HOUSE PLANTS. 
101 
abundantly. This will percolate slowly, and distribute it¬ 
self properly to the plants beneath. ” 
Hanging baskets require frequent watering, for which, 
with due regard to the carpet beneath, they have to be 
taken down from their perches, and then suspended some¬ 
where else to dry; but this trouble may be avoided in 
another ingenious way, which is to fill a bottle with water 
and put in two pieces of yarn, leaving one end of each 
piece outside. The bottle should be suspended just above 
the basket and the water allowed to drip, which will keep 
the earth moist enough for winter. 
A wall pocket filled with wood treasures is more un¬ 
common than a hanging-basket, and quite as ornamental. 
A thin board cut in the shape of a shield forms the back, 
and besides a hole in the middle of the top, to suspend 
it from a nail, small holes should be bored all around the 
edge, about half an inch apart. The pocket is made with 
ordinary brass or white wire, which is passed through the 
holes from side to side and carefully fastened at each end. 
The same process is repeated from top to bottom of the 
shield, and the wires fastened together. 
The receptacle is then lined with mosses and filled with 
wood earth, and pipsissiway, arbutus, wintergreen, hepatica, 
etc., mingled with ferns, will all take kindly to these novel 
quarters, if kept constantly moist. 
