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HOME AND FLO]YEES 



Good drainage shoiild be provided to prevent 

 souring of the soil from stagnant water at the 

 roots of the plant. Given this treatment, a 

 Calla ought to begin blooming in January, and 

 should continue to give flowers until it comes 

 time to put it out-of-doors again for its annual 

 rest. 



Floral Associations.— (l^Lrs. L. H.) The way 

 to organize a floral association is — to organize, 

 to paraphrase Horace Greeley's advice as to 

 resumption of specie payment. In other words, 

 to get right down to business, and start the 

 society by bringing together your flower loving 

 friends, and beginning the work in hand with- 

 out waiting to arrange and straighten out de- 

 tails. That will come later. Form your society, 

 and appoint your committees, and you will find 

 that the -various matters which perplex you, 

 when viewed from the standpoint of an outsider, 

 readily and easily adjust themselves to the con- 

 ditions which arise, as the society begins its 

 work. Put theories aside, and do sornetliing, 

 and you will have very little difficulty in making 

 your society a success if you can secure a dozen 

 interested persons as members. 



Complaints.— 1 have been taken to task by 

 several correspondents because I have failed to 

 give an answer to each inquiry of theirs. Some 

 of them admit that the desired information 

 was found in answers to other correspondents, 

 but — why were not all their questions answered? 

 I hold that all their questions were answered, if 

 replies to other correspondents gave the infor- 

 mation they were in search of. What's the use 

 of wasting space by a special answer to each 

 indi^ddual when an answer to one person con- 

 tains advice that a dozen persons ask for ? If 

 you find something that applies to your case, 

 appropriate it as something intended for you, 

 and don't expect a personal reply if your in- 

 quiries are of a similar nature to those asked 

 by others, and answered under other initials 

 than your own. 



Diseased Geraniums.— (^Irs. T. S.) The 

 leaves sent show the ravages of bacterial disease. 

 When you notice a scarred appearance on the 

 foliage of your Ivy leaf and other Geraniums, 

 and the edges of the leaf turns brown and 

 erum.bles readily at touch, you may be sure that 

 bacteria is at the bottom of the trouble. The 

 only remedy I know of is Bordeaux mixture, or 

 its commercial substitute,. Copperdine. Get 

 one or the other of these and apply at least 

 twice a week, until an improvement takes place 

 in the general appearance of your plants. One 

 application, or two, or three, will not effect a 

 cure. The fungicide must be used persistently 

 for a considerable period, and after the disease 



seems to have been overcome it should be em- 

 ployed as a prevention of a return of the trouble. 



Fertilizers.— (Mrs. C. S. W.) I do not think 

 you would find a mixture of bone meal and 

 concentrated lye an ideal fertilizer. I would 

 use the bone meal, and omit the lye. A very 

 excellent liquid fertilizer is made by soaking 

 old cow manure until the water applied to it is 

 about the color of weak tea. This suits nearly 

 all kinds of pla:nts. But if you can not obtain 

 cow manure use finely ground bone meal instead 

 in the proportion of a teaspoonful to as much 

 soil , as a six-inch pot will hold. Mix it with the 

 soil at potting time, or work it in about the 

 roots of the plants already potted. Most of 

 the "flower foods'' on the market are good. 

 Bone meal is the principal part of nearly all 

 of them. It is cheap. Any dealer in agricul- 

 tural goods can furnish it. 



Pelargoniums.— (Mts. W. S.) These plants 

 should be allowed to rest after the flowering 

 season is over. Keep quite dry until October. 

 Then cut away nearly all the old top. Prune 

 so severely that when you get through with the 

 operation you have little left but the main 

 branches, and these more stubs than anything* 

 else. Eepot the plants, giving a rather heavy 

 soil of garden loam. Water well, and set in 

 a cool place until growth begins. Then give 

 all the light and sunshine possible. Keep in 

 a cool place. As growth increases and spring 

 approaches use a good fertilizer once a week,, 

 and shower frequently with Ivory soap solutioiL 

 to keep the green aphis down. Large pots; 

 are not needed. Too warm a room encourages 

 a weak, rapid growth. 



Boses Shedding Leaves.— (Mrs. N. A. D.) If 

 your Eoses drop their leaves it is possible that 

 an insect may be the cause of it. Have you 

 looked at the under side of the foliage? Some- 

 times the red spider causes loss of foliage. If 

 you finS this pest there, apply water freely 

 daily, being sure that it gets to the underside 

 of the leaves. Possibly there may be something* 

 wrong at the roots. If no spiders are found, dig 

 down about the plants and ascertain the condi- 

 tion of their roots. If found diseased, cut away 

 those most badly affected and thin out the top.. 

 If the leaves are spotted with black and yellow 

 the trouble comes from a disease of bacterial 

 character. Nearly all Eose growers have to 

 fight it. The remedy is Bordeaux mixture or 

 Copperdine. 



Cheap Seeds and Bulhs.— (Mrs. E. S.) Your 

 complaint against the firm offering to send 

 twenty-five packages of seed and twenty-five 

 bulbs for sixteen cents in stamps is no doubt 

 well founded, but— did you never think how 



