FOR THE HOME BEAUTIFUL 211 



ODD AND INTERESTING FACTS 



HOT water will often restore the freshness of 

 cut flowers even when every petal is drooping. 

 Place the stems in a cup of 'boiling hot water; 

 let them remain until each petal has regained its 

 freshness; then cut off the ends of the stems and 

 place them in water of moderate temperature. 

 Ammonia added to the water also revives wilted 

 flowers quickly. 



A pretty and inexpensive table decoration may 

 be had by taking a fern dish and planting it thickly 

 with seed of the grapefruit. Like all hard shelled 

 seed, the seeds will be somewhat slow to germinate, 

 but keep moist and warm and in due time you will 

 have a handsome ornament for your table, pro- 

 vided by the handsome green grapefruit foliage. 



Pink Hydrangeas change to blue if planted in 

 acid soil. They may be changed to blue by soot or 

 iron filings in the soil about the plants, or by 

 using a quarter pound of finely powdered alum to 

 each plant. The writer has in mind one instance 

 where he saw two beautiful blue Hydrangeas in 

 bloom in front of a house, and directly across the 

 street, other smaller Hydrangeas "slipped 5 ' from 

 the large ones, but bearing lovely large heads of 



