210 
TIIE LATHES' FLORAL CABLNET. 
colors of which represent every nationality. In mak¬ 
ing our usual collection for the breakfast table, we 
hardlv know where to commence to cut, because of the 
great profusion that surrounds us, and it will be a far 
metre difficult task to tell where to stop, so much there 
is to admire, so many beautiful forms and colors from 
which we do not want to be separated. A long row 
of Sweet-Peas attracts us by its sweet perfume. We 
must gather a large bunch, and when done our bouquet 
is complete ; for nothing can add to their beauty, on the 
contrary, whatever is put with them sullies their loveli¬ 
ness. How pleasant, after breakfast, to take a quiet stroll 
into the garden before the sun becomes too scorchingly 
hot to be endured, and pull up the weeds that have been 
presumptuous enough to put in an appearance in the 
beds and borders; to stake up our beautiful Lilies, just 
coming into bloom, to admire their exquisite forms. 
Some of them we have had for years, and for as many 
years we have been disappointed in not seeing them 
flower. At last, here is the honored member of the 
family, the Lilium Brownii, with two immense trum¬ 
pet-shaped flowers, dark brown on the outside and 
creamy white within, a moi’e noble and beautiful object 
we have never seen in the flower garden. It is doubly 
welcome now, because we are more than paid for our 
years of patient waiting and repeated disappointments. 
Besides, we have the consolation of having accom¬ 
plished our object and have the plant well established, 
and a fair promise of its future usefulness. Other 
Lilies that have always pleased us are pleasing us again. 
The lancifoliums, roseum, rubram, punctatum, album, 
and their many varieties that have been raised from seed 
besides the earliest and by far the most desirable one 
of the class, the Prcecox, are full of bud and promise. 
All these will require attention, but attention will 
only be love rightfully bestowed when paid to plants. 
The actual labor required to keep plants in proper con¬ 
dition and the grounds free from weeds the remainder of 
the season will be very light. Ten minutes’ work every 
morning will keep everything in order in a small gar¬ 
den, and the slight exercise will be the best thing to 
develop your muscles and improve your digestion. 
Now stimulate all flowering plants to the utmost. 
One can hardly comprehend the wonderful effects of 
liquid fertilizers when applied to the soil of flowering 
plants, until they behold the rapid growth of their 
leaves and branches, and the luxuriant clusters of buds 
and blossoms that spring forth on all sides. 
• As this month is usually a dry and hot one, it may be 
necessary to resort to artificial watering in order to get 
the best results from our plantings, but it is better by 
far not to water at all, unless it is done properly. Plants 
should always be watered in the evening, after the sun 
has ceased to shine on them, when it will be of great 
service to sprinkle water over their leaves likewise. 
When watering is once commenced it should never be 
abandoned till rain falls in the requisite quantities; for 
a plant which has been left wholly to nature will sustain 
drought far better than one which has been artifically 
watered. Water, too, should always be administered 
very copiously, as the amount of evaporation daily 
going on at this period is astonishing. It should, fur¬ 
ther, be rain-water, or that which has “been exposed to 
the sun’s influence and not from a spring, as such water 
has a great tendency to harden the ground. To avoid 
the latter circumstance, moreover, water should be ap¬ 
plied to each individual plant through the spout of a 
pot, and not poured over a whole bed with a rose. 
Where water is applied to the surface of a bed through 
a sprinkler or rose, the soil will soon become baked to a 
crust nearly as hard as concrete. This will be avoided 
by watering through the spout alone; but where it does 
occur, it is necessary that the earth should be loosened 
and stirred frequently with a small fork, to render it 
pervious to water. 
The importance we place on this subject may seem 
overdrawn; not so, however, for our experience and ob¬ 
servation has taught us that more plants are injured 
or spoiled by injudicious watering, than from all other 
causes combined. 
Slight surface waterings are worse than useless, as, 
in a dry time, plants by their roots are constantly 
searching for water. Therefore, when the surface is 
wet, say to the depth of half an inch, the roots will im¬ 
mediately change their direction, turning upwards 
where there is 'an apparent supply; this is no sooner 
reached than the heat from the sun bakes the surface of 
the soil in which are the true roots of the plant to such 
an extent that the roots are destroyed, at least the spongi- 
oles or mouths of the roots, and vegetable growth 
must cease until new feeding roots are formed. Except¬ 
ing in small gardens, it is much the better plan not to 
resort to artificial watering, but to keep the surface of 
the ground as loose as possible, for two reasons. First, 
it will prevent, in a great measure, evaporation; in the 
second place, the dry surface will cause the roots to go 
downward where there is a supply, which, if not copi¬ 
ous, will be sufficient to keep the plant in a healthy 
state, if not in an active growing one. It will be in a 
condition when the rain does come to carry on the work 
for which it was created, the development of flowers 
and fruit. 
STEAM-HEAT APPLIED TO GREENHOUSES. 
This subject is one that has greatly interested horti¬ 
culturists, especially during the last few years. It has 
been held by many prominent growers that steam-heat 
is too dry for the perfect development of plants, in fact 
great prejudice has been shown against steam as a mode 
of warming greenhouses for forcing purposes. This 
matter has now been thoroughly tested, both by us and 
a large number of other gro veers who have introduced 
this means of heating into their greenhouses, and we 
consider the matter finally settled. The purpose of this 
article is to answer a few questions which have been put 
to me by gardeners and others interested in horticul¬ 
ture. As we have experimented successfully during 
three years, we will answer certain questions for the 
