AND TRAINING 



natural tendency of a plant generally mani- 

 fests itself while it is small, and this should be 

 your guide in the matter of training. 



Plants like the Boston Fern, with long, 

 spreading, and gracefully drooping foliage, 

 should be given positions on brackets, well 

 up the wall, to be most effective. Many of 

 the Begonias, having large leaves and long 

 stalks, should be treated similarly. Few 

 plants of the habit referred to are worth 

 growing in the living-room unless they are 

 given liberty to follow out their instincts as 

 to the disposal of their branches. Crowd 

 them down among ordinary plants and they 

 lose their individuality, and are never pleasing. 



Plants which produce their flowers at the 

 extremity of their branches should be treated 

 in such a manner as to secure as many 

 branches as possible if you want a good 

 showing of flowers from them. This is done 

 by nipping and pinching back, as advised 

 above, until you have all the branches you 

 want. 



Old, neglected plants can often be made 

 over into pleasing specimens by cutting away 

 nearly all their old top and forcing them to 

 renew themselves. This is hardly worth 



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