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



plants are constant "tipplers/' but nearly all plants 

 suited to window-culture in ordinary living-rooms require 

 water only when the soil is dry. A Cactus and a Calla 

 are apt to be deluged alike by the inexperienced, and yet 

 their needs are widely unlike. 



Never crowd plants. Three or four vigorous, shapely 

 plants growing in a bright, neatly-draperied window, are 

 a much more refreshing and respectable sight than 

 twenty pots huddled together, with a choked and spin- 

 dling mass of things struggling up to get a glimpse of 

 sunlight. 



New pots are better if soaked in water before being 

 used, and old ones should be scrubbed clean. 



Callas, Fuchsias, Heliotropes, Roses, and Foliage plants, 

 need plenty of root room. Geraniums will blossom more 

 profusely if pot-pinched a little. 



The common unglazed pots are better for plant growth 

 than the china or the fancifully decorated ones ; but 

 when a blossoming or foliage plant is wanted for the ta- 

 ble, or for a parlor bracket, the pot in which it is grow- 

 ing can be placed inside the ornamental one. 



When a plant has filled a pot with its roots, it must be 

 repotted into one of larger size. Place a little fresh 

 charcoal and earth in the bottom, set the plant with its 

 ball of roots into it, and fill in firmly all around with 

 fresh soil. Prune and trim the plant, if it is in need of 

 such treatment, water thoroughly, and keep it in partial 

 shade for two or three days, until the more or less dis- 

 turbed roots begin to feel at hoina 



