seven to eight feet deep, wide enough for a ladder, and set shelves
around the edge. Or it may be simply dug, covered, and things let down
into it at the end of strings. An abandoned well or cistern comes in
handy for such use. If deep and dry, whole carcasses as of lambs, sheep,
pigs, or deer can be hung and kept safe.
=Dried Fruit=: Keep sun-dried fruit in a warm, airy place, sunning it
often. Look it over for worms, throw out infested bits, scald the
residue one minute in full boiling water, spread thin, and dry in the
oven. In a long damp spell bring dried fruit into the kitchen and hang
where heat will strike it, but away from steam. All this applies equally
to sun-dried vegetables, such as corn, okra, and green peas, likewise to
beans and peas full grown.
=Keeping Rich Cake=: Plum cake, spice cake, or iced pound cake keep a
long time treated thus: Pour a teaspoonful of brandy upon the under
side, let it soak in, then wrap the whole loaf in a clean cloth and
sprinkle with brandy. Put into an earthen crock with a tight cover, lay
a fresh apple on top, and keep shut. Once a week set the crock upon a
cooling range until warm through, removing the apple while warming. Put
in a fresh apple every fortnight, and renew the brandy treatment at the
same time. Plum cake almost demands this keeping, being better for a
year of it. Other cakes should not be kept over six months.
=Keeping Melons for Christmas=: Plant melons so they will ripen a little
before frost. Build a rail pen, floor it two feet above ground, and lay
on the floor a foot of corn stalks well packed. Stand other stalks about
the edge, then fill in a foot of fresh corn husks. Bed in these the
melons, cut each with a short length of vine, and the vine ends dipped
in melted paraffine. Wrap the melons in tissue paper, take care not to
let them touch nor lie too close to the stalk wall. Cover with another
foot of husks, packed down firmly, but not rammed. Over these put more
corn stalks, filling the pen with them. Lay on a slanted roof of boards,
weighting them in place.
=Fresh Eggs=: A strictly fresh egg has a tiny air space at either end
betwixt shell and lining. Lying makes the air bubbles rise and join. A
fresh egg sinks in water end down, one less fresh commonly lies on its
side. Break an egg, empty the shell, look in the ends; if the spaces are
lacking it is not fresh. Or boil hard—a fresh yolk will have white
evenly all round. After some days the yolk will be near the shell or
pressing against it.
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IX
HOUSE PLANTS, WINDOW BOXES, CUT FLOWERS
=Soil=: Soil for pots and boxes must be very rich and light. Mix it of
one-half well-rotted animal manure, one-quarter leaf mold or rotted
sods, and one-quarter good loam. If the loam is heavy clay make it
one-half clean sand. Heap and keep under cover, away from sun-baking and
the leaching of rain. Sift for use. Sprinkle now and again to keep it
moist.
=Pots=: Use clean pots and sound. Break up cracked ones for drainage.
Wash pots as soon as empty, stack, and stand in air. Wash again before
using, dry, then wipe over outside with a cloth wet in copperas water.
This to prevent the annoying green scum. Repeat the wiping over with
copperas water about once a month. Keep pot surfaces clean—their dull
red, so kept, is more artistic than any jardinière. Further, it makes
for plant health—a clean pot admits air to the roots.
=Window Boxes=: Window boxes must be well drained. If set outside it is
imperative that they be made fast. Lacking regular window guards, use
hooks and staples. Paint wooden boxes dull green outside and white
inside. Choose tile ones to harmonize with walls and windows. Have
uniform boxes for a row of windows—this applies equally to boxes proper
and what grows in them. Indoor boxes should have zinc trays fitted to
them, with strips laid across to insure drainage.
=Potting=: Pots must be proportioned to their contents. A hyacinth bulb
will thrive in a four-inch pot. A clump of three will grow in a six-inch
one; it should be shallow. A shallow eight-inch pot will hold a dozen
tulips or Roman hyacinths or two dozen crocuses. Broad pots, rather
shallow, are best for all manner of bulbs save the tall-growing lilies,
such as the Amaryllis family, Auratum, and Easter lilies. Plant rooted
cuttings in two-inch pots, shifting them as they grow. Over-potting is a
drawback, especially with flowering things. Do not shift until the pot
is filled with roots—test for that by turning out—and shift to the next
size. Seasonal bulbs rarely require shifting, but those kept year in and
out must be separated from their offsets and given fresh earth. In
shifting put an inch of broken pot in first, arranging a big bit over
the hole, fill in a little earth, then set the plant upon it; the ball
at its root should come within an inch of the top. Hold it plumb and
fill in sifted earth about it, shaking the pot gently after each
handful. Shake hard when the pot is full; fill in chinks around the edge
and put a little fresh earth on top, then water freely but without
splashing. Let it drain and set in place. Always have something
underneath to catch the drip. Glazed ware is better than the clay
saucers—they make damp spots.
Plant bulbs their own depth in earth except the finer lilies. Set them
only a little way in earth. It is safer to make a little hole in the
earth, put in a handful of clean sand, and bed the bulb in the sand.
Keep very wet—sand will not rot the bulb surface. Fill up with soil an
inch higher, but keep it away from the bulb with a sand blanket, and put
a very thin layer of sand on top. Plant ordinary bulbs in succession
from September to December, keep damp and dark for some weeks to insure
root growth, then bring to light, water, and fertilize, turning every
three days to make symmetrical.
=Plant Choice=: No plant will live long without light—few will thrive
without more or less sunlight. The green-and-white Aspidastra is the
hardiest in this respect. Plants used for interior decoration must be
often shifted, set in light, fertilized, and bathed till thrifty, while
others in good condition take their places. Weekly changes will maintain
a proper effect. Palms and ferns are most satisfactory for such uses;
flowering things get ragged very quickly. Begonias carefully tended and
not allowed to dry out nor get hot make a brave showing. So do
wax-leafed woody things—dwarf orange and lemon trees, rubber trees,
dwarf evergreens and box trees.
=Plants for a North Light=: Fuschia stands pre-eminent, next to that
thrifty ferns, ivy of both sorts, dwarf evergreens, spiderwort,
moneywort, and trailing box vine. An hour or two of sunlight will
suffice for all these, other conditions to their mind; also, in their
season, for pansies, violets, and the dwarf Japanese morning glories so
wonderful in color and texture.
=Filling Window Boxes=: Make fast, put a layer of broken pot over the
bottom, upon that a very thin layer of excelsior. Cover two inches deep
with fine earth, then arrange roots of your trailers along the outer
edge and bank up with more earth. Next put in the plants, crowding them
rather thickly, pack earth around and about them, water freely, make
sure all plants stand straight, then shower plentifully, using a fine
sprinkler. Water every day—twice daily in very hot weather—shower every
other day, and fertilize once a week. This if the plants thrive. If they
turn a sickly yellow, starve a bit, after watering plentifully with
water a little too hot to bear your hand in.
=Choice of Window Plants=: Flowering geraniums deserve first place for a
season’s bloom. White and pink ones smothered in green look better
against a red brick wall than scarlet or crimson. But scarlet and white,
or scarlet and crimson with feathery green, such as asparagus sprengeri,
are beautiful against white walls, brown or buff ones, or any sort of
stone. Pansies with alyssum edges are lovely while they last. Choose
them for early spring, putting in geraniums or primroses later. Potted
bulbs show beautifully in window boxes with edges of trailing green.
Rose geraniums in window boxes help to drive away flies. Piazza boxes in
midsummer have nothing more effective than the savage splendors of
gladioli. Plant in double row, starting the bulbs in pots and setting
out when a foot high. Nasturtiums also make a splendid show. So do all
the tribe of begonia, provided the sun is not too hot. Morning and
evening rays suit them.
=Palms and Ferns=: Small thrifty plants need to be shifted yearly. After
they reach a good size do not shift, fertilize instead. Keep pot
surfaces clean, set at least a foot above the floor, water plentifully
and regularly, but do not let it stand at the roots. Sprinkle or wipe
with a damp cloth weekly, and monthly give a plunge bath in your own
bath water. Let stand till barely tepid, then tie a cloth over the
earth, and lay your plant on its side in the tub. Splash and scrub well,
set upright, drain off water, and shower well with clear, clean water.
Bathing thus is the best insurance of health and a protection against
the depredations of every sort of pest.
=Roses and Woody Things in General=: Only a very few roses are adapted
to house culture unless there is a greenhouse for their refreshing. The
catalogues name them. Get vigorous year-old plants and bake the earth
for planting them at least an hour in a moderate oven. This to insure
against the beetle which lives in earth and has no other cure than
prevention. Make the earth very fine, sift it lightly through the roots,
water well, put on more earth, wet it, fill up the pot, drench, drain,
and set in light, but away from sunlight, for several days. Pinch off
any flower buds, also new ones appearing before the rose is well
established. After thrifty growth sets in let bloom, but not overbloom.
Pinch off all but the most promising buds. Water with tepid suds weekly.
In between give liquid manure. Make it strong—roses are gross feeders.
Bathe often, keep warm and in light, turning every other day. The
many-flowered roses sold around the holidays are good for nothing but to
be set out in the border after their bloom is past.
Fuchsias, azaleas, lemon verbenas, the spireas, and genesta require much
the same care. Fuchsias, as has been said, do not demand full sun. Also
they like a moderate temperature. The others thrive in heat and light.
So do camellias and gardenias. These, however, are apt to disappoint
anybody without a genius for growing things. Rubber trees too big for
the plunge bath must have their leaves well wiped with white soapsuds,
then with clear water. Tall palms demand the same care. All plants need
a moist atmosphere, so keep water on radiators and wet sponges over
registers. This is as good for people as for plants.
=Fertilizers and Fertilizing=: Liquid manure is an ideal fertilizer so
far as concerns the plants themselves. It has the drawback of a bad
odor. To use it set the plants outdoors, give in sufficient quantity,
let soak in, then water well with warm water and leave to air some
hours. To make, put well-rotted manure in something tight, pour boiling
water upon it, stir well, and let stand. Stir again before dipping
out—it should be as thick as cream. After using it on window boxes close
the windows until the smell is gone. Things too big to move can be
fertilized and the windows left open, closing doors—so fertilize in mild
weather. The odor will pass in two hours if the tepid watering has been
thorough.
Many good commercial fertilizers are almost or quite odorless—ammoniated
bone meal, for example. There is also a fertilizer in lozenge form which
is scentless and wonderfully effective. Dissolve a lozenge in boiling
water, let stand all night, then stir well and apply. Give a teacup—the
same as of liquid manure—to a ten-inch pot, a tablespoonful to a
four-inch one, and half that to a thumb pot. A quart will be none too
much for a three-foot window box filled with soft-stemmed plants. They
demand more than woody plants. Over-fertilizing is bad—it turns leaves
yellow and scants bloom. Plants suffer indigestion the same as people.
The remedy for it is to set them in a sink or on a grating and pour hot
(not boiling) water through the pot until it runs out clear.
=Insects and Insecticides=: Insects are the pest of house plants. The
worst of them are plant lice, mealy bugs, white and black flies, red
spider, and the various scales. All are fought with pretty much the same
weapons—namely, soap and water, smoke, and eternal vigilance.
Greenhouses and hothouses are almost universally infested. Hence every
new plant must be suspected. Do not set it among other plants clean and
thrifty for at least a fortnight, and then only after a thorough bath. A
plant badly infested had better be thrown away, and quickly. Flies white
and black are hardest to fight; they fly away at a touch on the pot. Set
the infested plant apart, with a stick standing higher than itself fast
in earth, throw a thin cloth over, letting it reach the ground all
around, then slip under it a lighted smudge, and set over cloth and
plant either a box or a barrel, with paper pasted over the cracks. Let
stand two hours, then plunge in a tepid bath, keeping on the cloth until
well under water. This to hold in any flies left living. Splash well,
drain, and while damp dust with either insect powder or finely crumbled
tobacco, putting it on both sides of the leaves.
For plant lice spray thickly with strong tobacco water, leave an hour,
then bathe, and dust with more tobacco. A little flowers of sulphur
mixed in makes the treatment more effectual. Bathe in suds (carbolic
soap, if possible) next day, and follow with a clear tepid shower.
Red spider is invisible until it appears as red blotches upon foliage.
Water, and still more water, combined with smoking cures it. Shower
infested plants heavily every day for a fortnight, smoke with tobacco
twice a week, and keep well dusted with either tobacco or pyrethrum
powder. Mealy bugs, which are white and woolly, as big as grains of
wheat, should have a sulphur dusting after smoking and bathing. All the
big scales, which are never very numerous unless plants are fatally
neglected, should be hand-picked, then the plant well washed with
whale-oil soapsuds dashed with carbolic acid. San José scale, which is
almost invisible but feels like fine rough sand upon the under sides of
leaves and over stalks, is so deadly and difficult any plant found
infested should be burned at once, the pot broken, and the earth soaked
with boiling water. Cures for it there are, but too difficult for
amateurs, withal somewhat dangerous.
Buy tobacco dust, make tobacco water. Pour a gallon of boiling water
upon a pound of tobacco stems, let stand a day, keeping warm, strain and
use. Cut the spent stems fine and mix through potting soil. Enough
tobacco water to color it mixed in makes a plunge bath more effective
against insects. Make smudges thus: put a few slivers of wood or half a
dozen matches crossed in a small flat tin, cover with either pyrethrum
powder, tobacco dust, cut up stalks, unspent, or flowers of sulphur
mixed with fine damp sawdust. Light, see that there is not too much
blaze, and set beneath plants. Do not make smudges big enough to give
out scalding heat; better two or three small ones if heavy smoke is
required.
Red rust and brown scale, the special enemies of palms, need to be
washed off with strong carbolic soapsuds and a soft brush before bathing
and smoking.
=Earth Worms=: Lime water is the remedy for earth worms. Stick holes in
the earth quite to the bottom, then pour on clear lime water (see
section Renovators) till it stands on top. The worms will crawl up to
escape it. Lime water is also good to sweeten sour earth. Give a half
cup after the hot-water treatment. Dig up the earth in pots so as to
keep a light, clean surface. Green scum, while not dangerous, does not
make for plant health.
=For Roaches=, dip cut potatoes in arsenic mixed with sugar and lay cut
side down on the pots and about them. Gather up every morning, dropping
instantly into a vessel of boiling water—this to destroy such insects as
remain alive. But never put out poison if there are children in the
house.
=Cuttings=: Cuttings root best in clean sand, kept very wet and warm and
under glass. Make the cuttings of new wood, neither soft nor fully ripe.
Cut with at least two eyes—three are better—slant cuts, and set in sand
slantwise, with one eye above the surface. Shift as soon as growth
begins fully to thumb-pots, and keep the pots plunged in another box of
sand. Make geranium cuttings, whether scented or flowering, of healthy
stalks full of sap and vigor. June is the best time to make cuttings of
lemon verbena, fuchsia, heliotrope, and roses. Tips of strong shoots
from either fuchsia or heliotrope will root then almost for the chance.
Chrysanthemums from cuttings of the flower stalk give much finer bloom
than those from old roots.
Leaf cuttings are interesting. Tuberous begonias root thus readily.
Roses are more difficult. Peg down the leaf on wet sand under glass,
make tiny cuts in it, and keep very wet in sunshine. Roots will strike
from the cuts after they have calloused.
Summing up, the needs of a house plant are the same as those of a human
being—air, light, food, water, cleanliness, and love.
=Cut Flowers=: Cut flowers early in the morning, stand loosely upright
in clean water away from light until they can be arranged. In hot
weather sprinkle lightly if arranging must wait, and cover with a light
cloth. Florist blossoms must be kept cool and damp; stand the holder in
the bathtub, draw three inches of cold water, and spread something over
them.
In arranging do not mix nor crowd. Tulips with only their own stalks and
leaves are wonderfully decorative, but a single other bloom makes them
blotchy. No green save the featheriest asparagus fern should ever go
with flowers which have handsome foliage. Lay fern fronds upon the cloth
rather than disfigure with them a centerpiece of roses. Tall, stiff
stems, as jonquils, narcissi, and lilies, absolutely require tall,
slender holders. So do long-stemmed roses, especially the cloth-yard
American Beauties. It is vandalism to put anything with them. Carnations
bear massing, but the vase should have space about it. Lilies lose
immeasurably by crowding. A single handsome tall stalk gives
distinction, where three or four imperfect ones huddled would be
commonplace.
Half a dozen roses with fine foliage will make a handsome centerpiece
thus: put into a low, flat bowl, rather flaring, a woven-wire cake rack
nearly the same size. Cut stalks, if long, to six inches. Use the
cut-off stems to mat through the woven wire. Cover well with cold water,
then arrange the flowers so each will show for itself, thrusting the
stems between the wires at the proper angle. A wreath of asparagus fern
laid on the cloth outside adds much more to the effect than if the green
were twined among the flowers. Lacking a cake rack, flatten a big potato
after peeling it, make holes in the upper surface with a wire nail, and
anchor the stems in them.
Hanging-holders for trailers should have something inside—wet sand or
wire net—to hold their contents stable. If a tall flower pot is set in a
niche or corner, arrange a light to fall directly on it, as a fairy lamp
or tall candle set upon a bracket. Beware of having too many flowers,
and particularly too many sorts. Even blossoms can swear at each
other—decoratively.
=Keeping Cut Flowers Fresh=: Flowers sent long distances need special
care. Stick the stalks of roses in sections of potato, else seal by
dipping in melted paraffine, then roll each separately in wax paper so
it forms a tube. Lay the tubes together in a stanch box, cut holes in
either end after it is wrapped and tied. The roses should be between bud
and half blow. Chrysanthemums can be sent the same way by either mail or
express. So can camellias and gardenias, but they change color so
quickly after opening they are hardly worth the trouble.
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X
DISINFECTANTS, INSECTS, INSECTICIDES
=Quicklime=: Put big lumps in broad earthen platters, set on floors of
cellars, outhouses, or barns, and slack with copperas water.
=Charcoal=: Lay lumps in vegetable bins or on cellar shelves. Hang other
lumps in bags of coarse net on cellar and pantry walls. Heat every month
or so to maintain absorbent power.
=Borax=: Sprinkle powdered borax freely over smelly places—under sinks,
around plumbing, over pantry shelves, and on floors where cans are set.
It is so safe, so wholesome, even spilling it is worth while.
=Washing-soda=: Dissolve a pound in a pint of boiling water and flush
sink pipes, refrigerator drains, and set tubs with it.
=Copperas= (green vitriol, otherwise sulphate of iron): Dissolve a pound
in a gallon of water; it will take several hours. Dilute one-half with
boiling water and flush water closets, bath pipes, set bowls, and so
forth. Sprinkle thus diluted over smelly earth, as in chicken runs,
kennel floors, stall floors, and where garbage stands. Use liberally on
garbage, in earth closets, or privies, also on standing water infested
with green scum. A gallon added to a pot of whitewash gives a yellow
tinge and makes the wash more sanitary.
=Bluestone=: Bluestone, sulphate of copper, must be dissolved in the
same proportions. It is a germicide more than disinfectant, especially
valuable where there have been sick animals. Dilute with four times its
bulk of boiling water or mix through hot whitewash. It is staple against
seed infection, as smuts and molds. The most part of garden seed sprout
and grow better for wetting with the dilute solution and drying before
planting.
=White Vitriol=: Sulphate of zinc, a powerful astringent germicide,
needs care in handling. Dissolve it, four ounces to the half gallon of
water, strain, and put into clean bottles. Keep dark, corked tightly.
Use to clean and disinfect sores from frost bite or indolent ulcers.
Dilute with five times as much tepid rain water. Use on the combs of
poultry when raw from frost, also for scaly leg and the ail known as
“bumble-foot.”
=Bichloride of Mercury=: The king among disinfectants, also one of the
deadliest among poisons. Dissolve in boiling rain water, four ounces to
the gallon. Let stand; it dissolves slowly. Keep in glass, tightly
corked, plainly labeled “poison.” Dilute one-half for use in the sick
room. But put on full strength when fighting bed bugs.
=Bordeaux Mixture=: Staple for spraying against molds, etc. One pound
blue vitriol dissolved in five gallons rain water and added to one pound
powdered unslaked lime mixed to a cream with rain water. Stir well, and
strain before spraying. Dilute one-half to three-fourths; if too strong
it scorches vegetation.
=Kerosene Emulsion=: Stir hard together in an earthen vessel a quart of
buttermilk and half a gallon kerosene. Stir with wood until thick and
buttery. Use full strength to paint tree trunks and hard branches in
winter, but dilute at least ten times for use on green things. Mix with
warm water, twenty parts to one for spraying against plant lice. For
fighting red spider stir a little sulphur into the emulsion before
diluting. Spray late—as near night as possible.
=Bisulphide of Lime=: Sure death to either animal or plant lice. Mix in
equal quantity flowers of sulphur and powdered quicklime, cover two
inches with boiling water, boil five hours, filling up and adding more
water till there is three times the original quantity. Dilute the
result, a brown smelly liquid, one hundred times for use either as wash
or spray.
=Against Garden Pests=: Mix any arsenical powder—London purple,
Scheele’s green, or Paris green—with its own bulk of flour and twice its
bulk of slaked lime, and dust upon plants while damp. Good for potato
beetles, squash bugs, flea bugs, grasshoppers, cut worms, and cabbage
worms. Use in a powder gun or tie in a thin bag, fasten it to a long
pole and shake so as to coat plants evenly.