FLOWERS 2226 



Plant Insr-Tablr for Flowers 



FLOWERS 



energy necessary for keeping up a garden. 

 School yards, especially, should be made at- 

 tractive by flower beds. A few general sug- 

 gestions, applicable for home or school garden- 

 ing, are here given, including a planting table. 

 It is a good idea to plan the garden before 

 beginning the actual work. Arrange to have 

 the tall plants form a background for those 

 which grow lower; attractive effects may be 

 secured by a careful arrangement of color 

 schemes (refer to table above). See, also, the 

 article GARDENING. 



The plot selected should be accurately staked 

 out, and should be fertilized with a coating of 

 well-rotted manure. Turn the manure under 

 the soil with a fork or spade, and just before 



planting give the ground a thorough raking. 

 The plants must be watered when there is a 

 scarcity of rain, and the garden must be kept 

 free from weeds. Good cultivation is essen- 

 tial. This means hoeing the surface of the 

 ground and then dragging a rake lightly over 

 it, so there will be at all times a fine, light 

 layer of soil on the top. 



The time of planting, the depth to sow the 

 seeds, and distance between plants and rows 

 are shown in the accompanying table, which 

 applies to the latitude of New York state. 

 Allow ten days later or earlier for every 100 

 miles north or south of that state. Indoor 

 planting refers to seeds started in the house 

 and transplanted later. 



Artificial Flowers 



Flowers made by hand are of a great variety 

 of materials, usually in imitation of natural 

 flowers, and are used for scientific as well as 

 for decorative purposes. ' A collection of glass 

 flowers at Harvard University represents the 

 flora of the United States. Flowers of wax in 

 collections in museums of natural history are 

 strikingly lifelike. The use of artificial flow- 

 ers for decoration and ornament has resulted 

 in the establishment of an important industry 

 in various countries. At present France and 

 America are the chief centers for the manufac- 

 ture of flowers for house and table decoration 

 and for adornment of women's apparel. The 

 output from the United States establishments 

 alone is valued at over $9,000,000 yearly. 



Artificial flowers have been made since cen- 

 turies before the Christian Era, and by people 

 of all nations. Although silks, linen, cotton, 



gauze, satin, velvet, paper, ribbon and kid are 

 the materials now most widely used, the an- 

 cient Egyptians used stained horn shavings, and 

 the Romans used gold and silver. The Chinese 

 use rice-paper, the Japanese the pith of bam- 

 boo, and in Italy cocoons of tfie silkworm are 

 dyed and made into flowers. South American 

 Indians utilize feathers for this purpose, and 

 savages of different countries make lovely 

 sprays of flowers from dainty shells. 



To make flowers of glass and of wax for 

 scientific purposes requires skill and knowledge 

 of plant life, but the production of many of 

 the realistic artificial flowers of cloth which 

 are sold to-day also calls for art and delicacy. 

 Most of the work is done by hand. First, the 

 various fabrics employed are cut into shapes 

 of leaves, petals, etc., but that is often done 

 by machinery. Then veins are impressed in 



