8 



HOME AXD FLOW EES 



them to grow \mx\l they feel like it. Give 

 just enoiigh water to keep them moist 

 at the roots. ^Yatc•h them closely for scale. 

 If any is found, scritb both stalks and 

 leaves well with Fir-tree oil soapsuds. By 

 and by the plant will get tired of resting. 

 Then, when signs of growth are seen, apply 

 a fertilizer, weak at first, btit increasing in 

 strength in proportion to the development 

 which the plant makes. 



THE SALVIA AS A HOUSE PLAXT 



]\rany persons who grow Salvia splen- 

 dens in the garden in summer do not seem 

 to be aware that it is one of our best house 

 plants for winter. But such is the case. 

 In August take oif a shoot from the old 

 plant, being stire that it has a few roots 

 attached. You can do this by cutting 

 down between the shoot- and the central 

 mass of roots. Pot it in good loam, cut- 

 ting off most of the stalk. Soon new shoots 

 will push al)0ut the base of the old one. and 

 bv January you will have a compact, bushy 

 plant with a good many flowering points. 

 Such a plant will furnish flowers through- 

 out the winter — great, plumy spikes of 

 flowers as intense and rich in color as any 

 of the scarlet Geraniums. The red spider 

 will doubtless attack the plants if they are 

 not showered frequently, therefore be sure 

 to spray them all over two or three times 

 a week. Try a Salvia next winter, and 

 you will like it as well as you do 

 Geraniums. 



THE FOSTEE FERX 



I have heretofore made mention of this 

 sport from the Boston Fern, and I wish to 

 urge those who want something especially 

 fine for next winter's use to secure a plant 

 of it as soon as possible. Young plants 

 can now be found on sale at the florists' 

 at reasonable prices. The development of 

 individual leaflets into miniature fronds 

 gives this variety a lacy, graceful appear- 



ance which makes it extremely graceful 

 and charming. And as these leaflets con- 

 tinue to lengthen and unroll indefinitely 

 all formality is done away with. Some 

 fronds wilhhave btit few of them. Others 

 will be composed mostly of them, thtts giv- 

 ing the frond the appearance of a long, 

 arching green plume. The old Boston 

 Fern is good — don't discard it by any 

 means — but the new Foster Fern is lietter 

 if one wants a particularly gracefttl plant. 



^lAEGUERITE CARXATIOXS 



I hope you have a good collection of 

 these for fall flowering in the garden. 

 Some plants come" into bloom a good deal 

 earlier than others. TTatch them, and as 

 soon as buds show, remove at least half 

 the buds that start. You must do thi- 

 if yoit want fine, large flowers. Unless you 

 do it you will have a great manv fiowers 

 of inferior size and qtiality. Xo plant can 

 do itself justice when it is obliged to dis- 

 tribute its vitality among so many fiowers. 

 Concentrate it by disbudding. Leave only 

 one bud to a stem. In this way you will 

 often get large, beatttiful fl.owers from a 

 plant that yott will set aside as a '"scrub." 

 if allowed to develop — or attempt to de- 

 velop — -all the btids that "set"' on it. In 

 late October go over yoitr collection and 

 select from it the best and most distinctive 

 varieties you find there, and pot them 

 for winter use. Cut away most of the top 

 — and all of the fiower stalks it may have 

 at the time. Pot it in a rather heavy loam, 

 and see that it has good drainage. Do not 

 water very freely, and give no fertilizer 

 until the plant starts into growth in J anu- 

 ary. Then keep up the disbudding process. 

 It will be necessary to do this throughout 

 the season if large, perfect fiowers are 

 what yoit want. And one fine Carnation is 

 worth a hundred poor, starved specimens. 

 Bear that fact in inind. and act accord- 

 ingly in your care of your plants. 



