The names in this department will have a familiar sound to all lovers of house plants. The 
Heliotrope, the Calceolaria, Gloxinia, Chrysanthemum, Cineraria, Geranium, Fuschia, etc., are 
associated with our earliest recollections of floriculture. Most persons procure house plants 
from the green-houses, and when but one or two of a kind are needed this is a good plan. 
It is also well to purchase oi the nearest florist, if good plants can be obtained, because you 
can then make the selection personally, and your florist needs, and we hope 
deserves, encouragement. Some, however, have green-houses and desire 
many plants, and others take pride and pleasure in growing from seed — in 
watching every day's mysterious growth, from the tiny seed-leaf to the full 
developed plant, in all its grand display of beauty. To all such we shall 
be happy to furnish seeds. As the seeds in this department are mostly 
delicate, it is best to make sevei^al sowings at different times. The most ex- 
perienced gardeners always do this. Most of the varieties known as green- 
house plants will, of course, succeed as well in the dwelling house as the 
green-house, if we can only secure the conditions necessary to their health, 
and which the conservatoiy or green-house furnishes. These are light, warmth, 
moisture, air, and occasionally a little sunshine. Some may think that they supply all these 
conditions, and yet the plants do not flourish. The difficulty generally is that we keep our 
living rooms too warm for plants, and too M^arm 
also for our own good. The atmosphere of the living 
room, also, is too dry. 
The florist syringes 
his plants, and throws 
water on the paths, 
and all about his 
houses, so as to ob- 
tain a moist atmos- 
phere by its evapora- 
tion. In our living 
rooms we provide no water for evaporation, and the consequence 
is a diy and unhealthy atmosphere, generally 
filled with fine dust from the carpets. Keep the 
plants clean and comfort- 
able, with thermometer not 
over seventy or seventy-five 
in the day, and not more than 
fifty or sixty in the night. 
Keep the leaves clean. Smooth 
leaves, like those of the Ca- 
mellia and Oleander, should 
be washed with a sponge, but 
some rough or woolly leaved 
plants, like the Begonia, dislike wetting of the foliage. This is particularly the 
Chinese Primulas. The engravings at the right, commencing at top of page, show the Heliotrope, 
Calceolaria, and Cineraria ; on the left, the Clianthus. 
108 
le case with the 
