THE COUNTRY HOME [chapter 



flowers, and very nice small, edible fruit. All of 

 these give you not only flowers and fruit, but health- 

 ful odors, and foliage which is the perfection of 

 shining green. The dwarf oranges hang on two 

 or three years, so that you have flowers with green 

 fruit and yellow fruit at the same time. Alto- 

 gether, I do not know of anything that I should 

 recommend to a farmer's wife as more available 

 for house plants than these tropical fruits. They 

 will endure the air of almost any room, and do not 

 require high temperature. 



After these, my choice among house plants just 

 now turns toward fuchsias and pelargoniums. 

 However, the real joy of growing plants is the 

 chance of changing our tastes. "Bless the Lord," 

 says Aunt Cynthia, "I ain't forgotten to change, 

 and I spects to change; and when I ain't changing 

 no more, I spects to be daid." With the pelargo- 

 nium and fuchsia I need a pot of heliotrope, and I 

 like a plenty of nasturtiums, and am then content. 

 The pelargoniums, known as Lady Washingtons, 

 are no longer confined to that variety, but exist in su- 

 perb sorts — some of them double and others semi- 

 double. They should be started from cuttings of 

 ripe wood, then slowly shifted to give their first 



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