160 Milady's House Plants 



evenly and they can be readily divided into pairs so 

 that the heat may be regulated. These are all im- 

 portant features. Small pipes are better than large 

 ones for the same reasons. Three pairs of one-inch 

 pipe should furnish abundant heat, with hot water, 

 for a large room and, if steam is used, three pipes 

 would suffice. In either case, valves should be so ar- 

 ranged that either one-third, two-thirds, or the whole, 

 could be used at will. This is a simple matter that 

 any pipe fitter would understand. It is not necessary 

 to make a burden of the opening and closing of valves. 

 With a little experience the number of pipes necessary 

 to keep the temperature right will soon be determined 

 and then only extreme changes of temperature out of 

 doors will require the addition or subtraction of an- 

 other pipe. 



If the plant room is small, it should be open to the 

 adjoining living room by very large doorways so that 

 the heat and air may be more equable, except that if 

 it is thought necessary to keep the living room ex- 

 tremely warm, say 75° late into the night, then the 

 little conservatory should be shut off and allowed to 

 drop to its proper temperature of 55° to 60°. On the 

 other hand, when the morning sun raises the tem- 

 perature in the conservatory unduly, the doors should 

 be thrown open and remain open all day. A rule to 

 be remembered is that the plants need a low tem- 

 perature at night and, under the same rule, during 

 dark or dull days a relative low temperature should 

 obtain, 55 to 60° at night, 65° in the day time. In 

 bright, warm weather, 75° to 80° in the daytime 

 would be all right. 



Any growth that is stimulated by heat without a 

 corresponding amount of daylight is always weak and 



