SUMMER TREATMENT OF WINTER WINDOW PLANTS 



WM. HUNT, ONT. AGRI. COLIvEGE;, GUELPH, 



NO one who has even the smallest col- 

 lection of window plants should be 

 without an ash-bed made of coal ashes, on 

 which to stand plants in pots during the 

 summer, to give them the rest many of them 

 require after having done duty in the win- 

 dow the preceding winter. The best posi- 

 tion for the ash-bed to suit most window 

 plants is on the north side of a fence or 

 building. In the event of this position not 

 being obtain- 

 able, the par- 

 tial shade of a 

 tree or shrub 

 will answer the 



By plunging or sinking the pots in the 

 ashes the plants in them will require much 

 less water than if merely stood on the ashes. 

 In plunging pot plants, about an inch of the 

 rim of the pot should be above the surface 

 of the ashes. A rough board frame a few 

 inches in depth could also be put together 

 roughly to hold sufficient ashes for a few 

 plants if thought advisable. 



Ihis ash-bed will make an ideal place for 



purpose 

 well. 



very 

 The 



great ponit to 

 be secured is 

 to have the 

 plants in a po- 

 sition w h e "^ e 

 they are shad- 

 ed from the 

 sun for an 

 hour or two 

 before and af- 

 ter the middle 

 of the day. 



All the ma- 

 terial that is 

 really neces- 

 sary to make 

 the ash-bed is 

 some coal 



A Beauty Spot For Travelers' Weary Eyes. 



The idea of improving the station grounds along its line by planting flowers and shrubs was first started by 

 the Canadian Pacific Railway over six years,ago by Mr. N. S. Dunlop, then a resident of Toronto. The first 

 year Mr. Dunlop furnished the seed out of his own garden. This year there are between 900 and 1,000 gardens 

 along the railway. The illustration shows the station grounds at Windsor, Ontario. The agents are not forced 

 to grow the flowers but are encouraged and assisted to do so. It is a splendid work that is bringing excellent 

 returns. 



ashes that have been sifted through a 

 fairly fine sieve. The ashes should 

 be spread to a depth of 3 or 4 inches 

 — or even deeper for large plants — 

 over a space of ground sufficiently large 

 to contain the plants to be placed there. If 

 any of the pots are to be plunged or sunk in 

 the ashes, it would be best to remove some 

 of the original soil to the depth of 3 or 4 

 inches, filling up the space with coal ashes. 



standing out or plunging many of the pot 

 plants in during the hot summer months of 

 July and August. Much of the trouble 

 that most window plant growers have from 

 earth or garden worms in flower pots could 

 be avoided if a proper place, such as I have 

 described, were prepared to stand the pots 

 of plants on, as the earth worm will not 

 penetrate through or live amongst coal 

 ashes. Many fine plants are ruined every 



250 



