AMONG THE FLOWERS WITH BEX FORD 



293 



narcissus, palms, ferns, and one cape jas- 

 mine. We have onr private waterworks, 

 and I do most of the work, except the 

 heaviest that I have a colored man to do. 

 I was almost a nervous wreck till I began 

 to live out-of-doors and work in the fresh 

 air. Found the ^dirt cure' more beneficial 

 than all the doctor's stuff. My neighbors 

 are becoming interested in flowers, and we 

 can see signs of improvement on all sides 

 of us." 



Mrs. Helen M. Hinkle (Cincinnati, 

 Ohio), who wrote last month about the 

 care of the Boston fern, also furnishes us 

 with these notes, giving her method of 

 propagating rubber plants. 



PEOPAGATING EUBBER PLANTS. 



"Eeading of the difficulties some of 

 your correspondents experience in start- 

 ing rubber plants (Ficus elasticus) front 

 cuttings, I am prompted to tell of my 

 success. In. July last' two branches about 

 fifteen inches long were stuck into the 

 earth in the tub with the larger plant. 

 Another was thrust into the ground where 

 the potted plants from my conservatory 

 are sunk. The earth is a mixture of sand, 

 garden soil and manure. After a few 

 days all these cuttings looked dejected and 

 ^ hopeless, but I was told to wait patiently 

 for results. Now they are growing finely, 



with three or four new leaves and a healthy 

 top bud. They have been in the sunshine 

 a few hours each day, have had no care « 

 but the regular watering that all my plants 

 received, Neighbors tell me of similar 

 treatment and success." 



Our valued contributor, W. C. Egan 

 (Highland Park, Hlinois), tells how he 

 provides an attractive 



COVERING PGR TI-IE SOIL OF POTTED 

 PLANTS. 



"Some of the communications in the 

 J anuary issue of Home and Flov^ers un- 

 der the heading "This, That and the 

 Other" are very interesting. Anyone is 

 apt to adopt some improved method of 

 doing things, and if they can be induced 

 to publish them in that department it 

 would be interesting. Here is something 

 in this line. I like when I bring hya- 

 cinths or similar flowering bulbs into the 

 house to have the soil covered. Early in 

 the fall I take into the greenhouse some 

 sods of sedum arc. I then take some pots 

 of same size I will use for bulbs, fill them 

 with any soil to within one and one-half 

 inches of the top. On this soil I lay a 

 circular sheet of glass, about one-fourth 

 of an inch smaller than the pot at that 

 point — a piece of board would do, or tin — 

 but there should be room for one and one- 

 half inches of soil above. In the center I 



'a bit of the river bank, at NORTHFIELD, MINN., AFTER IMPROVEMENT BY BETTERMENT ASSOCIATION 



