CHAP. XI.] 



THE GREENHOUSE. 



301 



flower-buds on them, so that they produce 

 flowers though only a few inches in length. 



The management of plants in a common 

 greenhouse differs very little from that of plants 

 in rooms. Whenever the weather will permit, 

 air should be given, if only for half an hour, 

 in the middle of the day. The house should 

 be kept clean, and free from dead leaves ; and 

 the plants should not be too much crowded. 

 Nothing can look worse than pale, sickly green- 

 house plants, drawn up to an unnatural length, 

 and so weak that their stems will not stand 

 upright without the aid of a stick. When £reen- 

 houses are crowded with plants, some of which 

 are too far from the light, this must be the case; 

 and, should it be so, it is quite hopeless to expect 

 either healthy plants or fine flowers. Though 

 it is advisable to have saucers to the pots of 

 plants kept in rooms, for the sake of cleanli- 

 ness, it is much better for those kept in the 

 greenhouse to be without them. All persons 

 having a great number of plants in pots should 

 be provided with a small watering-pot, havino- 

 a very long spout, for the convenience of reach- 

 ing the different pots ; and care should be taken 

 to give water to each pot in succession, by rest- 

 ing the spout of the watering-pot in turn on 

 each. The watering-pot may have roses of two 



FIG. 31. WATER.r.\-G-POT FOR GREENHOUSE PLANT*. 



