WATERING PLANTS INDOORS 



103 



to dry out well every once in awhile is wrong. The plants suffer 

 every time you do it; you stunt their growth. Plants which have 

 been grown under glass in pots or in a shallow bench with artificial 

 watering are different from 

 those in the open field and 

 can't stand a dry soil with- 

 out showing bad effects. 

 On the other hand, if you 

 have poor drainage and 

 the water you apply re- 

 mains in the soil too long, 

 you will get the same bad 

 effects. 



Take a Boston Fern. 

 No plant loves water more 

 and as long as you have 

 plenty of drainage in the 

 pot it can stand watering 

 practically every day. But 

 in a sour soil resulting 

 from improper drainage, it 

 will soon go. And this 

 really holds good with all 

 other plants. 



No man who does just 

 a little thinking for him- 

 self will use the hose on a 

 seed flat or pan or on small 

 delicate seedlings. It is 

 being done, of course, in 

 some places, but the gar- 

 dener who uses the water 

 ing can is very apt to have 

 better success. There are 

 men who can hit a Gloxinia 

 plant every time with the 

 hose when ten feet away, 

 but it won't be a Gloxinia 

 long. With a little judg- 

 ment and common sense, 

 the man who wants to do 

 the right thing for his 

 plants won't be long in 

 finding out how best to 

 water. The man who will 

 keep his elbow tight a- 



Fig. 32. VENTILATION HELPS. What we expect 

 from a ventilating apparatus is that it will open 

 all the ventilators evenly and with ease, and 

 when they are closed, hold them tightly in 

 place. The type shown does these things and 

 is considered one of the best on the market 



