SYRINGING AND POTTING. 



259 



the plants are growing. Drawing water out of hot-water pipes for mixing with, and 

 taking the chill off, cold water is a common but bad practice, and should be avoided as 

 much as possible. 



The syringe in the hands of a man who has the welfare of the plants under his 

 charge at heart, is capable of doing good service. It ought not to be a case of recklessly 

 deluging the various occupants of a stove, but rather of judicious spraying or dewing. 

 Dashing water forcibly into plants may get rid of some of the insects on them, but it may 

 do more harm to the delicate leaves than an ordinary observer would detect. There are 

 other and better ways of keeping plants clean. Imitate nature's method of invigorating 

 plants through their leaves, and supply them with dew rather than a storm of rain. 

 Plants with hairy or woolly leaves ought not to be syringed, but only the pots and 

 stages on which they are arranged. 



The spraying or syringing of plants is best done early in the afternoon, or when 

 the house is closed for the day. If deferred much later the moisture will hang about them 

 through the night, this having a softening and weakening effect upon the stems of 

 some plants and the leaves of others. On dull days during the growing season not much 

 water ought to be distributed about the house, but on clear days the floors and stages 

 may be frequently damped with advantage ; and especially all surfaces near the hot- 

 water pipes. This is for providing the requisite moisture in the atmosphere, but, as 

 previously hinted, less of this is needed in the autumn, and still less during the winter. 



Potting. 



The best time to repot plants is, as a rule, just when they commence forming fresh 

 root-fibres, consequent upon an increase of temperature in early spring. At this period 

 of their growth many of them will not receive a severe check from the operation ; 

 several plants bear a free reduction of their roots after they are shaken nearly clear of the 

 old exhausted soil. Then if they are returned to pots a size smaller than they were in 

 previously, and subsequently given a shift if thought desirable, large healthy plants, in 

 comparatively small pots, will be the result. Crotons, allamandas, bougainvilleas, and 

 a few other kinds are usually rested and dried off during the winter, pruning following 

 early in February ; immediately these pruned plants are pushing forth fresh shoots is the 

 best time to repot. Too often, however, the operation is deferred till the young shoots are 

 as forward as those shown on the allamanda, a, next page. When thus forward, and the 

 roots are shaken nearly free of the old soil, these, and consequently the top-growth, 



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