HOUSE, AREA, AND WINDOW GARDENING. 



likely to forget, unless lie understands clearly the 

 reason why a plant should want any water at all. 



It must be remembered that plants have the power 

 of giving off moistui'e from their leaves. If this be 

 doubted, take a glass shade, large enough to cover 

 any small plant, hold the shade in front of a good 

 fire for a short time, so as to thoroughly dry the 

 air inside it ; now put the shade over the plant, and 

 you will soon lose sight of the plant altogether ; the 

 inside of the shade has become covered with moisturej 

 which has evaporated from the leaves of the plant. 

 Now this evaporation is always going on in all 

 plants, and water must consequently be supplied to the 

 roots in su£&cient quantity to meet this drain upon 

 the leaves of the plant. If evaporation were always 

 going on at the same rate, it would be a very easy 

 matter to regulate to a nicety the quantity of water 

 which a plant should have given to it ; but this is 

 not the case. Plants grown in a Wardian case or 

 under a glass shade wiU not require any watering for 

 weeks or months, because the atmosphere in which 

 they grow is a very damp one, and under these cir- 

 cumstances there is but little evaporation from the 

 leaves. On the other hand, plants grown in a room 

 are in a dry atmosphere, which causes the plants to 

 part with a great deal of the moisture from their 

 tissues, and if this loss be not made good, the plant 

 will show it by its leaves hanging down in a flabby 

 condition. Hence the object of watering is to supply 

 a deficiency of fluids in the plant, and the quantity 

 of water to be given must be regulated by the losses 

 which the plant has sustained from evaporation. 



But the quality of the water must not be over- 

 looked, or thought of no consequence. Of surface 

 waters, that which comes from chalk hills is the worst 

 kind, because lime is injurious to many plants. Rain- 

 water is unquestionably the best, and if that cannot 

 be procured, then use pond- water, pro\aded that the 

 pond is not supplied by a spring in it. 



The temperature of the water is also of importance, 

 inasmuch as it should not be hotter or colder than 

 the air in which the plant is growing. Water too 

 hot stimulates the plant unnaturally, and water too 

 cold checks its growth, in fact, gives it a chill. 

 Therefore care should be taken in watering that the 

 water is of a suitable temperature. Especially avoid 

 using spring- water, and water from a well, both of 

 which are too cold even for plants out of doors. 



The time of the day at which watering should be 

 done is also to be thought of. During the colder half 

 of the year it is best to water in the morning, and 

 during the warmer half in the evening; in hot 

 weather, however, plants ma^'- need watering in the 

 morning also. This applies to the roots. Syringing 

 over the leaves is another matter, and requires to be 

 done with discretion. If it should be necessary to do 



it at all in winter, it should be done in the middle of 

 the day ; in the summer it should not be done before 

 the evening, as the sun is so hot that it might burn 

 the leaves if they were syringed earlier in the day. 

 In spring and autumn the morning is the best time, 

 but it must not be done too early. 



PROTECTION OF PLANTS. 



Whether plants are grown inside or outside the 

 window-pane, the secret of their successful cultiva- 

 tion may be summed up in one word— protection. 



It is too often forgotten that what we see of a plant 

 is not the whole plant, and that the invisible pai't of 

 it requires at least as much care and attention as the 

 visible part. Most of us are aware that the part of 

 the plant which is above the ground requires pro- 

 tection at some time of its growth, protection from 

 sun, from wind, from hail, snow, or rain. But the 

 roots, which are below the ground, must also be pro- 

 tected. They require protection from heat and from 

 cold, from drowning and from drought, from improper 

 soil, and from unsuitable manures. A plant requires 

 protection in the broadest sense of the word, as much 

 as a child, and the best cultivators will always be those 

 who have devoted the greatest attention to these points. 



Protection from Sun.— It may seem strange 

 to hear that there can be too much sunlight, but 

 this is so. Some plants require to be always shaded 

 more or less, while others merely want screening 

 from the effects of the sun during the hottest days in 

 summer. Plants in pots require shading from bright 

 sunlight much more than plants in the ground, be- 

 cause their roots, from being confined within a small 

 space, are more liable to get dry than those of plants 

 growing naturally, and when the roots are dry, the 

 plant is less able to bear heat or sunlight, and is more 

 quickly affected prejudicially, than if the roots were 

 in a condition to replace the moisture which has 

 been evaporated from the leaves. One cannot be 

 always watering the roots of a pot-plant, even if it 

 were desirable, but one may prevent the plant from 

 being exhausted (from flagging, as gai'deners call it) 

 by shading it. 



These remarks have been made with reference to 

 plants in health and active growth. With much 

 greater force do they apply to plants in ill-health, 

 and to plants in which the vital actions have been 

 disturbed and checked, as, for instance, in re-potting 

 and in striking cuttings. In all such cases the 

 effects of strong sunlight are very damaging, and 

 plants thus out of health must for a time at least be 

 kept entirely in the shade. 



'V^'Tien it becomes necessary to place plants in the 

 shade, and there is no shady place to which they can 



