60 



THE GENESEE FARMER 



tlie tender mercies of the purchaser is soon fell. 

 Drowning, or starving, or neglecting altogether,' is no 

 uncommon fate. The pots are taken home, put into 

 pans or saucers, deluged with water, and the water 

 left in the saucers; or they are set in some conspicuous 

 place and left to their fate. In the first case, the 

 leaves turn yellow and drop, the flowers fall, and in a 

 very short time all that can be seen of them are their 

 naked stems, with little tufts of green on the tops or 

 points of the shoots, v.-hich a few days before were in 

 |)erfection; in the latter case, the plants die with all 

 the leaves and bloom upon them. Nearly all the 

 evils attending plants grown in windows are to be 

 traced to these two causes. I will therefore attempt 

 to lay down a few general rules, which, if properly 

 attended to, will do away with nearly all the com- 

 plaints under this head: 



1. Never water but when plants actually want it. 

 Tha*^ is easily known by feeling the soil with the fin- 

 ger, or giving the pot a rap on the sides with the 

 knuckles. While it is moist, no water is needed ; 

 when it feels dry, then water — which latter will not 

 be ofteuer than three times a week in autumn and 

 winter, and every day in spring and summer — giving 

 it copiously every time, and allowing it to run away 

 entirely from the plant, so that the pots may never 

 stand in it The water used should be either rain or 

 river water. If necessarily from the pump or spring, 

 it ought to stand in the air a day or two before 

 using. 



2. Give plenty of air at every possible opportunity, 

 when the weather is mild, either by having the win- 

 dow up, or by removing the plants outside. If, in 

 warm weather, this is done under a bright sun, the 

 pots will have to be shaded, as the sun upon the 

 sides of the pots would prove injurious to the young 

 roots, and would greatly iujiire the plants; and if in 

 bloom and exposed to the sun, the liowers will soon 

 fade and drop. 



3. Keep the room where the plants are of as uni- 

 form a temperature as possible, and the plants them- 

 selves as near the window as is convenient, except in 

 severe weather, when they are better near the center 

 of the room during the night. 



4. Examine them occasionally, to see if the pots 

 are full of roots. If this is the case, and the plants 

 are worth it get some good soil and shift them into 

 pots a size larger; or, if not shifted, be more careful 

 in supplying water, as they will require more when in 

 this state. In summer, water them frequently over 

 the foliage, but not except they also need it at the 

 roots as well 



These may be adopted as very general rules, though 

 more absolutely necessary for some plants than others, 

 but very good for alL 



There is a good deal to be considered in buying 

 plants in making the proper choice; for, however 

 gratifpng it may be to have those which look best 

 ia full bloom, it is most satisfactory to have those 

 which last longest in perfection, especially those which 

 iiave a succession of bloom, and whose foliage is in- 

 teresting when the bloom is gone. 



This rule may be deviated from in behalf of Tulips, 

 Crocuses, HyacintLs, and other bulbs, which are 

 valuable when little else is in flower. These will 

 ako bloom in the darkest streets of our cities. They 



ought to be purchased either in the beginning of 

 November, when the roots are dry, for planting, 

 or in pots when they are beginning to grow; i'w 

 if delayed until they are in bloom nine-tenths of their 

 value is lost, because they are interesting in evei-y 

 stage of their growth — from the first formation ot' 

 the leaves to the {jcrfection of the flower. P]vcry 

 day of development has its charm ; and therefore 

 they ought to be possessed from the first If iu 

 pots, all these require a plentiful supply of water 

 when iu a growing state ; and if kept cool after 

 showing flower, their season of blooming is pro- 

 longed. H. 



^..^ 



VALUABLE HINTS. 



WRITTEN FOE THE GENESEE FAELIEE. 



I\ a large majority of the States that compose 

 this republic, both Apple and Peach trees are badly 

 damaged by what may be called sma-stroke. When 

 the sun is at meridian, and tiU after two o'clock P. 

 M., its rays fall with a scalding effect on the exposed 

 stems or trunlis of Apple and Peach trees, and the 

 injury is often sufficient to kill both the bark and 

 sap-wood on the south-south-west side of fruit treea 

 not protected by the shade of their foliage, nor by 

 any artificial means. Various contrivances have been 

 resorted to by orchardists to remedy the evil, such aa 

 forming low branches and top so as to shade the body 

 of the tree, and putting down broad stakes or boards 

 for the same purpose. A distinguished continental 

 writer recommends the use of straight straw to be 

 bound on the tree longitudinally with osiers. Other 

 ligatures will answer as well. 



To prevent rabbits and other animals from gnawing 

 the bark in winter from fruit trees, tar is recommended; 

 not coal-tar, for that will kill them, if generally or ex- 

 tensively applied- A pint of tar and dry clay will 

 answer the purpose. 



" M. D.," writing in the London Times, says :— 

 " When living in the country, with the advantages 

 of a large garden and a plenty of fruit, I always 

 allowed my children a liberal proporton, and I nevei 

 had occasion to treat them either for diarrhea or skin 

 eruptions, though it is a very common opinion that 

 cutaneous diseases are often brought on by the use 

 of fruit On first removing my family to town, the 

 usual supply being cut oS", two or three of the younger 

 onas became affected with obstinate diarrhea and 

 dysentery, which resisted all the ordinary modes of 

 medical treatment My opinion on the subject in- 

 duced me to give them a good proportion of fruit 

 every day, as grapes, oranges, ripe apples, &c., when 

 all the symptoms presently subsided, and they have 

 never since been troubled with bowel complaints or 

 skin eruptions to any noticeable extent" Bilious 

 affections in all their types, except yellow fever, have 

 long prevailed in the most fertile districts of Western 

 New York, and of the Western States; and it is the 

 unanimous opinion of medical men, so far as the 

 writer is informed, that the free use of ripe fruit is 

 one of the very best preventives of this class of mala- 

 dies. As a question of health, and of sound domestic 

 economy, the community consumes not more than a 

 tenth part of the fruit that ought to be consumed. 



