tlouse and Garden 
you will be surprised and delighted at the way in 
which this plant will brighten them up, and relieve 
the general monotony of greenness. I have come to 
depend on the liberal use of it for decorative effect in 
the greenhouse, and it never disappoints me. It is 
one of the few plants that requires absolutely no 
training. Let it alone, and it will throw out a good 
many branches at its base, and these will all grow to 
an even height, and form a compact, rounded mass 
so thickly set with foliage that the pot is entirely 
hidden. Let the plant alone, remember. It will 
train itself. You can always trust it to do that. 
Any attempt to make it grow according to your idea 
will be promptly resented by it. Rather than be 
tortured out of shape through mistaken kindness, it 
will refuse to grow at all. When you get discouraged 
with it, and give up trying to convince it that you 
know how it ought to grow better than it knows itself, 
it will soon prove to you that it is entirely able to take 
care of itself, and will do so, every time, if not inter¬ 
fered with. 
Those who have greenhouses ought to put in a 
score or more of plants of this most useful geranium, 
before the coming of frost. Those which have been 
used for edging the garden beds can be potted for 
this purpose. Don’t try to save the old top, simply 
gather it together in your hand and cut it off 
smoothly, about two inches above the soil. Then 
lift the plant, and put it in a six-inch pot. Water it 
well, set it away in some quiet corner, and let it 
become established in its new quarters before you 
bring it to the front. As soon as its roots get a hold 
on the soil, scores of new branches will start, and 
almost before you know it your plant will be a “thing 
of beauty” again—a mass of soft, pale green and 
creamy white that you can do wonders with, next 
winter, when you want to decorate the parlor, for a 
“special occasion,” and haven’t many flowers to 
depend on. Small plants of this geranium are 
excellent for table use. If a few pink carnations are 
used with them —their stalks simply thrust into 
the soil, among the foliage—the effect will be very 
fine, as the colors of both plant and flower come 
out most charmingly by lamplight. 
If early frosts have killed the tops of the cannas. 
caladiums, and the gladioluses, it is well to make 
good use of the warm and sunshiny days which come 
during the latter part of the month by digging their 
roots, and getting them ready for storage in the cellar 
over winter. Do this in the forenoon. Spread the 
roots out on boards, just as you dig them. The 
earth which adheres to them will crumble away 
from them after some hours of exposure to the sun¬ 
shine, but you cannot remove it now, without danger 
of injuring the tender, brittle roots. Before night 
comes, cover them with old carpet, burlaps,— 
anything that will prevent their getting chilled. In 
the morning, if the weather is bright and warm, 
again expose them to full sunshine, and keep on doing 
this, for several days, or until they have ripened off, 
to some extent. Then—and not till then — cut 
away the top, two or three inches from the root. 
Leave this stub on when the roots go into winter 
quarters. Some persons dig their tuberous-rooted 
plants and put them immediately in the cellar, or 
wherever they are to be kept during the winter. 
This is a mistake. When first dug they are full of 
sap. This should be given a chance to condense 
and evaporate, before they are stored away. If 
this is not done, decay is quite likely to set in, and 
if this occurs you are pretty sure to lose your plants. 
When you put them in the cellar, spread them out on 
shelves, or racks, in such a manner that they do not 
come in contact with each other. Give the air a 
chance to circulate freely among them. Do not 
place them on the cellar bottom, or quite near it, as 
there is likely to be too much dampness there. 
While roots of this kind should not be allowed to get 
really dry, they should be kept away from much 
moisture, as that always induces decay, or a mouldy 
condition which is quite as bad. They should be 
looked to, from time to time, and if they show any 
indications of undue moisture, they should be 
removed, at once, to drier quarters. If decay has 
set in, cut away the diseased portion, leaving only 
the healthy part, and dust the cut over with fine, dry 
sand, or powdered charcoal. One decaying root 
will often contaminate all the other roots near it, 
therefore it is quite important that frequent examina¬ 
tion should be made. 
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