32 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAT. SOCIETT. [1881. 



Another important thing is, to give air gradually. Do not 

 wait till the plants are half baked with the heat and then open 

 the ventilator with a rush, but open in season a little, and 

 then if you find the temperature too high, open a little more It 

 is surprising how little is needed, if it is begun in season. It is 

 better to close up tlie ventilator early rather than late, and then, 

 if you use the syringe at all on your plants, give the foliage a 

 good drenching. It not only refreshes them at the time but it 

 creates a moist atmosphere which is most beneficial. 



But there are a few plants, such as Callas, Smilax, etc., which 

 I find are very much injured by tlie sun shining on the foliage 

 when it is wet, and where tliese are contained in a collection of 

 plants the syringing must be deferred till the sun has left them 

 for the day. Where plants are kept in the sitting room or par- 

 lor they must liave such temperature as the people who occupy 

 the rooms require, because their health is of more consequence 

 than tliat of the plants. Some plants do much better than others 

 in such situations, and people must select such varieties as they 

 succeed best with and let the others go. 



But you may have the soil and temperature all right and have 

 miserable, sickly plants, because of errors in watering. A plant 

 may be drowned to death, or it may be dried to death. And the 

 fact of death is just as serious to the plant, or plant grower, 

 whether from one cause or the other. But the drowning to death 

 is much more astonishing to the owner than the drying. Plants 

 that are being over-watered seem to thrive exceptionally well 

 for a time and then suddenly wither and die, and if you take 

 hold of the stalk it will be seen that the roots are gone. 



In watering, then, as in temperature, the " golden mean " 

 must be observed, avoiding extremes. If you ask how the 

 " golden mean " is to be attained, I answer, dismiss from 

 your minds at once all ideas of watering once a day, or once 

 in two days, or at any stated time. The atmosphere is in 

 a condition some days to draw the moisture from the earth 

 in your lower pots much more rapidly than it will other days. 



Plants in small pots will need water oftener than those in 

 large pots ; and plants in the full glare of the sun, especially 

 if its rays fall on the pots, require much more water than 

 plants tliat get no sun at all. or get it at a distance from the 

 glass. It is also necessary to be much more ca\itious in 

 watering plants that are kept in pots that are glazed or paint- 

 ed, or in vessels of wood. If the earth in either of these is 

 watered till it becomes mud, the })lants growing in it, unless 

 of pretty good size and strong growers, will not absorb all the 

 water until it becomes sour, and either the plant dies, or more 



