THE YOUNG SCIENTIST. 
99 
for sick and poor children. One of the 
cheapest and most easily constructed of 
home-made flower pots, is that shown at 
Fig. 1, which is intended for a hanging 
flower pot, and is constructed out of an 
empty tomato or peach can. A can, when 
used for growing, should be thoroughly 
coated on the inside with asphalt varnish 
to save it from rusting at the joints. In 
this case the can is coated both on the in- 
side and outside with asphalt varnish. 
Fig. 2. 
To the sides of the can clinkers are fast- 
ened by means of melted asphalt (such as 
is used for roofing). These clinkers can 
be obtained of various shapes and colors 
from the furnaces of engine rooms or 
glass houses. It is best to avoid what is 
known as " slag," that is produced in iron 
foundries, as it is a very heavy material, 
and is apt to become rusty in course of 
time. As will be seen by the figure, the 
clinkers attached to the rim of the can 
are much larger in size, and project be- 
yond those on the body of the can. This 
is done to break up the otherwise stiff 
uniformity of the outline. It must be 
borne in mind that without the outside 
coatiug of asphalt varnish it is almost 
impossible to attach the clinkers to the 
can, as the hard asphalt when applied to 
the tin of the can will not adhere to it. 
In case the clinkers do not appear brilliant 
enough in color, they can be touched up 
here and there with cheap oil colors. 
When plants are very large it is always 
best to make use of cuttings. Much that 
is of interest in plant life may be learned 
from the starting point of a rose or gera- 
nium slip or cutting, how the " callous " 
is first formed, and its gradual develop- 
ment into roots, and how, when a suf- 
ficient number of rootlets are at work 
supplying and conveying food for the cut- 
ting, the leaf buds begin to unfold and 
develop into leaves, and so on till the 
Fig. 3. 
flower buds and perfect flowers appear. 
When shifting flowers from the garden to 
indoors it is always best to allow them 
to " season off" for a few days before in- 
troducing them into a room. 
I have always found pots containing 
living plants and flowers very useful as a 
