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AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
January, 1906 
THE WINDOW GARDEN 
IN MIDWINTER 
By Eben E. Rexford 
N MOST winter gardens plants are making 
active preparations for flowering at this 
season of the year. Now is the proper time 
to apply a good fertilizer—something that will 
have an immediate effect on the buds and re- 
sult in large, fine flowers rather than the de- 
velopment of branches. Many fertilizers that 
are prompt and satisfactory in action can be 
bought at the florist’s. But for those who are 
in touch with the country there is nothing 
better—nothing so good, in fact—as a liquid 
fertilizer, made by soaking old cow manure in 
water until the latter is the color of weak tea. 
This applied liberally once a week will give a 
bountiful crop of fine flowers from most plants 
adapted to culture in the window garden. 
IT is an easy matter to injure plants by over- 
watering at this season. Growth is generally 
not very active, and a plant not making active 
growth does not require much water. Evapo- 
ration takes place slowly. Therefore if much 
water is applied the soil retains more moisture 
than the plant growing in it can make good use 
of, and the result is a souring of the earth, 
which brings on a diseased condition of roots, 
frequently resulting in death, and always mak- 
ing the plant a disappointment. To guard 
against such a condition be careful in the use 
of water at this period. Give only enough to 
make—and keep—the soil moist. “This can be 
done by applying a liberal amount at first and 
holding back a second application until the 
surface of the soil looks dry. Then give an- 
other liberal application and wait for the dry 
look before giving more. 
If drainage is what it ought to be there is 
little danger of injury resulting from the use 
of too much water, for the soil will retain only 
a sufficient amount to keep it evenly moist all 
through. But many amateur florists—perhaps 
- I would be warranted in saying most—seem 
to consider the drainage of a flower-pot as a 
sort of whim which they can afford to ignore. 
The result is, the pots containing their plants 
have little or no chance to get rid of surplus 
water and it collects about the roots, which 
soon become diseased in consequence. No part 
of amateur gardening is of greater importance 
than good drainage. If every amateur would 
take pains to provide for it, there would be 
comparatively few failures. But as long as 
drainage is not given the attention it demands 
we may expect to see unhealthy plants and 
hear their owners wondering “ what’s the 
matter with them.” 
INsEcTS must be fought and conquered if 
one would have fine flowers. ‘The aphis is 
easily routed by the use of an infusion of 
sulpho-tobacco soap, applied in a spray. Care 
should be taken to have it reach all parts of 
the plant. The red spider—which is one of 
the most destructive of all plant enemies if let 
alone—will not flourish where there is a con- 
siderable degree of moisture in the atmosphere. 
Moisture of the intermittent kind—here to-day 
and then absent for a week—does not answer 
the purpose. It must be constantly present in 
the air to be effective. Use the sprayer daily 
at a time when the sun is not shining on your 
plants. Make sure that the spray gets to the 
underside of the foliage, where the spider likes 
to hide away. Keep water evaporating on 
stove or register. It is a good plan to have 
the plant table covered with sand an inch 
deep. Keep this wet. In the greenhouse it 
is a comparatively easy matter to keep the 
spider from doing harm, for there water can 
be used recklessly without danger of injuring 
