«,3ies SHorai iSaJkiiet hl*i3 factorial BHEame Companion. 
Ipmtisr iarbtjmtg* 
TREATMENT OP PLANTS. 
Of course, plants in different localities, and under 
different circumstances, require treatment according to 
their several sitnations; hut, as every lover of flow¬ 
ers has probably experimented until they have made 
some discovery, the following may not he amiss. 
One cannot expect tropical growth in a dwelling- 
house in Massachusetts, where the mercury skips from 
40 deg. to zero in one night; still, by care and mid¬ 
night saunterings up and down stairs, they may be in¬ 
duced to blossom and thrive. For the winter^accom- 
modation of my plants, I have a hay-window with 
direct southern exposure, so that one side light has 
the benefit of the morning, the other of the afternoon 
sun. It is arranged with two sets of shelves, one 
resting on the window-stool, the other about the mid¬ 
dle of the window; on these shelves are placed the 
smaller .plants, 
also those re¬ 
quiring the full¬ 
est amount of 
the sun’s rays, 
such as the He¬ 
liotrope, Sun 
Pink, and Pe¬ 
tunias; then I 
have a table 
made to fit ex¬ 
actly into the 
window recess, 
said, table on 
castors. On it 
are placed all 
of the larger 
plants. In sum¬ 
mer it is re¬ 
moved out on a 
north piazza, 
where those 
not in¬ 
fer the 
border 
these 
have the sun’s 
rays for an hour 
or two in the 
morning and a 
good shower- 
bath at night. 
there will not be too strong a heat, and you have it; 
or if the aforesaid shelves are- otherwise occupied, and 
all at once you are inspired with the idea that some of 
their toes are cold, just set them in a saucer of hot wa¬ 
ter. I generally take it when boiling, and have never 
killed any yet, and let them suck up all they want, 
then after a while throw out what is left. Never let 
them stand in water for a long time. 
Whenever bottom heat is mentioned in this article, 
just ^imagine them either on the shelves or standing 
ankle deep in hot water. If* any one is skeptical 
about the hot water, just try it first on some poor 
specimen that wouldn’t be a great loss, and see how it 
works. 
Some eight years ago, I had a present of a Calla 
then some five or six years ot age, with which the 
owner was disgusted, declaring it would never blos¬ 
som, because, forsooth, it never had; sound reasoning, 
but I was skeptical. Years before I had seen the 
magical effect of hot water on a Calla; so I raised the 
dirt around the stems of the plant and began pouring 
plants 
tended 
open 
stand ; 
Fountains in Grounds of Chateau de Peterhof, Russia. 
hurries ” hunting for some special object. But to re¬ 
turn to the Heliotrope. I had always started a slip in 
summer for the winter, but that book said, “ ‘he older 
the plant the more profuse are its flowers.” It never 
had deceived me, so I just cut around an old one I had 
stored in the cellar for several winters, and one damp 
day, about a week afterward, I lifted and potted it for 
the house, using considerable of my precious road dust. 
For a wonder, not a leaf fell, nor bud blasted, and for 
the last two winters it had from eight to twelve open 
clusters all the time, besides all the buds. 
In summer I set the pot into the ground, turning it 
once a week to break off any straggling roots, then 
lift it the last of August, pick out most of the old dirt, 
and put in fresh. If the season is dry, it must be kept 
watered, else the leaves will blast. 
An Azalea is a plant that should never be allowed 
to get dry, neither must it be water-soaked: if it does 
get dry, especially when budded, you must wait an¬ 
other whole year before any blossoms will reward 
your care. “ Eternal vigilance,” etc., is for plants as 
well as liberty. 
I have a white 
Azalea that 
has blossomed 
very early—last 
winter in Jan¬ 
uary. This 
September i t 
was well bud¬ 
ded, but, alas ! 
the wonders of 
the Exposition 
could n o t he 
studied, and the 
Azalea at home 
kept watched at 
the same time. 
I felt suspicous 
how it would 
act, from its 
looks; so I 
never moved 
the pot, n o 
oven touched 
leaf, but poured 
the water into 
the saucer. 
How the poor, 
thirst - famished 
treasure drank 1 ? 
But it was too 
late; one by one 
For soil, I generally appropriate anything that I 
think they will luxuriate in, such as decayed leaf- 
mold beside stone-walls—we have a few of them here 
—at the edge of woods, the rich black mold under the 
surface of an old chip-yard, good garden soil, some 
well decayed manure (if I can find any), hen manure, 
old and well pulverized, and last, but always, some 
of the fine road dust that can be scraped up from 
country roads after a long dry time. I consider this 
most excellent, and vary these ingredients according to 
the nature of the plant. 
By the way, in winter my plants are in my kitchen, 
where they have an abundance of steam and the bene¬ 
fit of a wood fire. I have not much faith in gas- 
heated rooms for plants; then on Mondays I just roll 
out the table, and give them first a shower-bath of 
suds, then of clear water. For bottom heat, nothing 
easier; just turn those shelves, which most house¬ 
wives have on their stoves for bread-raising, etc., so 
on boiling water—never let it stand around the stems, 
or touch them, only on the dirt—aud lo ! soon a bud 
appeared, and since then it has scarcely been without 
bud or blossom. 
I allow from four to six stalks to grow in a butter 
firkin eleven inches in height by some twelve inches 
diameter. As to resting it in summer, I rest mine by 
setting it in a sink-drain—unpoetical, but true—and it 
enjoys it, and has not dried yet from overwork; when 
it does, I shall get another and force it the same way. 
Mondays I set it in a tub part full of hot suds. I 
believe in watering all plants with very warm water, 
always remembering never to let it touch the stalk or 
stem of the plant. 
Now for the Heliotrope; and here let me advise 
every one to obtain a copy of “ Window Gardening,” 
edited by Henry T. Williams. There is only one 
grand fault to it, and that is the index, or rather want 
of it. Only think of a woman in one of her “awful 
the leaves fell, then the buds followed. I have dis¬ 
covered a few signs of new growth, but no blossoms 
this year; and any one owning a marked Azalea can 
appreciate its beauty. 
Another of my treasures is a Pineapple. Just take 
one of the leaf cones you twist out of the crown of the 
pineapple, and insert it in mellow soil, and it will 
grow. I have one two years old this last August, 
with its narrow leaves, some of them measuring eigh¬ 
teen and twenty inches in length; and I see no reason 
why it will not fruit. Just try one ; only when it is 
growing, don’t exhibit it at any fair. Some one of an 
inquiring or incredulous turn of mind, twisted mine 
so violently as to sever the roots in two. It is recov¬ 
ering by careful nursing, but in future will only be ex¬ 
hibited at home. 
Once more I would advise plant-growers to try the 
liot-water baths. I am no Thomsonian when sick, 
but my plants are. Mrs. A. K. 
