A SIMPLE FLOWER GARDEN. 



53 



point will be most favorable for all. At night the tempera- 

 ture must be maintained at about fifty or fifty-five. If the 

 glass often falls below this point, failure may be expected. 

 The plants will perhaps manage to live in a night tempera- 

 ture of forty, but bloom they will not. 



Lastly, do not let the temperature vary greatly. Uni- 

 formity in this respect is the great secret of success in all 

 artificial culture of plants, whether in "stoves," "fern- 

 eries," " camellia houses, " or parlors. 



MOISTURE 



in the air is essential to the health of house plants. The 

 dry, half-burnt air from a furnace is the chief cause of fail- 

 ure. Various methods are resorted to in order to add to the 

 amount of vapor held in the air. A dish of water upon the 

 stove aids greatly. Fresh air from the open window, and 

 the damp sand in the window-stand will both help, and 

 the syringe will help still more. By this, it is not meant 

 that the plants shall be showered as they stand in the room, 

 but in the kitchen sink. The moisture that clings to the 

 foliage after such a bath will dry away, and float in vapor 

 in the air, to be returned with interest to the plants. 



BULBS 



have not been spoken of, because this work merely relates to 

 those few simple and cheap flowers adapted to a very small 

 garden. In the parlor a few may be used with pleasure and 



