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MY AFTERNOON AT MRS. BRIGGS. 
[This article received first prize floral topics.] 
When we commenced house-keeping, Moses and I, 
our assets were not heavy, and we soon learned that 
finding a living for two, in addition to the usual out¬ 
lay necessary to begin a house of one’s own, did light¬ 
en them uncomfortably, especially in the winter, and 
no work; though M. was skilled in the use of plane 
and saw. We economized, and several years had 
passed, bringing with them a reasonable degree of 
prosperity, yet the old habits citing to him, and he be¬ 
lieved, or thought he did, that the 
beautiful 
should be passed by, mostly, by persons in our circum¬ 
stances. He was not willing that I should be a bread¬ 
winner in any way. “ If I attended to my household 
duties it was enough, ho could support us,” he guessed. 
Like a dutiful wife, I acquiesced in all his views and 
wishes; but I often wished for something to enliven 
those bare windows and walls, neither very large, but 
bare, nevertheless. One evening, I saw an advertise¬ 
ment in the Times, something like—“10 Beautifnl 
Window Plants for $1.00. Catalogues Free.” How 
those “beautiful window plants” haunted me. I said 
to myself, Moses does not care for those things, and 1 
don’t think he would be willing to spend much, if any¬ 
thing, for them ; but I am going to have them, if it 
can be done. Fortune favors the brave. Just then 
Mrs. Ruffle was making a wonderfully extensive trous¬ 
seau for Miss Precise (aged 36), and she must have the 
buttonholes very nice. 
Now, Mrs. R. can build the most elaborate structure 
of flounces and puffs and folds, but she cannot, make a 
decent buttonhole. It happens, I have acquired some 
reputation for excellence in this ornamental utility de¬ 
partment; so, stating the situation, she offered me 
$1.50 if 1 would do said buttonholes. I caught eager¬ 
ly at the chance, for here was the means of getting my 
coveted plants. Every stitch meant a leaf or a blos¬ 
som to me; and I enjoyed that work, though the pay 
was in small proportion to the amount of work, as I 
found before I got through with it. To lose no time, 
I had sent for the catalogue, which I examined care¬ 
fully, and by the time I received my pay I had decid¬ 
ed to send for two Fuschias, a double, two single, and 
one Rose Geranium, a Heliotrope, a Calla and an Eng¬ 
lish Ivy. When they came, they were fresh and beau¬ 
tiful, surely, and there was a bright Coleus added to 
them. When I wentjto buy pots, I was astonished at the 
prices, but was assured that they could be sold for no 
less; so 1 concluded to buy two six-inch and one five 
with what was left of my $1.50. There were two one- 
gallon jars I did not need, not good for much else any¬ 
way, and I would use some old tin cans. I saw some 
nice plants in cans in a window as I came down town. 
Accordingly the gallon jars were filled with mostly 
manure and a little soil, and no drainage, and the 
Fuschias put in them. The double and single Gera¬ 
niums in the six-inch pots, the other single one in the 
five-inch one, the Calla in a three-pint can, the Co¬ 
leus, Heliotrope and Ivy in cans holding about a pint 
apiece. After being thoroughly watered, they were 
■ put in the east and south windows, and I watched to 
see them grow. In a few days the Fuschias began to 
decay; the leaves dropped off, and they gradually 
dried up. My sad, longing looks could not save them, 
and I saw with dismay my Heliotrope turn yellow, 
then blackness, then the stem looked black too, and 
soon it, too, was gone. Soon the Coleus followed; 
and I fairly cried when I could no longer deny that the 
Geraniums were likely to perish also. There was one 
consolation, my Calla was flourishing. That was one 
ray of hope. I need not follow the course of their 
lives and deaths, suffice to say, that soon I had left, my 
Calla, Ivy and two Geraniums, the last with one leaf 
apiece, about as large as an old-fashioned half dime. 
A friend gave me a plant of white-flowering, large- 
leaved Begonia. I began to think I had watered them 
too much, perhaps, so tried a new plan with my Be¬ 
gonia. Just a very little w r as given, on the top of soil, 
at a time. The result was so unsatisfactory that my 
husband’s sympathies were aroused. “ Bella,” he said, 
as he turned away from the half dead remnants, “ why 
don’t you ask Mrs. Briggs what to do for the poor 
things.”—“Just what I ought to have done before; 
why did I never think of it.” The next afternoon 
found me in her sitting-room, and I do wish I could 
describe it, but the three to five pages would be filled 
before I got done, if I tried to ; and I would rather tell 
you what she told me. When she asked me to lay off 
hat and shawl, I said, with a slight flush I suspect, 
for it is hard to say one has failed, “ Thank you, I 
will; for I have come for a long talk about plants, if 
you have the time to spare.”—“ I always have time to 
talk about them. While I go for a piece of work for 
my hands, please look at my pets.”—There was one 
east and one south window, neither very large; the last 
close by a partition, along which were arranged 
shelves, so that all the sunshine was used. As Mrs. B. 
took her seat, she said, “ Now, tell me what you want 
to know about.” I told her how unfortunate I was in 
my attempts at window-gardening ; and when I spoke 
of my Fuschia, I could not help looking at a graceful, 
drooping one, just laden with its jewels of waxy white 
and rose ; I also saw the shadow of a smile she could 
not wholly conceal; but she only said, “You made a 
mistake in putting them in too large a quantity of soil, 
and it was too rich. For a long time I lost every one 
of that family I received by mail, and about concluded 
that it was hardly possible to recover them after being 
sent in that way ; but finally found that no plant small 
enough to be sent by mail was too large to put in a 
two-inch pot, and use pure, fresh garden soil to pot it 
in. "When they have got growing again, and made, 
say, two new sets of leaves, you can transfer them to 
something larger. A four or five-inch pot will be 
large enough for a good-sized plant; if they are in a 
larger one, they will not bloom so soon. The soil 
should be one-third well-rotted manure (I use that 
from the cow stable for all my plants) with two-thirds 
garden soil and, say, three or four tablespoons of sand 
to a five-inah pot. Some soils do not need any, there 
being enough in it already. I always wash the sand, 
if there is any clay in it. They want plenty of light, 
but are content to get along with very little sun. 
Unless watered enough to keep the earth moist, they 
are apt to drop their leaves; yet, must not be allowed 
to stand with water in the saucers, as no plant suffers 
sooner from sour soil. I will here give you a word 
about watering: water when they need it, then withhold 
until they need it again—whether it is twelve hours, or 
two weeks. All planls, except Callas (in common 
culture), love a sweet, well-drained soil. To secure 
this, drain your pots well, by putting some pieces of 
rock, pebbles, broken pot, or dishes, or even some 
straw (fine) in the bottom of the pot, and, if you can 
procure it, some charcoal, a few small pieces. Now, 
I usually water from the saucer, especially in the win¬ 
ter, when I use water too warm to put around the 
stems. Watering from the saucers prevents the soil 
from becoming hard on the surface. 
“After an hour or so, pour out what water may be 
left in the saucers. The proportions of soil I men¬ 
tioned are, about right for most plants.” “ But, if I 
should get the dirt from the roots, I should be no better 
off than when they came from Post-Office,” I said, 
thinking of changing them from the smaller to larger 
pots. “ Not if you do as I am going to tell you: Have 
the new pot ready with drainage and soil, half full or 
more, so that the plant, with the ball of earth around, 
will not be above the top of the pot, or rather one-half 
inch below the top; then place the small pot upside 
down in your left hand, with the stem between your 
first and second fingers; with the right hand strike 
gently on the bottom of the pot, when the contents 
will be deposited in your hand; turn it right side up 
in the new pot, and fill to within a half-inch of the 
top.”—“ I forgot to ask you when you water them, in 
the 
morning- or ev 
enmg 
' In the morning in the 
winter, and in warm weather in the evening; and He¬ 
liotrope and Rose Geraniums and Vincas, and all those 
that need more water, again in the morning. Always 
give enough to wet the ground through, and when it 
is dry a half-inch or more from the surface, give again, 
but do not water when the sun shines hot on them, or 
you may destroy them.” “Now, tell me about Ge¬ 
raniums.” “I find that they double-bloom better in 
three or four-inch pots, and a five-inch is large enough 
for a large single, and most of them can be successfully 
grown in a four. They need moderate watering; will 
stand a good deal of dryness, but do not do well on it. 
Those of yours you had better take from the pots they 
are in—the soil has become soured. Take a knife and 
cut out a ball of three inches in width with the plant; 
break away the soil carefully until you reach the roots; 
then take some of those smallest cans, make some holes 
in the sides, near the bottom, and fill half-full of drain¬ 
age, and fill in the top of that with pure soil; put your 
plants in. and water them so as to settle the soil good; 
then don’t touch it while it is wet—you utterly ruin 
soil to stir or touch it then. After that, let them set 
until they either grow or show signs of wilting; if the 
last, water thoroughly, and, if they are beginning to 
grow, water frequently, but be sure the surplus can run 
off. Keep them out of the noonday sun until they be¬ 
gin to grow. The flowering, or Zonales, need good soil, 
moderate suply of water (more when in bud or bloom, 
as all plants do), good drainage and plenty of sun. The 
Scented Leaf, as well as the Variegated, need more pot- 
room, and plenty of sun and water, as it is foliage we 
w r ant in this case. The Ivy-leaved need a warmer, 
dryer soil than any of the rest, so are well.adapted for 
baskets in the sun. They do not need near so much 
root-room as any of the other varieties. So when yours 
start again, give them the sunniest place you have, but 
save one as good for the Heliotrope I am going to give 
you. But put it in one of those empty pots (they are a 
particular family about the size of their houses), and be 
sure and draw their water well and often, unless you 
want the leaves to drop off after they have blackened. 
Charcoal in the soil is very acceptable to them.”—- 
“ What are these lovely bells?” “ They are Abuti- 
lons ; that striped one is Striatum; that pure white, 
Boule de Nilge, that large-leaved, gold and green, is 
Thompsonii; and those drooping branches so filled 
with golden and green marbled leaves and yellow 
patched blossoms with scarlet calyx and a bunch of 
brown stamens that look like tassels, that is Velillarium 
Variegatum. There are more new varieties, and when 
I am rich enough to own a conservatory I mean to 
have them all. They are so easily cultivated, plenty 
of root-room, sun and water, and they are so free from 
insects, whieh is a great consideration. One must be 
