THE AQUARIUM, OCTOBER, 1895. 



11 



shed. I then procured from two of my 

 friends in different parts of the country, 

 boxes of plants, taken up with a good 

 supply of earth adhering to the roots 

 and carefully packed in moss. Along 

 with these packages of plants I also 

 procured boxes of the earth in which 

 these plants originally grew. This soil 

 was spread over the surface of the bor- 

 der and the roots of the new plants 

 were carefully imbedded in it. The 

 border was well watered and afterward 

 mulched with leaves and moss. A few 

 of these plants died in the course of the 

 summer ; but the most of them lived 

 and flourished, as though they had not 

 been transplanted. The following 

 spring found them in good condition, 

 and during the first half of May they 

 furnished a fine display of blossoms. 



'"The result of these experiments seems 

 to show the direction in which planters 

 should work. It would seem that the 

 Arbutus requires partial shade, a degree 

 of moisture at the roots, a soil free 

 from clay and composed largely of sand 

 and leaf mould. And, to make the 

 matter doubly sure, the plants should 

 have a fair start in the soil to which 

 they are indigenous. In the winter 

 they should have a light covering of 

 leaves and evergreen boughs/' 



; 



DWARF FAN-PALMS AS HOUSE- 

 PLANTS. 



It is universally admitted that the 

 gas and sudden changes of heat and 

 cold in dwellings are destructive to all 

 plants. The English Garden says : 

 There is one exception to this rule — the 

 different varieties of Chamaerops, which 

 we have kept in good health and ap- 

 pearance for years in succession, in the 

 worst possible position, both as regards 

 light, heat, and draughts. When these 

 will not live and keep in fair health, 



the growing of plants may be given up, 

 and a stock should be obtained of the 

 cast-iron aloes which are used to decorate 

 some gardens. It is probable that these 

 last, if painted regularly, would not lose 

 their foliage very easily; but the Palms 

 in question are nearly as easy to keep, 

 and want but little more attention. In 

 fact, they have the constitution of the 

 cast-iron works of art, with the advan- 

 tage of growing and changing their 

 form every year and being less costly. 

 When all other things fail, try these 

 Palms and, if they do not succeed, 

 plant growing may safely be given up 

 as hopeless. Young plants of the 

 Chamaerops exelsa and other varieties 

 are sold for 75 cts., $1.00, $1.50, etc., 

 and large plants for from $5 to $50. 

 They can also be easily raised from 

 seed, but to that end a little patience is 

 needed. The seeds germinate rapidly, 

 and the young plants require no particu- 

 lar care. They are ornamental even 

 when young, but it takes a long time to 

 grow a large plant. 



PLANTS AND ATMOSPHERIC 

 HUMIDITY. 



Two questions of considerable inter- 

 est, viz.: that of the effect of living 

 plants on the atmosphere of houses, and 

 that of the relations between forests 

 and atmospheric humidity, appear to 

 have no little light thrown upon them 

 by the ingenious researches of Dr. J. 

 M. Anders, published in the Ameri- 

 can Naturalist. We can not state 

 with any degree of fullness the author's 

 experiments to determine the amount 

 of vapors transpired by plants in pro- 

 portion to the area of their leaf surface. 

 Suffice it to say that according to these 

 experiments the "Washington Elm," 

 at Cambridge, Massachusetts, with its 

 two hundred thousand square feet of 



