September, 1918 
3 
WISCONSIN HORTICULTURE 
Winter Care of House Plants. 
C. Phillipson. 
To make home cheerful in the 
long winter of the North, there is 
nothing that can compare with 
flowering Plants. They are a con- 
stant delight. Each day brings 
new leaves, and buds, and blos- 
soms, and we look and wonder and 
admire. With house plants as with 
all other things, success is essential 
to enjoyment. There is pleasure, 
too, in having plants as much as 
possible the work of our own skill 
— grown from seeds or cuttings or 
trained by our own hands. 
Plants, like ourselves, need air, 
light, warmth, food and drink and 
these in proper quantities or they 
will suffer and finally die. The 
desire in growing Window Plants 
is that they give us either flowers 
oi' foliage during the long winter 
months. This we can secure only 
by careful attention to a few neces- 
sary details. First of all plants 
in proper condition must be ob- 
tained. We must not expect that 
those that have given us of their 
bounty all summer to continue 
flowering through the winter. 
Plants for winter flowering should 
be kept in pots all summer or 
plants in a proper state must be 
procured from some florist in 
early fall. All buds should be 
taken from plans designed for win- 
tering flowering until about the 
middle of August. Plants should 
be brought into the house and 
placed in position before the win- 
ter fires are made, that they may 
become accustomed to their indoor 
life. Do not crowd them. Most 
of our plants are injured by too 
much heat. Give a little fresh air 
every few days and all the sunlight 
attainable. An effort should be 
made to give moisture to the. at- 
mosphere, for our own good as well 
as the health of the plant. Plants 
will suffer from a current of cold 
air, just as their owner would, 
but both are benefitted by an in- 
vigorating breath of fresh air. 
This- can be done by opening a 
window as far from the plant as 
possible. Care should be taken, 
however, that no direct draft blows 
upon the tender plant. The soil 
used in potting should be neither 
too sandy, as it will dry out too 
quickly, nor too heavy, for this 
holds the water too long, and is 
apt to become soggy. How and 
when to water must be learned by 
experience. 
Water only when the soil be- 
comes dry (except for plants like 
the Oalla Lily and Umbrella Plant 
which must be kept constantly 
moist) and apply enough to wet 
the whole body of earth in the 
pot. Plants die more easily from 
drowning than from thirst. 
The essentials of success in plant 
culture are suitable soil, air, light, 
moderate and regular heat, a moist 
atmosphere, regular and moderate 
watering and freedom from dust 
and foul gas. 
Some of the best winter flower- 
ing plants for the house are Ger- 
aniums, Primulas, Cinerarias, Cy- 
clamen and most of the Holland 
bulbs. In growing Geraniums 
never lose sight of the fact that 
stocky, many branched plants give 
flowers in abundance, tall spindly 
plants the reverse. 
In potting Primulas care must 
be taken to have the crown of the 
plant slightly above the surface 
of the soil that no water may settle 
around the crown and cause it to 
rot. 
The cyclamen is particularly 
adapted for window culture and 
will give more flowers with less 
trouble than most other plants. 
Of the Holland bulbs the Hya- 
cinths and Narcissi are the easiest 
to grow. Pot as early in the fall 
as they can be obtained. Place the 
bulb with the lip slightly above 
the surface of the soil, and set 
away in a dark box in the cellar 
for six weeks or more or until the 
pot is well filled with roots. When 
first potted they should be well 
watered and thereafter kept 
merely moist but on bringing to 
light and heat, they should have 
water in the saucer most of the 
time. 
Holding the Line. 
“We have the task of maintain- 
ing the men in that living line 
made up of soldiers and the peo- 
ple back of that line. We must 
not run any risk. There must be 
no narrow margins. We must see 
that there is plenty of food over 
there, so that no matter what hap- 
pens to the shipping in any one 
month, they are safe. Then we 
have the chance to win the war 
and make good. 
The food program is a fighting 
program. We here in this coun- 
try have the education, we have 
the brains, we have the loyalty. 
We must live up to our privilege 
of backing up our splendid men 
who represent us in the Army and 
Navy. Let each of us live each 
day so that when our boys come 
back from France we can look 
them in the eye and say: “I did 
my share and all that I could do 
at home.” — U. S. Food Adminis- 
tration. 
‘‘The spaces of land and sea are 
nothing where common purposes 
bind.” — General Pershing. 
