74 



HOUSE PLANTS 



while growth is dormant, or almost so. It is 

 simply folly to fuss about with potted plants 

 at that season. Do not disturb the roots at all 

 during the winter, for most plants are rest- 

 ing and cannot quickly put out new roots. 

 This is particularly true of such decora- 

 tive plants as palms, rubber plants, and 

 ferns, which can be shifted or fed with fer- 

 tilizers only in summer. Soft wooded plants, 

 like geraniums and heliotropes, are not 

 so easily injured by transplanting, but even 

 so I prefer to put them in large enough pots 

 in the fall so that they will not need shifting 

 until spring. If they should need extra 

 feeding, on account of large growth, it is 

 much better given in liquid form. 



LIQUID FERTILIZERS 



The best form of liquid plant food is 

 made from cow manure — at the rate of 

 two bushels to a barrel (fifty gallons) of water 

 — because there is no danger of burning 

 the roots; horse manure and sheep manure 

 are also good, but they must be used very 

 weak (one bushel of the former, and one- 

 half bushel of the latter to a barrel of water) 

 or they will injure the roots. I have used 



