EVERY W0:MAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 35 



Odoratissimum possesses a spicy apple perfume. 



Graveolens is of a pleasant scent, with bright flowers. 



All these plants will grow luxuriantly wdth but little care. Any one 

 can raise Geraniums. They delight in a good, rich loam, with a mulch 

 of manure; have a special fancy for "barn -yard coffee," or liquid 

 manure. If watered wdth it, twice a week during the summer, will bloom 

 profusely. If your plants are old, prune them closely, cutting the 

 branches well in, and they will reward you for the sacrifice. If they are 

 taken from pots, you should also prune the roots, cutting away all the 

 largest roots to within five or six inches of the main stalk. After this 

 vigorous pruning, the plants should not be exposed to the heat of the 

 day, but must be shaded for a day or two, until they recover from their 

 loss ; but thus treated they wdll speedily put forth new roots, leaves and 

 buds. 



If the bed is shaded a little during the hottest part of the day, they 

 will bloom the better. 



To produce the largest clusters of flowers, the stalk above the buds^^ 

 should be pinched off, thus throwing all the strength of the plant into 

 the formation of flowers. 



A rich, light loam will grow Geraniums to perfection, and the soil 

 fresh from the woods and pastures, if enriched with well-rotted cow 

 manure, is the best that can be obtained. Plants delight in a virgin 

 soil, and those who live in the country can provide themselves with it 

 by lifting the sods from cow or sheep pastures, and taking the earth 

 from under them. 



If cuttings are desired from the Geraniums, they shouK be taken in 

 J uly, from the healthiest plants, and planted in small pots filled with a 

 compost of loam and sand, having one or two inches of the former on 

 top of the pot. Insert the cutting firmly, and keep the sand sopping 

 wet until it has rooted. When one or two leaves are developed, trans- 

 plant it into a larger pot, with a compost of one-third rotted cow mSnure, 

 one-third black loam, and one-third sand, and by November you will 

 have vigorous plants for house culture. The large roots can be lifted 

 from the ground before the frost blights their leaves, and after cutting 

 away all the tender shoots and buds, and shaking the earth from their 

 roots, hang them up in a dark, cool, dry, but frost-proof cellar, heads 

 downward. In the Spring they can be brought to the light, the 

 branches cut in, and though they will look shabby enough, yet, if 



