Novesibek 13. 
COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION. 
107 
of liglit. This requisite will only apply to as many as 
can be set conveniently near to a good-sized window. 
E very young, growiiiy plant will sutler when placed at a 
distance from the window. A room may be easily 
turned into a hybernatory for plants, altliough the light 
be limited, when they are in a state of rest, or when, as 
in the case of succulents, they are so nearly inactive as 
to require little or no water. For instance. Cactus, 
Mesembryanthemum, &c., if secured from frost, and 
kept dry, will suffer little from darkness for two or three 
months in winter, provided the temperature is not so 
high as to cause any expansion. In relation to burying 
or covering such growing plants as Pelargoniums in 
attics, &c., the keeping from light must be for as short 
periods as possible, and, during that time, the tempera 
ture must be so low as to prevent growth or expansion, 
and so high as to keep out the frost. If the alternative 
is presented of trying to keep such plants in a parlour 
with a lire only occasionally, and in a well-lighted 
garret with no (ire at all, I would prefer the latter, as, in 
the case of severe cold, the plants could be collected in 
tlie middle of the room, and there covered up with 
hoops, and mats, and hay, or woollen counterpanes 
made on purpose. In very severe weather, some hot- 
water bottles, edged in under the covering, would be 
better than burning any kind of oil lamp, as a corres¬ 
pondent suggests. I have seen plants kept well in such 
a garret, the living room below being supplied with a 
lire all the winter, and the chimney passing through 
the end of the garret. 
If such a place was well lighted, a small stove, with a 
short funnel entering a chimney, would be a good 
security for plants, care being taken that it was not over¬ 
heated, and tlic air made dry in consequence. Where 
no such conveniences exist, and the rooms in which 
jilants are kept are not regularly sujjplied with fires, 
there must be considerable trouble in moving plants 
Irom one room to another, according to the weather; 
all very interesting and agreeable to a thorough en¬ 
thusiast, but rather tiresome to those who wish the 
greatest amount of pleasure for the expenditure of the 
smallest amount of labour. One night’s forgetfulness 
may entail the loss of every favourite. When kept in 
living rooms, the chief requisites of success are—keep¬ 
ing the plants as close to the window as possible during 
the day, when the temperature there is not under 40'^’, 
removing them to the middle of the room in cold nights, 
and to the very warmest part, and, jierhaps, the pro¬ 
tection of a counterpane when very cold, taking care, 
however, if there is a strong lire during the evening, 
the plants should stand in as cool a place as possible— 
from 40° to 45° would suit them; while the domestic 
circle round the fireplace may be enjoying a temperature 
of from 00° and upwards. In all such cases, the air 
w’ill be deprived of its moisture, and the plants will be 
greatly benefited by a frequent sponging or damping of 
the foliage, and the keeping of moss or wadding in a 
moist state over the surface of the soil, which helps to 
keep a moister atmosphere close to the plants than what 
they obtain in the rooms generally. Tliis extreme care 
is only required in cold, frosty weather. While it lasts, it 
will thus be evident that the plants may delight in the 
coolest part of the room during the evening, and the 
warmest part of it during tlie night. Convenience, and 
the comfort of the plants, will be greatly secured by 
their being placed on a table, or stage, easily moved, and 
with rods over it to permit of a covei'ing being thrown 
over them, which, while it protects from cold at night, 
also secures them from dust when the room is cleaned. 
All young, tender-growing plants require this attention, 
less or more. As has already been observed frequently, 
older plants, which can be preserved by keeping the 
roots or old stems from frost, require only a little of this 
attention. 
I For instance, young Scarlet Geraniums, though hardier 
I than florists’ Pelargoniums, require similar, though not 
I so i)articular, attention, while 
1 OLD SCARLET GERANIUMS 
will put up with very rough treatment. The Harry 
IMoore system is the best with those growing in pots and 
boxes; and, provided they are kept dry, and covered over 
in severe weather, such plants will keep well in garrets 
and hay-lofts all the winter, with light when the weather 
is good. In the case of Scarlets planted out in the 
flower-garden, I have adopted a plan with the youngest 
of them very similar to that alluded to by Mr. Beaton, 
the other week, and have always been successful, with 
the exception of last year, and that was not owing to 
anything wrong in the plan, but to the fact, that the 
frosts had got at the plants before they were raised. 
The plants are lifted with a fork, and taken to the 
rubbish-heap, and there deprived of all the leaves and 
the soft points of the shoots; these points are then 
dipped into quick lime, or dry ashes, as a preventive of 
damping; the roots are then packed into moistish earth, 
in a pit or a frame, or in large pots, or wooden boxes, to" 
be moved below stages, into sheds, &c., where they can be 
protected by hay, &c.; but, before finishing them, the 
moistish soil about the roots is covered over with several 
inches of the driest soil that can be procured. This farther 
ju events damp accumulating about the stems—for damp 
and a very severe frost arc the only things to be dreaded. 
Kept as dry as possible during the winter, if you peel 
a little bark oft', you will find the stems green and 
succulent below it, though they look just like so many 
pieces of wood, at first sight. If kept thus dry, and from 
frost, they will be getting green all over, with little shoots, 
in March, and by April will require more room, either by 
transplanting or potting, and for flowering beat young 
plants out of sight. Putting the roots firmly into 
moistish earth prevents all necessity of watering, until 
the young shoots make their appearance, and no sudden 
check is given to the roots, as respects dryness. 1 have 
seen such plants kept well in a good shed facing the 
south ; the only attention they received being opening 
the door in fine weather, and throwing a little hay over 
the plants when it was very cold. The plants were just 
laid in thickly by the heels on the floor, in earth some¬ 
what moist, and dry, dusty soil, with a little quicklime 
in it, thrown over the surface; it mattering little though 
a portion of the dry soil covered and 4ay upon part of 
the stems. Much of the success under this plan con¬ 
sists in removing every leaf, and having the roots just 
moist enough to keep them alive, and allow the produc- 
duction of fresh fibres. The absence of leaves does 
away with the necessity of much light until the fresh 
shoots break. I never did much good with them in 
cellars. The drier the place, the better they are kept. 
PLANTS IN A GREENHOUSE VINERY. 
A correspondent asks about keeping plants in an attic, 
because his greenhouse is not weather-proof, cannot well 
be heated, and, besides, heating would be against the 
Vines. In ordinary circumstances, it would be preferable 
to make the greenhouse sound, instead of making plant 
habitations of any room in the dwelling-house. As to 
the Vines interfering with the wintering of plants, that 
is a mere delusion that cannot be dispelled too quickly. | 
In many of the largest places the Vineries are just l 
turned into so many storehouses for growing plants; i 
vast quantities of bedding-plants. Geraniums, &c., are 
thus easily kept during the winter. The only thing 
requiring particular attention is to remove the plants 
before the heat necessary for the Vines is too much for 
them. In a Vinery not forced, greenhouse plants may 
be kept from October to April. A temperature of 
45° is quite high enough for all such plants, and that 
