166 Milady's House Plants 



Sloping the Floor 



The floor should be of concrete or tiles sloping 

 toward a drain, preferably in the center. On this 

 one point much of pleasure and success depends and 

 yet here is where the architect is apt to take his final 

 stand. After yielding on his stereotyped plans for 

 lighting, heating and ventilating, he stands firm on the 

 hardwood floor. Every facility should be given for 

 the free use of water in the conservatory when desired. 

 In fact, it is practically impossible to care for plants 

 without splashing water around on occasions, and to 

 be under constant restraint for fear of injuring the 

 floor is certainly an unwarranted detraction from the 

 pleasure of flower growing. A faucet should be pro- 

 vided and a piece of half-inch hose attached long 

 enough to reach every corner of the house, also a com- 

 mon nozzle for spraying as described and pictured in 

 a previous chapter. For everyday watering, the 

 most practical and convenient thing is the kind of 

 watering pot used by gardeners everywhere. , This 

 should have a moderately long spout of liberal size 

 as distinguished from the parlor toy usually found, in 

 the house. 



Arrangement of the Plants 



The smaller plants should be arranged around the 

 three sides of the room on a bench or shelf (H), as 

 shown in the diagram. This should be built at a 

 height from the floor so that ordinary 6-inch pots will 

 not show from the outside, and should be kept about 

 2 inches away from the wall to allow some of the 

 warmth from the pipes to pass directly upward. 



