THE FLORAL H^ORLD 



9 



growing plants. The care of such 

 beaiitifiers to her home is one of the 

 strongest ties to bind her to that 

 home. The next word let me saj- to 

 the woman herself, be she matron or 

 maid, elderly or young. In these days 

 of over-strained nerves and diversified 

 activities, cultivate flowers as the sur- 

 est of all healers as well as the sweet- 

 est of all recreations. There is no oc- 

 cupation ihat yields so rich a return 

 in benefit to both body and mind. Try 

 it for one year and be convinced that 

 this is true. But work, in any field, to 

 be successful, must be intelligent, 

 hence the wise young gardener will 

 eagerly accept such adequate instruc- 

 tions as are ever at hand in The 

 Floral World. Mary Stuart Smith. 

 New York. 



G 30D LITTLE BULBS FOR WINTER BLOOM. 



I have two varieties of freesias, the 

 plain white and the white with yellow 

 throat. The white is much the larger 

 in blossom, but is not one bit sweeter. 

 To bloom well, they should be potted 

 early in the season. I pot some as 

 early as the middle of July, and I find 

 that the ones that are set away in the 

 dark, ccol cellar come into blooming 

 first. For potting soil I scrape the 

 roots and dirt from off of sods and 

 m-ix with it wood earth until it is of a 

 dark, rich color. Then plant the bulbs 

 one inch deep, five in a five-inch pot, 

 or more in a larger one. When pot- 

 ting I provide each bulb with a sup- 

 port in the form of a wooden skewer, 

 tied well around the sides of the 

 pot. When all of the plants are up I 

 furnish string, winding in and out and 

 around about both plants and supports 

 to hold up well, then place in a sunny 

 window and keep well watered. An- 

 other fine winter bloomer is the Ber- 

 muda oxalis, often called the butter- 

 cup oxalis on account of its color. It 

 should be treated the same as the 

 freesias. 



Pa. Mrs. Samuel R. Welsh. 



A BEAUTIFUL WINDOW BOX. 



Dear Readers of The Floral World: 

 I have a box that I wish you would all 

 try for a window garden this winter, 

 and you will have something of which 

 everybody will envy you. Take a box 

 about ten by thirty-six inches and ten 

 inches deep. First make a few holes 

 in bottom of box. Add broken flower 

 pot or bone for drainage, then put 

 good black loam and a layer of hen or 

 cow manure, topped with more good 

 soil. Then put a border of pansies 

 which have been sown in a small shal- 

 low box, in good, rich, loamy soil, and 

 watered well and not allowed to dry 

 out. When they have flve or six 

 leaves transplant in this box for win- 

 ter, the pansies being the front row, 

 and of a blue or purple color, then a 

 row of white double petunias, or white 

 tea roses, and lastly a row of double 

 red geraniums, having the geraniums 

 the tallest of the three rows. Keep 

 buds pinched off till September or 

 October and you will have a flower 

 window that will pay you tenfold for 

 all your trouble and making the na- 

 tion's pet colors, with a flne fra- 

 grance. Try this and report. 



Ohio, Mrs. Mattie Woodson. 



A BIT ABOUT THE FI^EESIA. 



In August I procure bulbs of free- 

 sias — I prefer the giant Bermuda, as 

 they produce larger flowers — and pot 

 half a dozen in a six-inch pot. I usu- 

 ally use a long, narrow box to fit the 

 window sill, and plant about three 

 rows of the bulbs. I use plenty of 

 broken crockery or charcoal for drain- 

 age, and then use the richest of leaf 

 mold, sand and common garden soil. 

 I pot ana set away in a dark cool 

 place for five or six weeks for roots 

 to form, and then gradually bring to 

 light and air. In December I com- 

 mence to water with water as warm 



