but in the case of repotting being 

 necessary on account of the pot a plant is growing in becoming 

 filled with roots, it is usually sufficient to have the new pot not 

 more than one inch larger in diameter, and in many cases the 

 soil may be shaken out of the roots and fresh soil used with a 

 pot of the saine size. It is well to delay fresh potting as long 

 as possible and feed the plant with plant food dissolved in the 

 water ; there are several kinds of soluble plant foods on the 

 market and those advertised in this journal may be relied upon. 



Soil for potting purposes may be obtained from the principal 

 seed houses or from any commercial plant growing establish- 

 ment. It is also quite easy to prepare it one's self. It should 

 be mainly composed of sweet fibrous loams formed by the decay 

 of turf from a pasture, which has been piled in a heap and turned 

 over once or twice during a period of several months. After 

 chopping up with a spade this should be sifted through a sieve 

 of three-quarters of an inch mesh, the dead, fibrous grass roots 

 being rubbed through the sieve, stones and other useless material 

 being discarded. To this should be added for all ordinary plants 

 about one-third part of leaf mold, that is leaves which have de- 

 cayed into a powdery form, with the addition of one pound of 

 pure bone meal to half a Inishel of the compost: for ferns, the 

 proportion of leaf mold may be increased to one-half or three- 

 quarters. Neither soil from a low, wet situation, nor black 

 humus, should be used for potting purposes, at least not until 

 it has been composted for a year, had lime mixed with it, and 

 turned over several times. For the Ericacece family, to which 

 Rhododendrons and Azaleas belong, and for Ferns, the lime 

 should be left out. 



While some species of plants will thrive more or less well 

 when they do not .get any, or very little direct sunlight, the first 

 requirement of all plants during their growing season is the 

 greatest possible amount of daylight, in fact the importance of 

 this cannot be over estimated. Curtains should be pulled aside 

 and shades rolled up by sunrise so that the plants in the w'in- 

 dow may get the first bit of daylight. The more light a plant 

 receives the greater its power of assimilating food, which as- 

 similation is brought about by the action of light upon the 

 leaves. Sunlight is the source of plant energy — as it is of our- 

 selves — and w'ithout light the absorption of carbon from the air 

 cannot take place. As about three-fourths of the dry matter of 

 plants is carbon : the whole of which comes from the atmosphere ; 

 it follows that a plant cannot thrive unless the conditions are 

 such that it can obtain this carbon. 



It does not appear necessary to discuss the merits or demerits 

 of the many kinds of plants which may be grown in a window. 

 Too much importance is sometimes placed on the special needs 

 of different varieties and species, when as a matter of fact, no 

 such needs exist, so long as a .good, sweet compost as men- 

 tioned above is used for potting. 



We have often wondered why so few people have their veran- 

 dahs so constituted so as to he heated and used as a Winter 

 garden and sun parlor. With something of this kind the pos- 

 sibilities in the way of house plants are wonderfully increased. 



.\ very considerable amount of cheerfulness can be added to 

 a home in the Winter half of the year by using the outside window 

 bo.xes for evergreens, and also having similar plants in tubs 

 about the piazza and in vestibules. For the window boxes those 

 about a foot or eighteen inches tall are large enough, the most 

 suitable species being the compact varieties of Thuya occidcntalis, 

 together with Biota, Jniiif>('>'>is and Rctinispora. Larger speci- 

 rrens of these may be used for the tubs, as well as Norway and 

 other Spruces. In the severe Winters of the northern states all 

 these will kee;) a good appearance up to February or early in 

 March, after which those facing the sun will probably deteri- 

 orate so as not to be worth keeping over for another year. 

 This deterioration is caused by the fact that the boxes and tubs 

 out of doors will have become frozen solid and the plants have 

 been practically in cold stora.ge and dormant, but as soon as 

 the days lengthen and the sun gains in pow-er sap circulation 

 beains before the soil around the roots is thawed, therefore the 

 foliage cannot get any moisture from the roots to compensate 

 (Cnniinucd on fagc S12) 



