56 



A SIMPLE FLOWER GARDEN. 



enough soil in the new pot to raise the plant to the proper 

 level, place it in the centre and fill in around the sides with 

 fresh soil. Give it a gentle shower of water, and keep it 

 cool and shady for one day ; then it may return to the win- 

 dow. Many old gardeners, and all the books, say that in 

 re-potting, the bottom of the pot must be filled with crocks. 

 In the writer's experience this is pure fiction. One piece 

 answers every purpose. 



THE TURN OF THE SEASON 



occurs in this month. On or about the twenty-first the 

 sun reaches its lowest point, and then returns. At once the 

 days grow longer, and in a little while all plants in greenhouse, 

 wardian case, or parlor window, feel the change. Their 

 slumber is at an end, and with livelier sap and newly burst- 

 ing buds they proclaim that spring has come again. Previous 

 to this turn of the season but few plants would bloom, and 

 none were inclined to grow. Now all is changed. Any- 

 thing will grow if it has a ch^^nce, and bloom if by any 

 possibility it can. Even the sleepy potato, in. the bin in 

 the cellar, opens pallid eyes, and blindly seeks the return- 

 ing light and heat. The deutzia and astilbe feel it in 

 their torpid veins, and if brought up to the light and air, 

 and well supplied with water, will start out into sudden 

 flowers. 



A JUDICIOUS THROWING AWAY 



of plants must now be adopted. The salvia and steevia 



