300 THE ELORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



way to raise palma is to sow several stones of the dried dates of 

 shops in a pot inside your plant case. Tbey soon grow and make 

 nice specimen palms in the course of time. 



A selection from the above list, with the addition of a geranium 

 or two, a fuchsia, and a pot of lobelia would be a very good 

 arrangement. A. case of this kind for flowering and foliage plants 

 requires plenty of air throughout the day, and to be kept nearly 

 close at night, to protect the plants from gas. Airing must always 

 be given from the top of the case, which should be moveable to allow 

 you to lift it up an inch or so at a time. Pot plants, in a case, 

 require plenty of water during the summer season, when they are 

 growing, but during the winter months they should be allowed less, 

 as all plants are then in a passive or resting state, unless when 

 forced unnaturally into growth, by mean3 of heat. The inmates 

 of your plant case should have a sprinkling overhead in the morn- 

 ing before the sun shines on them, with tepid water, and the same 

 in the evening when closing the top. 



Of course, as plants grow they will tend to get crowded in the 

 case, and then you should either prune some of your specimens, or 

 take one or two of the hardier sorts out to give room to the rest. It 

 never does to crowd plants either in a case or miniature greenhouse, 

 or when standing in pots in the window. A few plants well-grown 

 are better than a crowded mass of sickly ones. 



The bottom of your plant case can be laid with soil and gravel, 

 and Selaginella denticulata and other mosses planted over it, which 

 you can arrange in such a way that the flower-pots may be partly 

 hidden. Some of the Echeverias, Sempervivums, Sedums, etc., could 

 also be brought in with advantage ; and two or three select ferns, if 

 you wished them, included, would complete the arrangement. The 

 climbers I have noted should be run up the sides and trained along 

 the roof with copper wire ; trained in this style they do not interfere 

 much with the plants below, and afford, at the same time, a grateful 

 shade. They will require a good deal of pruning and training as 

 they grow, to keep them from getting too dense. Order and cleanli- 

 ness are two most essential things for the health and well-being of 

 the plants. They should be watered periodically, and all decaying 

 flowers and foliage removed, and the glass and pots kept quite free 

 of the green vegetation so liable to take place in such structures. 



This and the following papers aspire to the higher style of 

 window gardening and floral decoration. I have no doubt that 

 many of my readers will not be able to follow out the suggestions I 

 am giving ; still at the same time they may pick up useful hints 

 which they may turn to advantage. It is quite easy if you have the 

 necessary materials to construct a Wardian case for yourself, at 

 considerably less outlay than you would have to make in purchasing 

 the elegant ones sold by the dealers. A neat zinc bottom in the 

 form of a box of the size you wish your case to be, with narrow 

 strips of zinc led up from the corners, and soldered together double, 

 with binders from corner to corner in the same way, and the glass 

 put in between the double strips, and joined closely with putty, 

 would make a very good "Wardian case. The glass should be very 



