Watering Flowers In Pots

Many who hare the care of window plants seeni to tbink that the operation of watering is one of the simplest items incident to their oare, and will hardly thanfc us for advice on this point, and yot we may safely hazard the assertion that more plants are injured, and more fail to reach their greatest perfection, from an impropur mode of watering than from all other causes oombined. To so water the various varieties that their different wants shall all be supplied and no more, is an art acquired by but few, and the credit which some receive for fine oolleotions is often dus to the proper observanoe of this one item. It should be kept in rnind that the duty of the water is to dissolve and oonvey to the roots of the plaut the food which they need ; eome plants must havo a seaeon of comparativo rest, and, if such are watered liberally during this time, they will keep on growing and the nece8sary rest is not obtained. Wheu any of my lady friends teil me that they succeed very well with certain classes of plants, suoh as the fuchsia, calla, lobelias and ivie8, and fails with others, I at once set them down as being profuse waterers, who by too much water in jure or destroy such plants as will not bear it. On the other hand there are those who fail with this class of plants and succeed well with others, because their mode of watering does not supply enough for the wants of one class, but is about the proper amount for another. Many plants are permanently injured by water reinaining in the saucer ; others often sufl'or from a bad selection of the soil. Some of our amateur florists fail with a certain claos of plants, of whioh the begonia may be taken as a type, because they shower the leaves with cold water, but for this very reason are euiinently successful witb another class, of which the oamellia will serve as a type. As a general rule, from which there are few variations, the texture of the leaf may be taken as an index of their power to resist the application of water. Plants having porous, open or fleshy leaves covered with soft down should be seldom, if ever moistened, while those kaving glossy or hard leaves will do all the better it washed frequently. Our ivies, hoyas, and coboeas seeni to laugh at us after a good dashing, 'o út the begonias, coleus and plants of the same class do not appear to appreciate it. - By taking a Httle trouble, pretty pictures raay often be made out of maiiy Fem fronda, considered useless in the greenhouse, or, at all events, by the use of a few which may be cut off, and never missed. After the Ferns have been removed, they should be dried between sheets of botanical drying paper ; even old newspapers or blotting paper will answer the pulpóse. Presuming that a collection of dried Ferns is at hand, a sheet of nioe cardboard should be procured ; some like white cardboard ; I prefer ït slightly tinted, but that is quite a matter of taste. The Ferns should then be laid lightly on it, and arranged in the forin of a bouquet, or in whatever shape desired. The position of each Fern should be indicated before it is glued down, as, after that, it could not be well removed without marking the cardboard. Supposing the fronds to have been arrarfod according to taste, they should be lifted up again, and tbeirbacks should be glued with a fine brush, so as to make them stick to the paper. Should any gold or silver vaneties be amongst those selected, they should be placed so as to show the color of the under sides of the fronds. The light-colored mo&s, which íb to be found growing on old trunks of trees, if interspersed through the Ferns, tends to give the arrangement a light and elegant appearance A wreath of Ferns, rauunted in this way, has an effective appearanoe, if placed round or under a handsomely illuminated text. The fronds selected for mounting in this way should be those of small and light-looking varieties, as large and heavy-growing fronds would make a small arrangement of this description look heavy. In this way a capital book of reference on Ferns might be made up, each variety being mounted on a sheet of drawing-paper or cardboard, and the name of the variety, height of growth, native country, etc, written undsr the frond. It will be found astonishing how very quickly a collection of this kind can be got up, as single fronds ar easily