The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1885-11-06

/ S., Curator Trinity College Botal
5 lc Gardens, at the Town Hall, Rat
t mines, Dublin.
Continued from last aueek
That plant will generally be the health
est, therefore, which wants water mo;
often. This will show that there al
) plenty of air spaces, and that the root
are making good use of them. If itdoe
not often want water it is in a bad way
81 and less water rather then more mus
be given.
II The frequency Of watering, then
should be according to the rapidity witt
which the water passes away. If whel
you pour water on earth it disappears al
most simultaneously, it would be SAT-
to water such plants every day. Their
are several methods adopted by profes
plant requires water:
|. By the general appearance of tn,
soil, or feeling it with the finger.
2. Tapping the pot with the knuckles
| The pot has sharp hollow sound Of
ring" when the earth it contains is dry
and q dull, heavy budding" SOUND
when moist Take pot of dry soil and
one recently soaked with water and try
this experiment.
8. By lifting the pots and testing theil
weight, wet soil being, of course, much
heavier than the same quantity when in
a dry state.
Fill two pots with soil, water one only
and then lift them both for comparison
A little practical experience will soon
enable you to tell when your plants are
dry by each or all of the above methods.
Always use soft "a. e., rain or river
water in preference to that from wells
or springs. In Towns where waters sup
piled by the corporation, expose it to
the sun in a wide tub or other vessel for
a day or two before using it for your
plants.
Never use cold water. Water for
plants should be equal in temperature
TO the atmosphere of the room in which
they are growing.
Never water IL plant that is already
wet /; but when a plant is dry give it
sufficient to moisten the ball of earth
thoroughly.
Plants require water less frequently
during dull, damp weather than during
the summer, when the sun is powerful
and the light intense. Water for syring-
ing or sprinkling should be quite free
from mechanical impurities, as chalk or
lime. Muddy water. leaves spots and
patches of dirt on the leaves after it has
evaporated, and necessitates their being
sponged clean.
If you notice pot that does not get
dry, but that appears to be in wet and
stagnant condition, turn out the sickly
plant at once. Examine the crooks or
drainage and displace it without break
Ing the balD if it is clogged up with wet
soil. Look out for worms. If you see
the holes and tracks, but no worms, tap
the soil until they appear and remove
them. Now take a perfectly clean and
dry pot of the same size, or even less,
drain it, and turn your plant into it,
pressing and shaking it down by gentle
taps Oh the bench Or table. If the sur
face of the ball is moss-grown. remove
it with a blunt stick and put little fresh
earth round it. Now your plant is in a
fair way for recovery, and in nine cases
out of ten, if carefully watered. it will re-
cover its freshness and beauty.
REPoTrING.-If you take few turnip
or mangold seeds and plant them they
increase in weight and size very rapidly,
so that what in the spring-time was
pound Of seed may, after growth for
some months, become changed into sew
eral tons weight of produce. This in
crease of substance and weight is main
ly the result of root .action-that is to
say, the plants have absorbed all this
weight of material from the soil in solu-
ton. 1t naturally follows that the soil
becomes less rich every time crop is
removed, and to supply the deficiency
the farmer adds, every year or two, more
plant-food in the shape of manures.
Now, what is true of the farm is true of
the smallest plant in your window. The
formation of every leaf and every
blossom leaves the earth in your flower
pot poorer than it was before hence,
after some few months growth, one of
two things becomes necessary. You
must either place the plant in larger
pot, adding at the same time more fresh
earth, or you must add manure or plant
food to the pot in which you wish the
plant to thrive still longer. Sometimes
it is convenient to retain plants in small
pots, and then pinch of guano or sui
phate of ammonia in quart of water
makes a first-rate stimulant, adding new
life and vigor to any plants which had
begun to shows signs Of stunted growth,
owing to their soil having become ex-
hausteds l have alluded to plants as
being perfect chemists i'll their way, Sc
Letting from the elements in the soil
what they most require for building up
their cells and fbres-their leaves and
flowers. have also alluded to some of
our native wild-fowers and now want
you to distinctly understand that all the
species or distinct types of plants, even
most of the rare ones of our hothouses,
are also wild in the temperate and tropi-
cal countries of the world. Again every
known plant has a Latin name given to
it by botanists. This name is given
along with a description Of the plant, and
is often accompanied by plate or draw
ing and the reason the name given is
a Latin one is because Latin is under
stood by all scientific men throughout
the world. But there is no necessity for
you to call your pet plants by their
Latin names, although fuchsia, gerani-
UNI, colceolaria, and many other Latin
names are now firmly fixed in our own
tongue.
The plants most useful TO window-gar-
deners may be naturally and convenient
ly divided into groups. First, Virginia
and Japan creepers, ivies, hardy bulbs,
ANIMALS, and other plants, which will
thrive outside sunny window; and
secondly, the little dragon trees, small
palms, acacias, india-rubber plants and
many of the begonias, which require
more heat and shelter, and so thrive
best inside the room.
For the outside or window-sill a stout
wooden box is by far the best receptacle
for plants. 1t should have few holes
in the bottom to let out the waste water
and an inch or two of broken crockery
or bricks for drainage. Such box, two
feet or four feet long, may be a foot