■WINDOW-GAEDENINQ. 357 



&esh air, taking cai-e that the plants are not allowed to stand in 

 a draught of cold air. The quantity admitted at once should he 

 proportioned to the weather outside ; when it is very cold or 

 frosty, admitting very little or none at aU, but giving more when 

 the weather is moderate, and when the day is very mild and 

 bland, throwing the sash fully open. A plant confined in the 

 house without fresh air, will as surely become sick and feeble 

 as the child that is never suffered to run out-doors. 



The leaves of plants need washing occasionally, in order tc 

 remove the dust that gathers on them and fills up the pores. In 

 the open air this is done for them by the showers and rains, but 

 in the house they get no showers from the skies, and we must in 

 some way supply their office. Geraniums and other plants 

 having Kke soft and hairy leaves, are best washed by taking 

 them to the sink, laying the pot on the side, and syringing the 

 foliage thoroughly through a fine rose. If you have not a garden 

 syringe, the water may be poured upon them from a small water- 

 ing pot with a fine sprinkler. Glossy-leaved plants, such as the 

 Daphne, require to have the leaves cleaned off, one by one, with 

 a moist sponge. The plants will thrive best if they get such a 

 leaf-cleaning as often as once in each week. In all cases use 

 soft water, rain water, or melted snow, and let it be lukewarm, 

 not cold. 



"Watering house pKints is very apt to be overdone. We 

 deluge them in our kindness. As a rule, plants require more 

 water when they are in bloom or growing rapidly that at any 

 other time. Of course, aquatic plants, Kke the CaUa, wiU. thrive 

 with abundant watering, while those that have their home in 

 arid soils, like the Cactus, require almost none at aU. Study, 

 then, the natural habits of the plant you are growing, and 

 examine the condition of the soil in the pot, and adapt your 

 waterings to the requirements of the plant. It is not certain 

 that it requires any water at all, merely because it is twenty-four 

 hours since you last watered it. Therefore use your judgment 

 as to whether water be needed, and act accordingly. 



