20 



Milady's House Plants 



has changed; watering, heating, feeding and venti- 

 lating have continued just the same, but this great 

 life-giving force of sunlight has been gathered in and 

 used to the full. 



This will be worth remembering in every phase 

 of gardening experience. It will cause one to pull 

 aside curtains and roll up shades in the early morning 

 so that the plants in the window may get the first bit 

 of daylight. It will warn against placing window 

 boxes under awnings, or ' flower beds in the dense 

 shade of trees, and even the hardy shrubs will be 

 given their full share of the blue sky overhead. 



Light and Water 



The two great sources of supply of nourishment 

 to a plant are light and water. The function of the 

 leaves in assimilating the light and building up the 

 structure of the plant and determining the color of 

 the flowers involves a most profound 

 study quite outside the scope of this 

 little book. One of the activities of the 

 leaves, however, should be understood, 

 as it has a direct bearing on the sub- 

 ject of watering and that is, the con- 

 stant evaporation that is going on, 

 from their surfaces, especially in warm, 

 dry atmospheres. This is necessary 

 to the health of every plant and the 

 supply of water to compensate for this 

 comes entirely through the roots. 

 Then, again, all the food that a plant 

 obtains from the soil must come to it 

 in a dissolved form before it can be 



A rubber sprinkler 



handy for use among 



house plants and 



cut flowers 



