Jasper County Democrat, Volume 3, Number 45, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 February 1901 — AS TO WINDOW GARDENING. [ARTICLE]

AS TO WINDOW GARDENING.

Con mon Rules that Will I nan re Vine Plante. Nine-tenths of the windows used for window gsrdening are too crowded for the plants to look well or to do well. Turn a new leaf right now by throwing away every poor or insignificant growth. Better to buy new stock in the spring than to turn your precious window space Into a hospital ward for jdckly plants. Keep the foliage immaculately clean. Wash the leaves once or twice every week. A plant’s lungs are Its leaves. Showering the foliage washes the dirt out of the pores, refreshes the plant and imparts vigor. Besides this, clean plants do not harbor insects, the greatest foe of the Indoor garden, and the hardest to tight. Loosen the crusted earth at the top of the pots, says the Washington Star. The roots need air, and in soft, pliable earth they get It by capillary transmission. A hard toil crust seals the soil up as though In a Jug. Neither air nor water finds free entrance through It. Plants hi hard soil often suffer from lack of moisture at the roots, though water has been given every day. Slide tlie shades up to the top of the upper sash; take down the curtains at the plant Windows, and let God’s Invigorating sun shine in. Sunshine to a plant lg what gold is to a Klondike miner. v In extremely cold weather stay the watering pot. Plants need little water during severe weather, and they chill or freeze twice as quickly after a fresh drenching. If watering becomes absolutely necessary, have It the temperature of the room, and give only in the morning. Watering in the evening during a cold snap Is to invite.a visit from Jack Frost. Pet your plants. Turn them, train them into shape as they grow, pick off every dead leaf or faded flower. Haphazard care does not pay with house plants.