fiinet tui3 .^ictoritil BHEome 
lonuicuiion. 
35 
myself for those plants; but, of course, when the 
week rolled round, and they seemed to beseech me 
to give them their bath, I would forget my wishes 
and resolves, and begin with vigor that which inva¬ 
riably ended in fatigue. 
Year by year my number of plants increased, for, 
besides my old favorites, I always delighted, as every 
one does, in something new; so that, instead of the 
meagre collection with which I started, my two-year- 
old bay-window, which, by the way, is a large one, 
contains more than a hundred plants. It finally 
became obvious that something must be done to 
prevent the necessity of carrying so many plants to 
and from the window to receive their bath. Look¬ 
ing over the Floral Catalogues, I saw advertisements 
of plant-sprinklers of various sorts, and I finally de¬ 
cided to purchase the Elastic plant-sprinlder, and 
accordingly sent for it. It was somewhat smaller 
than I had imagined it would be, but, notwithstand¬ 
ing that, I am perfectly satisfied with it. Indeed, I 
consider it quite indispensable for the purpose. My 
plants now get daily showers instead of weekly ones, 
for every morning, after I have given water to the 
soil in each jar, I collapse the sprinkler in part of a 
pail of tepid water which has been previously brought 
into the window, and as soon as it fills, which it does 
rapidly, the plants are treated to a miniature rain¬ 
storm of a mild nature. I usually fill the sprinkler 
five or six times in succession. The window is filled 
with a spray which washes the air and gives it the 
proper amount of moisture. The plants appear 
beautiful in the morning sun, dripping from both the 
upper and under sides of every leaf and stem, and 
thus they always present a fresh, clean appearance. 
The red spider never appears among my plants, 
owing to the moist atmosphere occasioned by the 
daily showers. The aphis has not appeared upon 
any plant except a pot of Verbenas. As soon as I 
discovered its presence, I immersed the pot, plant 
and all, in a large pail of quite warm water and 
allowed it to remain under water fifteen or twenty 
minutes, until every insect was drowned. I repeated 
the process two days later, and have not seen an 
aphis since. I believe this is the very best way to 
free a plant which has become infested with insects. 
Verbenas, Roses, and German Ivy are peculiarly 
subject to the attacks of the aphis, but my rose-bush 
and German Ivy have escaped its attack since the 
advent of the sprinkler. 
I believe this shower is fully as beneficial to plants 
in hanging baskets as immersion is. My Maurandia, 
Kenilworth Ivy, Othonna, Lobelias, Oxalis, Trades- 
cantias, Smilax, and Madeira vines, climbers and 
trailers, never looked better. The showering which 
used to be such drudgery is now mere play and a 
pastime, since I have the conveniences to work with. 
The water which falls upon the oil-cloth and wood¬ 
work can be easily removed with a clean cloth. I 
intend that the inside woodwork of the window shall 
be repainted every summer. 
Those beautiful and ofttimes large English Ivies 
which we frequently see, when covered with dust 
are truly objects of pity. The larger they are the 
more work it generally is to keep them clean, unless 
one uses a patent carpet-sweeper. I consider this 
one of the indispensables, as it confines the dust to 
itself during the process of sweeping, and prevents 
its smothering the plants. My English Ivy is in the 
bay-window, and no plant appears to enjoy its daily 
showers more than it does. I would rather expend 
four dollars and a half in a carpet-sweeper and plant- 
sprinkler than in all the fancy-painted flower-pots 
that sum would buy. I believe that unpainted flower¬ 
pots are better for the plants. 
My Heliotrope has blossomed constantly ever since 
last fall. Not a day has passed this winter without 
at least half a dozen varieties of my plants being in 
blossom, and usually many more, though none have 
been so constant as the Heliotrope. Those which 
have rewarded me with blossoms during the winter 
are Ageratum, Abutilon, Cuphea, Chinese Prim¬ 
roses, Oxalis, Cyclamen, Calla Lily, Lobelia, Sweet 
Alyssum, Ten Weeks Stock, Othonna, Pinks, Vir¬ 
ginian Stock, Hyacinth, and two Geraniums. All 
these are in blossom at present, and now several 
other Geraniums, Begonias, Fuchsias, a Pelargo¬ 
nium, single and double Petunias, and Verbenas are 
in bud and coming into blossom, to add their color 
and fragrance to the others. Several yards of Ma¬ 
deira vine are twined and festooned about my win¬ 
dow. The root grows in my window-garden box, 
where it flourishes much better than it does in ajar. 
I cut down the vine every summer. My three varie¬ 
ties of single Petunia and all the varieties of Trades- 
cantia grow in the same box, and, like the Madeira 
Vine, flourish better there than anywhere else. I 
have found by experience that Geraniums will not 
blossom in the box until May or June, as the roots 
could not be sufiiciently bound in that large amount 
of soil, so I grow them in four and five inch jars, and 
they blossom nicely from the last of January till they 
are removed to the flower-beds. I have one clump 
of thirteen Geraniums growing in a rustic pail, and 
they make a fine appearance. 
I raised my Primroses from seed. I was careful 
not to allow any water to touch the leaflets while they 
were small, and during that period they were kept 
under glass. I have never given them any stimu¬ 
lants whatever, and they are fine specimens. I give 
my other plants, including the English Ivy and Cacti, 
a stimulant once a week. Sometimes I put two or 
three drops of ammonia into their shower bath. 
One week I give them weak soot tea, another week 
a weak solution of hen manure and water. Fuchsias 
and Verbenas rejoice in this, and both require a very 
rich soil. Heliotrope does not like this fertilizer. 
Another fertilizer that I use and like very much is 
composed of sulphate of ammonia, white sugar, salt¬ 
petre, and water. The directions for making it can 
be found in Mr. Williams’ book on “ Window Gar¬ 
dening,” and also in The Cabinet of January, 1877. 
All my plants have charcoal drainage. With all 
my care in giving them light, air, good soil, drainage, 
and other nourishment, all essential, still I regard 
nothing of more importance than the daily showers 
they receive. Clean foliage, clean pots, and clean 
saucers are as essential to the well-being of plants 
as clean skin and clean clothing to persons. 
Last March I received a bulb of the “ Pearl Tube¬ 
rose.” After planting it in rich soil In a five-inch 
pot, and pouring warm water on the soil, I covered it 
with a small goblet and placed it upon a cast-iron 
shelf surrounding the stove-pipe, so that the bulb 
might have bottom heat. As I had the shelf removed 
from the kitchen stove to the sitting-room coal-stove 
the heat was constant. While the shelf remained on 
the coal-stove I made use of it in starting slips, 
seeds, and small Cactus plants, keeping all under 
glass. The soil surrounding the Tuberose bulb was 
kept continually moist. In less than a week the 
bulb had sprouted, and it became necessary to sub¬ 
stitute a large goblet for the small one, as the leaves 
were beginning to crowd against the glass. In a day 
or two after it was necessary to substitute a quart 
glass can for the large goblet, and finally a two- 
quart can. In a very few days the leaves were so 
large and long it was necessary to remove the glass 
covering, and place the plant in the window. There 
it continued to grow rapidly. It was placed in the 
garden in June, and before the middle of July it 
supported a spike of magnificent double blossoms. 
A bulb of the same kind which I treated the year 
previous, without giving continuous bottom heat and 
moisture, did not reward me with blossoms until the 
first of October last year, and then it developed into 
single blossoms. I had it carefully taken out of the 
open ground while it was in bud (fearing it would be 
killed with frost if allowed to remain longer in the 
ground) and brought into the bay-window, where it 
blossomed for some time. If Tuberose bulbs are 
properly treated in the start they are sure to reward 
you for any extra care you may bestow upon them. 
It is not so much what we do not know about 
plants and their needs, as it is the little things we 
neglect to do, that materially affects our manage¬ 
ment. E. S. P. 
Hints for the Garden.— I think my favorites 
among all the flowers are the Pansies; they have 
such queer faces, that seem to nod and wink at you 
in a very mysterious way, as if they had some im¬ 
portant secrets to tell. If planted at the same time 
as other annuals they will blossom freely in the 
fall, and live under the snow all winter, waking 
up bright and early in the spring, ready to bloom 
all summer. My treatment of Pansies is much the 
same as for other plants, save that I use a great deal 
of leaf-mould about them; the decaying soil of the 
woods seems just suited to their wants, 
If there is a shady corner in the garden you may 
plant there Whitlavia, with its delicate purple and 
white bells, and lovely Nemophilas, for these plants 
cannot bear the direct rays of the sun ; if the corner 
is damp and shady enough you may have a, little 
fernery. Go to the woods and take up all kinds of 
ferns and mosses, set them carefully, give them a 
thorough sprinkling, and they will grow without 
further care. I would not wonder if soon you pre¬ 
ferred this cool, green bit of the forest to the brilliant 
flower-pots. 
Hanging baskets should be started in July or 
August. The best drooping basket plant that I know 
of is Nepeta Glecoma, or Gill-over-the-ground. 
My basket last year was filled with this, Coliseum 
Ivy, Tradescantia, and Lobelia, with Madeira vines 
to climb up the handles. It was not started till Sep¬ 
tember ; but in April the vines of Nepeta had grown 
eight feet in length, and trailed on the floor. 
