MISCELLANEOUS HINTS 51 



Other frequent questions are about using tea and 

 coffee dregs on the soil about pot plants. Never do 

 it. The only benefit to be derived is that which comes 

 from it as a mulch, and if you keep your plants properly 

 watered no mulching will be required. As the dregs 

 'decay, worms will breed in them, and in this way the 

 health of your plants is endangered. If you want a 

 fertilizer, use one of the several kinds recommended 

 in a former chapter. 



Never throw away cuttings. If you don't have 

 any use for them, some neighbor will be glad to 

 get them. Stick them down in the pot beside the old 

 plant, and most of them will root, and by and by you 

 can get rid of them. 



If you want a bed of Geraniums on the lawn or 

 in the front yard next season, start all the cuttings you 

 can during winter. You can easily secure enough 

 from half a dozen plants to fill a bed six feet square, 

 and you can do this without spoiling your plants, too. 

 In removing new branches from plants which have 

 already developed as many as are required to make 

 them symmetrical and compact, you are benefiting them 

 instead of injuring them. 



When you see that a plant requires attention 

 of any kind, don't neglect it, but give the required 

 attention promptly. By attending to the wants of your 

 plants in season you can keep them in good condition, 

 but neglected plants always suffer and are seldom or 

 never satisfactory in appearance. It pays to take 

 proper care of them. Indeed, if you are not able or 

 willing to give plants the care they need, don't 

 have any. 



If possible, have a bay window so arranged that 

 it can be shut off from the room with which it is 

 connected by glazed doors. (Fig 8.) If this is done, 

 you can shower your plants and close the doors, and 



