FARLOR PLANTS. 81 



water of the same temperature as the air of the house ; but lately 

 had used it directly from the faucet without perceiving any ill 

 effect. He had found great benefit in sj-ringing two or three times 

 a week to destroy the green fly. The floor of the conservatory is 

 half an inch lower in the centre than at the sides, so that the 

 water runs ofl" and the house gets di'y very quickl3\ He uses a 

 small Weathered & Cherevoy's boiler, under which he burns the 

 siftings from the house furnace. 



Mr. Rand related and ridiculed a newspaper story of a lady who 

 had a large cactus which she watered with water from the tea- 

 kettle. The next da}' it had buds, and the next blossoms. 



Mr. Hove}' spoke of a gardener who advised him to water his 

 cactuses with hot water, saying that he knew a lady who did so 

 with the greatest success. A gentleman in Cincinnati who was 

 famous for raising the finest callas, watered them with hot water. 

 Mr. Rand would agree that orchids and hothouse plants will not 

 bear cold water. Of what use would it be to heat the earth in a 

 bed up to 90°, and then water with water at from 30° to 40°? 



Mr. French said that he saw the teakettle taken from the table 

 after breakfast very often, and the water from it jjoured upon 

 plants quite hot, and it certainly did not kill them. 



Mrs. E. M. Gill spoke of a gentleman who boasted of his callas, 

 which he watered with hot water. She did the same, and her 

 callas have flourished. 



Robert Manning said that when making a call on our late 

 botanical professor, John Lewis Russell, Mrs. Russell showed him 

 a calla, which had been in an unhealthy condition, and was 

 improved by being watered with hot water. 



Mr. Woodford said that the calla was a native of Egypt, and 

 in the Red Sea the thermometer, when plunged in the water, went 

 down from 120° to 90°. The Nile runs through deserts where the 

 sand is intensely hot ; hence hot water will not hurt the calla. 



Mr. Buswell said that when boiling water is poured into a pot 

 it immediately parts with some of its heat to the soil. We know 

 that some seeds require hot or boiling water to cause them to 

 germinate. 



Mr. Hovey said that he had turned boiling water on acacia 



seeds from the Cape of Good Hope. Frost appeared to have the 



same effect as hot water ; he had some amaryllis seed left in a 



room with the temperature at zero, and supposed they were 



u 



