Rooms, Halls, and Passages. 163 



change them every other week for fresh ones from the 

 conservatory, if you can, and turn them round every 

 day, so that all sides may have the henefit of light 

 equally. Never by any means allow them to get dry. 

 The air in a room is always dry and arid, causing the 

 moisture in the ball of the plant to dry up very 

 quickly. If it ever happens that you allow the ball of 

 a plant to get so dry that the soil shrinks from the pot 

 all round, the best way to moisten the soil thoroughly 

 again is to stand the pot nearly up to the rim in a 

 vessel of water for half an hour or so. 



Often I have seen poor ill-treated plants returning 

 to the Greenhouse they had left so fresh and beautiful, 

 looking as limp and dried up as if the hot breath of 

 a furnace had swept over them, and as begrimed with 

 dust as if they had travelled a dusty road for a long 

 summer's day. Plants neglected thus have their 

 beauty spoiled for a whole season, when a little more 

 care and attention bestowed on them would have 

 returned them little the worse for their change of 

 quarters. 



Plants in rooms are usually placed in flats or pans 

 for the superfluous water to collect in. This water 

 should never be allowed to remain, as it tends to sour 

 the ball of the plant by too much moisture and exclusion 

 of air from the roots. 



When arranging plants in ornamental flower stands, 

 a good bold specimen plant should be chosen for the 

 centre, and the smaller ones grouped tastefully around 

 it with a free unrestricted natural grace, and all stiflF 

 formal arrangements should be avoided. This can best 



