100 FARM HOMES, IN-DOORS AND OUT-DOORS. 



owing to the care with which they were packed. Make 

 a place in readiness for them by taking a shallow box, or 

 large flat pan, filling it half full of mixed loam and leaf- 

 mould, or any good garden soil, sprinkling a layer of 

 sand on top and making it well wet. Plant the cuttings 

 two or three inches apart and place the box, or pan, in a 

 north window, keeping the sand moist, but not sopping 

 wet. When there are signs of new leaves starting, they 

 can be transplanted into pots of suitable earth, using 

 great care not to injure the just-formed roots, and keep- 

 ing them out of the direct sunlight for two days. 



Through warm weather pot-plants should be watered 

 morning and night, and always with water as warm as 

 the air ; it has been proved beneficial when used even 

 warmer. As cool weather advances they need less water. 

 It is one of the serious mistakes of the inexperienced to 

 drown plants to death in winter-time. Many ladies who 

 are quite successful as window-gardeners, pour hot water 

 into the saucers, and sometimes directly into the pots, 

 where the depth of top-soil is sufficient to temper it be- 

 fore it reaches the roots. Yet such a practice requires 

 care and a knowledge of what plants will and won't bear. 

 Water at blood-heat, however, is always safe, but should 

 be given only when the soil is dry and requires it, 

 aquatic plants being the exception to this rule. By stir- 

 ring up the soil with a wooden fork, or any other handy 

 little implement, one can easily see whether the plant is 

 in need of water. 



FUCHSIAS. 



The best winter-blooming sorts are Speciosa and Serra- 

 tifolia. They should be started early in the spring, 

 if cuttings are used, and potted into particularly rich 

 soil. Crown-of- Jewels is pretty all the year round, be- 

 cause of its brightly-tinted foliage. Sometimes Fuchsias 



