GREENHOUSE AND HOTHOUSE FLOWERS 155 



the air is excluded from them, and when they have bottom heat. 

 They are generally best when sturdy, short-jointed, and taken 

 about three inches long, just below a joint. They should be 

 pressed in firmly, and the soil squeezed close round the base. 



yentilating. The ventilation of glass structures is of importance 

 at all times, but never more so than when the plants are quite 

 young. If they are kept sturdy, then they are almost certain to 

 grow up strong and healthy. They should not only be kept as 

 close to the glass as possible from the outset, but have free ven- 

 tilation, as fresh air is of the greatest moment. It should be 

 made a rule to open the ventilators quite early in the morning 

 in fact, one may be left an inch or two up all night in summer. 

 If there is a cold wind blowing on one side of the house, ventilate 

 from the other. In the case of frames, where young plants are 

 perhaps being brought on, the lights should be open more or less 

 all day, unless the weather is very cold and boisterous, and they 

 should be removed altogether when it is mild and still. 



Watering and Feeding. We have already commented on the 

 necessity for care in watering seedlings, and we may be almost as 

 emphatic respecting established plants. True, one error may not 

 be vital, but continued mistakes or neglect will be fatal sooner or 

 later. The point that many amateurs cannot be brought to see is 

 that plants do not require water as regularly as animals need food. 

 These persons make the plant's water analogous with their own 

 bread and butter, but the parallel does not hold ; it is the soil 

 in the pot rather than the water which represents the analogy. 

 It may be admitted that moisture is essential, but a moment's 

 thought will show that it is not likely to be in such demand in 

 winter as summer, partly because the process of evaporation is much 

 slower, and partly because the roots are less active in drawing upon 

 the moisture and food store in the soil. Lady amateurs have a way 

 of giving their plants water summer and winter as regularly as 

 they give their cats milk, but this is wrong. Water should be 



