128 



THE CHRONICLES OF A GARDEN. 



needed some such strengthening influence, instead of the 

 more enervating sweets of summer. 



In window-gardening we must bear in mind that our 

 plants require as much care as we do ourselves in the 

 matter of temperature, fresh air, and light ; and this is one 

 reason why they seldom succeed -well in sitting-rooms. 

 The windows are opened only in the early morning, ad- 

 mitting frosty or damp air ; these are kept closed during 

 the day, and the dust from the fire, and the heat of the gas 

 at night, alike injure the plants. If kept indoors, they 

 will thrive better in a room where the windows can be 

 opened for an hour or two during the finest part of the 

 day, where gas is not burned for several hours every night, 

 and where the temperature is kept at a uniform height. 

 When there is a greenhouse, from which plants in bloom 

 can be brought into the sitting-rooms, care should be taken 

 not to keep them there above a day or two, for, in general, 

 the blossoms drop off", the leaves grow yellow, and the 

 whole plant suffers from the effects of the gas and the 

 dryness of the air. I have heard that if the plants are 

 removed every evening to a room where gas is not lighted, 

 they succeed much better and last longer; but this is a 

 trouble few people care to take, and so the shorter time we 

 keep flowering plants indoors the better. 



A greenhouse might be made much more gay than it 

 usually is in winter by a little forethought and care in 

 autumn, so as to have common animals and small shrubby 

 plants potted in September ; many of these would flower 

 in December and January, and might be brought indoors 



