40 TOWN AND WINDOW GARDENING 



about, and fling themselves all over the place, so it is a 

 good plan to associate them v^ith sturdy plants for a 

 contrast, and the filling up of gaps. 



Insects must be destroyed as they appear, but soap and 

 water will keep them from appearing at all. A daily 

 wash is the best thing in the world for town plants, and 

 if we cannot give it every day, we must give it as often 

 as we can. 



Watering is always a difficult matter with beginners. 

 No exact rules can be laid down. It is not like clock- 

 winding or anything mechanical. Plants must be 

 watered just when they want it, and if we give it 

 them when they don't, it makes them sick. Still, they 

 must never be forgotten ; if once allowed to get dust-dry, 

 it is an injury from which they will not recover. We 

 must watch them carefully, and shall thus soon learn 

 their needs. Weather has a great deal to do with it. 

 Wind and sun are wonderfully drying. During the heat 

 of summer it is a good plan to water in the evening, so 

 that the plants enjoy the moisture through the night. 

 One axiom is drummed into the heads of all beginners, 

 " Never water in the sunshine." But sometimes one 

 must do it to avoid casualties, and no harm need come 

 of it if we water the ground thoroughly without touch- 

 ing the leaves or flowers. Let it be a good soak. To 

 give water in driblets is fatal. After a little water, the 

 upper surface of the soil may cake and dry and harden, 

 and the plant be worse off than ever, or the water may 

 run through some dry channel in the mould and never 

 reach the roots at all. It is best to water pot-plants by 

 standing them in a pail or tub, the water coming quite 

 over the rim ; the leaves can be washed separately, and 

 should not be left too wet, which rots them ; efforts must 

 be made to get soft water. If we really are compelled 

 to use hard, some good may be done by standing it for 

 a time in shallow pans, or even in the water-pots we are 



