Produced by Tom Roch and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images
produced by Core Historical Literature in Agriculture
(CHLA), Cornell University)
GARDENING
INDOORS AND
UNDER GLASS
A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO THE PLANTING,
CARE AND PROPAGATION OF HOUSE
PLANTS, AND TO THE CONSTRUCTION
AND MANAGEMENT OF HOTBED,
COLDFRAME AND SMALL GREENHOUSE
BY
F. F. ROCKWELL
Author of _Home Vegetable Gardening_
NEW YORK
McBRIDE, NAST & COMPANY
1912
Copyright, 1911, 1912, by
McBride, Nast & Co.
Published September, 1912
* * * * *
[Illustration: Too few people realize the possibilities for enjoyment in
prolonging the garden through the winter months indoors]
FOREWORD
There is nothing which adds so much sunshine and cheer to the rooms of a
house besieged by winter and all his dreary encampment of snow and ice,
as the greenery, color and fragrance of blossoming plants. There is no
pastime quite so full of pleasure and constant interest as this sort of
horticulture; the rooting of small slips, the repotting and watering and
watching, as new growth develops, and buds unfold. Some have the magic
gift, that everything they touch will break into blossom; others
strive--perhaps too hard--only to gain indifferent results. It is hoped
that this book will aid those of the second class to locate past
mistakes and progress to future success; and further that it may
indicate to those more fortunate ones of the first class the way to more
extensive achievements in the work they love.
This is not a technical book; simply an attempt to tell in so plain a
way that they cannot be misunderstood the everyday details of the
successful management of plants in the house and within such small glass
structures as may be made, even with limited means and time, a part of
the average home.
There is another aspect of the case worth considering; so much so in
fact, that it is one of the reasons for writing this book. By the use of
such modest glass structures as almost everyone can afford not only is
the scope of winter gardening enlarged and the work rendered more easy
and certain, but the opportunity is given to make this light labor pay
for itself. Fresh vegetables out of season are always acceptable and
well grown plants find a ready sale among one's flower-loving friends.
CRANMERE, August 1st, 1912.
F. F. R.
CONTENTS
PART I--PLANTS IN THE HOUSE
CHAPTER PAGE
I INTRODUCTION 1
II THE PROPER CONDITIONS: LIGHT, TEMPERATURE AND MOISTURE 6
III SOILS, MANURES AND FERTILIZERS 14
IV STARTING PLANTS FROM SEED 22
V STARTING PLANTS FROM CUTTINGS 29
VI TRANSPLANTING, POTTING AND REPOTTING 35
VII MANAGEMENT OF HOUSE PLANTS 44
VIII FLOWERING PLANTS 51
IX SHRUBS 70
X FOLIAGE PLANTS 81
XI VINES 90
XII FERNS 97
XIII PALMS 103
XIV CACTI 110
XV BULBS 116
XVI VERANDA BOXES, WINDOW-BOXES, VASES AND HANGING BASKETS 128
XVII HOUSE PLANT INSECTS AND DISEASES 132
XVIII ACCESSORIES 140
PART II--HOME GLASS
XIX ITS OPPORTUNITIES 146
XX THE COLDFRAME AND THE HOTBED 149
XXI THE CONSTRUCTION OF CONSERVATORIES AND SMALL GREENHOUSES 156
XXII METHODS OF HEATING 167
XXIII MANAGEMENT 172
XXIV FLOWERS 180
XXV VEGETABLES 193
XXVI VEGETABLE AND BEDDING PLANTS FOR SPRING 197
INDEX 207
ILLUSTRATIONS
A flourishing flower bay _Frontispiece_
FACING PAGE
An isolated bay-window conservatory 8
A tiled window-sill garden 9
Preparing flats for the "sub-irrigation" method of watering 28
Cuttings ready for sand 29
Geranium cuttings ready for potting 29
Potted cuttings ready for their first shift 40
Striking Rex begonia leaf cuttings 40
"Crocking" in a flower pot 41
Seedlings ready to transplant 48
A flower bay protected with heavy curtains 49
Pride of Cincinnati begonia 60
Pansy geranium 61
Primrose (_Primula obconica_) 61
The Silk Oak (_Grevillea robusta_) 72
Otaheite orange 73
Baby rambler rose 80
_Araucaria excelsa_ 81
Screw Pine (_Pandanus Veitchii_) 88
Rubber plant (_Ficus elastica_) 89
Vines on an indoor trellis 96
Crested Scott Fern (_Nephrolepis exaltata_, var. _Schoizeli_) 97
Propagation of Boston Fern by division 100
A variety of the Fan Palm (_Phoenix Roebelenii_) 101
Weddell's Palm 101
A pan of forced crocuses 116
Victory gladiolus 117
A second story window-box 128
Iceland poppies and trailing vines in a window-box 128
A movable plant table 129
Inside a small greenhouse 148
A small lean-to greenhouse 149
A three-sash coldframe 164
The simplest type of window greenhouse 165
Tomatoes in the greenhouse 196
Cucumbers and lettuce in the greenhouse 197
GARDENING
INDOORS
AND UNDER GLASS
Part One--Plants in the House
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
To-day the garden is in the zenith of its glory. The geraniums and
salvias blaze in the autumn sun; the begonias have grown to a small
forest of beautiful foliage and bloom; the heliotropes have become
almost little trees, and load the air with their delicate fragrance.
To-night--who knows?--grim winter may fling the first fleet-winged
detachment of his advance across the land, by every roadside and into
every garden-close; and to-morrow there will be but blackening ruins and
burned bivouacs where the thousand camps of summer planted their green
and purple in the golden haze.
And what provision, when that inevitable day of summer's defeat comes,
have you made for saving part of the beauty and joy of your garden, of
carrying some rescued plants into the safe stronghold of your house,
like minstrels to make merry and cheer the clouded days until the long
siege is over, and spring, rejuvenescent, comes to rout the snows?
I do not know which is the more commonly overlooked, the importance and
fun of keeping the living-rooms of the house cheerful with plants and
flowers in winter, or the certainty and economy with which it may be
done if one will use the plain common-sense methods necessary to make
plants succeed. Too much care and coddling is just as sure to make
growth forlorn and sickly as too much neglect. That may be one reason
why one frequently sees such healthy looking plants framed in the dismal
window of a factory tenement, where the chinks can never be stopped
tight and the occupants find it hard enough to keep warm, while at the
same time it is easy to find leafless and lanky specimens in the
superheated and moistureless air of drawing-rooms.
It certainly is true that many modern houses of the better sort do not
offer very congenial conditions to the healthy growth of plants. It is
equally certain that in many cases these conditions may be changed by
different management in such way that they would be not only more
healthy for plants to live in, but so also for their human occupants. In
many other cases there is nothing but lack of information or energy in
the way of constructing a place entirely suitable for the growth of
plants. To illustrate what I mean, I mention the following instance of
how one person made a suitable place in which to grow flowers. Two
narrow storm windows, which had been discarded, were fastened at right
angles to the sides of the dining-room windows, and the regular storm
sash screwed on to these. Here were the three glass sides of a small
conservatory. Half-inch boards made a bottom and roof, the former being
supported by brackets to give strength, and the latter put on with two
slanting side pieces nailed to the top of the upright narrow sash spoken
of, to give the roof a pitch. Top and bottom were covered with old
flexible rubber matting which was carried back under the clapboards
making a weather-proof, tight joint with the side of the house. Six-inch
light wooden shelves on the inside gave a conservatory of considerable
capacity. How many houses there are where some such arrangement could be
made as the result of a few hours' work and thought, and a very small
expense. And yet how infrequently one sees anything of the kind. In many
instances such a glassed-in window would be all that is needed,
sufficient heat being furnished by a radiator under the window within
the house. In the case mentioned, however, it was necessary to heat the
small greenhouse. This was done by installing a small gas stove in the
cellar, as nearly as possible under the window greenhouse. Over this
stove a large tin hood was fitted, with a sliding door in front to
facilitate lighting and regulating the stove. From the hood a six-inch
pipe, enclosed in a wood casing for insulation, ran through the cellar
window and up into the floor of the conservatory, ending in a small
radiator.
These details are given not with the idea that they can be duplicated
exactly (although in many instances they might), but to show what a
little ingenuity and effort will accomplish in the way of overcoming
difficulties.
Nor is the reward for such efforts as these restricted to the growing of
a few more plants. From the actual accomplishments described in the
second part of this book, the reader must see that it is entirely
possible and feasible for one with only average advantages to have
during a large part or even all of the year not only flowers which
cannot be grown to advantage in the house, but also such vegetables as
lettuce, radishes, tomatoes and cucumbers, and others if desired; and
also to give the flower and vegetable gardens such a start as would
never be possible otherwise.
Do not attempt too much, but do not be content with too little, when
only a slight increase in planning and work will bring such a tremendous
increase in results and happiness. I feel confident that there is not
one home out of ten where more thought and more information brought to
bear on the things whereof this book treats, would not yield a greater
return in actual pleasure than any other equal investment which could be
made.
Do not be impatient to get to a description of all the results at once.
Do not skip over the chapters on dirt and manures and pots and other
seemingly uninteresting things, because in a thorough understanding of
these essentials lies the foundation of success. And if a condition of
soil, or an operation in handling plants does not seem clear to you as
you read it over, remember that in all probability it will become so
when you actually attempt the work described. Nothing worth while is
ever won without a little--and often a great deal--of patient work. And
what is more worth while than to keep busy in the constant improvement
and beautifying of one's daily surroundings?