356 PLAIN AND PLEASANT TALK 



their season of rest. Plants which flower in summer mnst 

 rest in winter ; those which are to flower in winter must 

 rest either in summer or autumn. It is not, usually, worth 

 while to take into the house for flowering purposes any 

 shrub which has been in fuU bloom during the summer or 

 autumn. Select and pot the wished-for flowers during sum- 

 mer ; place them in a shaded position facing the north, give 

 very little water, and then keep them quiet. Their ener- 

 gies will thus be saved for winter. When taken into the 

 house, the four essential points of attention are light, 

 moisture, temperature, and cleanliness. 



1. Light. — ^The functions of the leaves cannot be health- 

 fiilly carried on without light. If there be too little, the 

 sap is imperfectly elaborated, and returns from the leaves to 

 the body in a crude, undigested state. The growth will be 

 coarse, watery, and brittle ; and that ripjeness which must 

 precede flowers and fruit cannot be attained. The sprawl- 

 ing, spindling, white-colored, long-jointed, plants, of which 

 some persons are unwisely proud, are, often the result of 

 too little light and too much water. The pots should be 

 turned around every day, unless when the light strikes 

 down from above, or from windows on each side ; other- 

 wise, they will grow out of shape by bending toward the 

 light. 



2. Moisture. — Difierent species of plants require differ- 

 ent quantities of water. What are termed aquatics^ of 

 which the Calla ^thiopica, is a specimen, require great 

 abundance of it. Yet it should be often changed even in 

 the case of aquatics. But roses, geraniums, etc., and the 

 common house plants require the soil to be moist^ rather 

 than wet. As a general rule it may be said that every pot 

 should have one-sixth part of its depth filled with coarse 

 pebbles, as a drainage, before the plants are potted. This 

 gives all superfluous moisture a free passage out. Plants 

 should be watered by examination and not by time. They 

 require various quantities of moisture, according to their 



