I would like to have visited your circus, Willie, and especially to have
seen the spotted cat. If I had been there I should have helped you all I
could.
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Some little folks may be glad of a few hints at this season on the
subject of cultivating house plants:
Though most persons like to see flowers in a room, comparatively
few know exactly how to manage them so as to keep them healthy and
fresh. Nothing is so delightful as to see plants in a window, and
yet how common it is to discover them in a drooping and sickly
condition, and all for the want of a little knowledge and care!
Where the plants grow from a single stem--as in fuchsias,
geraniums, etc.--it is a good plan to cover the mould with fresh
green moss, which will hold a good quantity of moisture without
injuring the plants. Never water the plants except when they really
require it. This you may soon ascertain by simply putting your
finger into the soil; when, if it feels moist, no water will be
needed; but if the soil be dry, which will not happen more than
every other day in autumn, or once a week in winter, then water the
plants thoroughly, so that the moisture sinks right through the
mould.
Never allow plants to stand in the water; that is, if your pots
stand in saucers, take care to remove all the surplus water which
runs through the soil. Never use pump water if you can obtain river
or rain water; but if you can get only pump water, let it stand for
two or three days in the open air previous to applying it to your
flowers.
The temperature of the room in which you place your plants should
be as regular as possible, all extremes of heat and cold being
destructive to good flowers. Let the plants stand near the window
on mild sunny days, but in cold cloudy weather remove them to the
middle of the room. When the day is warm, open the window, so as to
give the plants the benefit of the fresh air, or remove them into
the garden. Many of the hardier kinds of flowers will bloom well on
the outer sill of the window from May to November. In sultry
weather you must shade your choicest flowers from the direct rays
of the sun, or they will get parched, and their blossoms will fall
off. This is especially the case with the more delicate sorts of
fuchsias and fancy geraniums; though the hardy plants of this kind
stand a wonderful amount of ill usage before they cease to throw up
flowers. You must constantly examine your flowers to see that their
pots do not get too full of roots. You may easily discover whether
this is the case by turning the pot upside down, when a slight tap
will loosen the mould, and leave the plant and its soil in your
hand in one compact mass. If you find that the roots run in
irregular circles over the surface of the mould, it is a sign that
the pot is too small, and your flower must be shifted to a larger
one.
It will be well occasionally to sprinkle a little water over the
foliage of your plants, which should always be kept fresh and
clean. Some of the larger leaves of geraniums and other plants will
want now and then to be cleansed of the dust, which will accumulate
about them, with a sponge or soft flannel; or you may give them a
good wetting by means of a syringe with a fine rose top, taking
care to avoid the flowers that are in full bloom. Flower buds,
however, thrive well by being constantly refreshed. Twenty drops of
liquid manure added to a quart of water will be found useful in
hastening the blooming of flowers. This mixture must, however, be
applied to the soil, and not to the plant. A good and safe
stimulant may be made of four ounces of ammonia, two ounces of
nitre, and one ounce of brown sugar, dissolved in a pint of boiling
water. This solution, when cold, is to be put in a stoppered
bottle, and added to the water you use for your plants in the
proportion of a tea-spoonful to a gallon. Generally, however,
ordinary rain-water, not too cold, will suffice to keep in-door
plants in good condition. If you notice that blossoms fall off
before they are fully developed, it is a sure mark that the plant
is sickly, and needs removal to a larger pot, or into the open air;
but if you attend to the above directions, your favorite flowers
can scarcely fail to prosper.
For the outside of windows nothing is prettier than ornamental
boxes of mignonette, with a climbing rose or a canary creeper, or
even a few pots of convolvulus or creeping-jenny.
The best plants for in-door culture are fuchsias, geraniums,
calceolarias, begonias, balsams, cinerarias, dwarf roses,
heliotropes, campanulas, hydrangeas, stocks, and mignonette; while,
if you are fond of bulbs, a choice variety of tulips, crocuses,
lilies, jonquils, hyacinths, scillas, etc., may be reared in
separate pots, and then transplanted carefully and tastefully into
that pretty receptacle for Nature's loveliest children, the
ornamental flower-basket.
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