74 HOME FLORICULTURE 



its leaves have such a tendency to turn black at the 

 edges and dry up. In nine cases out of ten this trouble 

 comes from one of two causes : Lack of sufficient 

 moisture at the roots, or lack of sufficient room for 

 the roots. Old plants will form a thickly matted mass 

 of fine, fibrous roots in the center of the pot. Through 

 this mass the water you apply will often fail to pene- 

 trate, and in consequence the roots at this place dry up 

 and become diseased, and in a short time the plant 

 drops its leaves. To avoid this trouble, see that the 

 soil slopes in toward the center of the pot. This will 

 cause the water to run in about the plant, and stand 

 there until it has penetrated the soil in the center of the 

 pot. If you think the drying up of the leaves comes 

 from lack of root room, turn the plant out of its pot 

 and examine the condition of the roots. If they fill 

 the soil, and form a network about the outside of it, 

 you may be sure that a larger pot is required. Some- 

 times the leaves turn brown and drop because of gas 

 in the room, from leaky stoves. Should the trouble 

 originate from this cause, the only remedy is that of 

 making the stove gas tight. 



A well-developed specimen will need a ten-inch 

 pot when about a year old. The flowers are greatly 

 increased in size by applications of liquid manure. Do 

 not give it very strong, but give it often. The dark 

 varieties are best. It can be grown from cuttings, 

 started in sand. Young plants are generally most 

 satisfactory for winter use, therefore start some each 

 spring, and give the old ones a place in the garden 

 beds, in summer, where they will bloom profusely. 



The Oxalis 



This is a good plant for house culture. It is a 

 most profuse bloomer, and gives its greatest quantity 

 of flowers in winter if the bulbs or tubers from which 



