SUCCESS AND FAILURE WITH HOUSE PLANTS. 395 



soon catch on. Some bulbous plants, like gloxinias, *caladiutTis 

 and tuberous begonias, must go entirely dry for several months. In- 

 deed, they can be removed from the soil after they have ripened 

 up and lost their foliage, wrapped in cotton and kept in a warm, 

 dry place until the next planting time. 



Ahvays use soft water for watering if possible and have it 

 warm, especially in winter. You can use quite w-arm water with- 

 out injury to the roots — not scalding, of course — and it serves to 

 keep the soil in the pots warm and encourages growth. 



You must keep your plants clean. No plant can grow and thrive 

 covered with dust ; to some it is actual poison, and if not kept free 

 from it they will lose their foliage. Others if choked with dust will 

 make no new growth. When plants are kept in living rooms dust is 

 unavoidable, but the careful housewife who loves her plants will 

 reduce this to the minimum by care in sweeping and dusting. But 

 in spite of all precaution they must be washed and sprayed occasion- 

 ally, and then it is better to remove them from their places to the 

 kitchen and make a thorough job of it. 



If one has a miscellaneous collection of plants they are liable to 

 have also a miscellaneous collection of insect pests. This is the most 

 disagreeable feature of window gardening". If you keep your 

 plants clean, spraying them frequently and in a vigorous growing 

 condition, you reduce the chances to the minimum. If a plar.i is 

 weak and unhealthy, it will soon succumb to the aphis or red spider. 

 During fall or winter months plants that are liable to the ra- 

 vages of the red spider should be watched carefully and often 

 sprayed. Water and a moist atmosphere is the medicine for the 

 red spider. Aphis often infest many plants, and even under the 

 best conditions. Frequently examine those plants that you know 

 are liable to the attacks of this insect, and as soon as you see any 

 isolate those plants ; pick or shake off as many as you can and wash 

 the plants in strong soap suds. If they are badly infested immerse 

 in a tobacco solution or dust with powdered tobacco, or better, if 

 you can manage it, give them a smoke. Each of these methods of 

 treatment should be repeated within three or four days, and some- 

 times a third dose is necessary to finally rid the plants ; and then 

 you cannot predict the exact time when they will bob up again. 

 Try not to let them get a fair start, when usually you can control 

 them so as not to infest the plants prematurely. Some plants seem 

 to be fated to always be the prey of the aphis. If I had such a 

 plant I would throw it away and get another in its place. Often 

 another plant of the same variety will never have an aphis on it; 

 at least that has been my experience. 



