134 DIRECTIONS FOR GROWING WINDOW PLANTS. 



Give a free supply of air every day, except in very frosty weather. 



Water your plants as tliey require it ; which will be about once a-day 

 in summer, but in winter much less frequently. In summer, the even- 

 ing is the best time for watering ; in winter, the morning. 



Never let your pots stand in water. It is a good plan to fill the 

 saucers about two-thirds full of small pebbles or coarse gravel, on 

 which to place the pots. 



Keep your plants near the glass, and in a window where they will 

 receive the direct rays of the sun. 



Do not turn your plants often, or the stems will become weak and 

 sickly. 



Put your plants out of doors occasionally when it rains, and water 

 tliem overhead at least once a-week. Keep the leaves perfectly free 

 from dirt. 



Allow all your plants a season of rest in winter, by giving them very 

 little water, and keeping them in a cool place ; taking care, however, 

 to protect them from frost. Tiiose wliich are required for flowering 

 very early in spring, may be kept growing in winter. 



Always use rain water for watering your jilants, and let it 'stand in 

 the same room with them an liour or two before using it. 



Keep your plants free from insects ; tobacco smoke destroys the 

 green-fly instantly. 



Keep the outsides of your pots as clean as possilde, and never paint 

 them. The common eartlienware pots are the best. Stir tlie soil at 

 the tops of the pots occasionally, and train the plants as they grow. 

 Remove dead leaves and flowers as they appear. 



Geraniums, Petunias, Verbenas, and some other plants, are apt to 

 become straggling in their growth. To prevent this, pinch off the 

 ends of the siioots occasionally, which will induce them to throw out 

 side branches. 



Repot when necessary, taking care that the new pots are quite clean 

 and dry. Put a handful of broken earthenware, in small pieces, at 

 the bottom of each pot, and above it a layer of moss or rough turfy 

 mould, to ensure drainage. If the roots are matted together, loosen 

 them before repotting. 



When your plants become too large, raise young ones from cuttings, 

 taking care to cut them off just below a joint. Remove a few of the 

 lower leaves, and plant the cuttings in sandy soil; they will soon strike 

 root in the spring and summer months. 



If you can conveniently do so, let plants which flower in winter and 

 spring stand out of doors during the summer months. 



A soil suitable for most window plants is one composed of three 

 parts light fibrous turfy soil, from the surface of a pasture, and one 

 part thoroughly rotten stable dung, with river or brook sand in suffi- 

 cient quantity to allow of water passing freely through the soil. If 

 peat can be obtained, a quantity of it can be added equal to the pro- 

 portion of dung recommended to be employed. This soil sliould lie in 

 a heap some time before it is used, and should not be crumbled too 

 fine. A few lumps of charcoal mixed with the soil prove very bene- 

 ficial to most plants. 



