THE COUNTRY HOME [chapter 



Here are geraniums, with a Virginia Coxe rose, a 

 couple of Chinese primroses, and nasturtiums 

 galore. I think this plan of scattering plants about 

 the house is on the whole preferable for most homes 

 in the country. 



But my special delight is in fruit-bearing plants. 

 It is just as easy to grow a dwarf orange, with its 

 delicious perfume and its golden fruit, the guava, 

 with its sweet flowers and abundant fruit, as it is to 

 grow flower-bearing plants. The American Won- 

 der Lemon is, all in all, the most perfect pot plant 

 that I have ever grown. It is loaded constantly 

 with flowers, twice as large as orange-blossoms, and 

 the lemon itself is larger than any Florida orange — 

 while its quality is perfect. A lemon may be seen 

 growing on a tree two feet high, and weighing from 

 one to two pounds. Dwarf peaches may be grown 

 with equal ease in a cool, light room, if the trees are 

 given an annual rest. I recommend my readers 

 to try growing in pots fruit-bearing as well as flower- 

 bearing plants. 



So you see I have practically given up the idea of 

 a conservatory; and as for a greenhouse, it is even 

 less advisable for the majority of our country houses. 

 I have seen them tried repeatedly; but in nearly all 



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