4 



HOUSE PLANTS 



our rooms are heated by artificial means 

 and every degree of heat that is thus supplied 

 for our individual comfort is taxing the 

 energy of the plant in causing transpiration 

 of water at a time when, normally, plant 

 growth is at its minimum activity. 



The cultivation of plants in the house, 

 then, is very largely an individual problem 

 of overcoming a set of opposing conditions 

 which will never be the same for two indivi- 

 duals nor for the same individual in two 

 different places. What we have to strive 

 for is to maintain a fairly comfortable, 

 average condition, and it is really surprising, 

 when all things are taken into consideration, 

 what eminently satisfactory results can be 

 achieved. I have seen window gardens that 

 from one year's end to another are perfect 

 blazes of colour; in others, again, plants 

 grown for their foliage effect alone have 

 flourished amazingly. Yet similar plants 

 in the homes of other people dwindled and 

 finally died. 



The ideal situation for a window garden 

 is on the south side of the house, the window 

 itself slightly projecting from the building 

 line, so as to secure abundance of light, 



