Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1880-11-06
ROOM AND GREENHOUSE PLANTS.
Harpar's Bazaar |

tEarpar's Bazaar
II Is generaiiy supposed b. anna cur growers OF
ants that the character OF the soil Is Ch
IIlhcipal requisite to their sue, IS :ftii cull iva
t1on; IL Is, however, Of secondary imporJa nee "a
compared with light heat. and 10 st lfe, Tor it
matters not how suitable the soil may be. If TIE
supply OF these three elements, Ia Their proper
proportions, be not given ID the plant, i5 Will
hot tnrlVe. If light be not freely given, the
plant makes long, feeble growth, the stems @.
me leaves are greatly elongated, toe leaves
became soft and fiabby, and do not have their
proper green color Ii heat be fnjUdciouSly
applied without sufficient amount of light
the evil becomes greatly Increased, especially
Wnen IL Is given at night. Hence plants in
rooms or greenhouses should be kept at q much
lower temperature at night than during the
DAY Nature does this for them In their
natural state, tfor there Is always a marked
diference, especially in temperate or semi
tropical countries, between the day and night
temperatures. Those, therefore, who keep
Their plants at nearly the same temperature
DAY aud night run counter TO the laws OF
nature, and 10 do this in all cases involves in
Jury, Ii not ultimate destruction, to the subj, Il
eAEOsed 10 the contravention OF those laws.
mere should always be difference OF from
ten TO twenty degrees b3tWeen tue day ana
night Temperatures in which plants are kept,
reference OF course being had ID the day
temperature requisite for the plants; that is 10
say, that ii the plant should lSquire a day
temperature OF eighty degrees, the night tenn
Pefatufe should not exc ID slXty-1iye degrees
and may for short time go as low as Iifty-
I'VE degrees without injury to It, II the plant
only requires q day temperature OF sixty
sufficient for 1t at night. Plants Ike aliGl as
sleep or rest at night, and neither rest M
steep wei! In a temperature such as they
ltqulre Ill the daytime. TIE less iigHt the loss
SAFE rule to go by.
ire amount OF moisture or water to be
given TO the roots is largely governed by the
amount OF moisture In the air Of the room or
gree house, and this point Is one OF the most
e5se 'tlal requisites in the cultivation OF
nas been greatly overlooked by both pro.
les nal and amateur cuitiyators. their reliance
lor supplying tie a1r With moisture Deing
mostly uepe ndent upon evaporation OF moist
ure from ne sou IN the pots, splasl!ng rs from
Tue Water-pots In watering, and occasional
syrlng'n g or the plants. Few perEor3 are
aware OF the remarkable dryness OF cold az,
or the small quantity of moisture it contains
when cold as compared with that which Il viii
nod when at higher temperatures The
lolIoM,Gg table gives the number OF grains OF
hater winch cubic foot Of air VI ii contain
when saturated with moisture, or holding as
Iiucn as IL can contain Without precipitation:
Ig @ 9 gS Gs e. F. @ R g G g;
.0'!Z9 25.1 500 45.-..3.6l0 6J....6S1O
iio....l.lo3 3o....2197 5o...4244 7O....7.9G
r., LII; 3D., 60 5sS 55;: 497S 75. .9.2H
winters night the outside cold dr. say, at
twenty-five degrees. which filtrateS through
the laps CT glass and the GREY .ces OF the wood
work, will, when heated to forty five degrees
cent, or double the quality Of water I'll II
previously held; and with the Thermometer
OUTSIDE al zero, IL VIII take up four hundred
aho My per cent, Or four and a hat
times as much. We also see the effects of cold
IN drying the atmosphere In the formation of
hoar,irost On the glass OF greenhouse or the
"ludoW or room, the hOar-fro3u being the
moisture abstracted from the warm internal
air by the external cold air.
-. Ordinary greenhouse plants require an at.
noSpnefe the moisture in which doeS not fan
more than twenty-five or thirty per cent be-
low saturation at the temperature required for
their their growth. This point OF saturution, as we
temperature OF the air, being less Ia d low tenn
pe1ature than In high one. This moisture
must must be made up artiticially. or 1t VIII be
great injury. This evaporation means again
the abstraction or he.t from the plant. emitting
IT, so 10 speak, and consequently the leaves
brown dead spots.
When greenhouse is kept only mo1er
ately damp by Swinging or watching, the vapor
condensation which constantly taxes place on
the glass, and this escapes to the outside
through me laps OF the glass-a loss witch
must continually be male up. To this loss is
to pe added the filtration OF the warm moist
ar rom the inside to the outside through cfev-
eS and laps IN the roof. both eff cts being
geiy exaggerated by high Winds. aud TO-
sc her requiring an amount OF extra eyapoIa-
ton that Is really enormous. We have found
from actual experiment In greenhouse con-
tanning 1900 cubic feet OF space that with the
thermometer at zero outside, and the WIND
moderaJe-the house being kept at nfty de-
greeS-1t required the al ,ifciaI evaporation of
q cuoc foot or water equal TO seven and half
gallons, or slXty-tWO and a half pOundsO every
twenty-four hours. or at the rate OF eighty
seven and hall grains to every cubic FOOT of
space; and this did not furnish a superabun-
dance OF moisture. III this house we kept a
large plant OF c4mela japonlca for nearly
three months without supplying any water 70
the roots; 1t did not make any growth but
scarcely lost leaf aud retained the full deem
green color OF its leaves.
From what we have said. the injurious ef-
fectS OF allowing cold draughtS OF air upon
plants, especially In rooms, are veIy apparent.
The cold air from the lower hall OF an open
WINDOW rushing into the room Will dry them
up and DO them more harm by its eVaporating
power than If they We're placed In near proX-
rooIr, the windows in which they are placed
should always be lowered at the top when the
room is aired, or the plants removed from the
uFaughC OF cold air Ii the lower saNh must D2
raised. We may also Id that the products OF
the combustion of gas, when used In Lighting
rooms where plants are kept, is very Injurious
In fact there are very few plants that will
grow or thrive in room where gas is used for
lighting. When used, the plants should be re-
moved TO another room where it is not In use
IL Is popular fallacy that heated iron or
other metals, OR brick tlueS absorb the moiS
ture from the air, and so dry 1t. On the CON
Ialy, they only condense or absorb the mos-
lure. OF the air when they are colder than it is
on them when they are at a lower temperature
thal the surrounding air-''sWeating y as it is
technically called II Is utterly IMPOSSIBLE for
them to do this when the heat is passing
through them. Or the heat which they give OUT
Is greater than that OF the surrounding sir
TIE rare1actlon OF the air by the heat they
furnish, increasing the capacity or the air for
moisture, Is the reason OF its feeling dry, and
causes 1t to absorb water from everything it
comes IN contact with. IT heatr to redHesS
they produce Injurious effects by the volatile,
zaton OF the impurities contained In the metal
ana the GENERALIZATION OF the dust and other
matters foating In the atmosphere, producing
The smell OF burning SO often complained OF
Cast iron is much " orse In this respect than
sheet iron. Sheet iron stoves lined with ire.
bIick produce but little contamination OF the
air, and II sufficient supply OF moisture H.
gwen, produce heat as nearly healthrul for
plants as can DE furnished by any artificial
means other than open CRATES.
Another common taliacy is that the iron
pipes OF ahoU-water pparatus give out a moist
neat. by experiment 1t has been found that no
valor or water will pass through an iron pipe
under pressure OF 100 pounds to the sq"are
men, and as there is scarcely any pressure on |
the pipes OF 6. hOtwater apparatus it is self
evident that they can not give out any moisture |
The great benefit Arising from HEATING by hot |
water is in the power Of water to retain It's
heat for long time, and SO giving out its heat |
gradually, ard keeping an eQuable tempera-
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