A Treatise on Domestic Economy; For the Use of Young Ladies at Home and at School

_On the Care of House-Plants._ The soil of house-plants should be renewed every year, as previously directed. In Winter, they should be kept as dry as they can be without wilting. Many house-plants are injured by giving them too much water, when they have little light and fresh air. This makes them grow spindling. The more fresh air, warmth, and light, they have, the more water is needed. They ought not to be kept very warm in Winter, nor exposed to great changes of atmosphere. Forty degrees is a proper temperature for plants in Winter, when they have little sun and air. When plants have become spindling, cut off their heads, entirely, and cover the pot in the earth, where it has the morning sun, only. A new and flourishing head will spring out. Few house-plants can bear the sun at noon. When insects infest plants, set them in a closet, or under a barrel, and burn tobacco. The smoke kills any insect enveloped in it. When plants are frozen, cold water, and a gradual restoration of warmth, are the best remedies. Never use very cold water for plants, at any season. FOOTNOTE: [T] His 'Farmers' Companion' was written expressly for the larger series of 'THE SCHOOL LIBRARY,' issued by the publishers of this volume. CHAPTER XXXV. ON THE PROPAGATION OF PLANTS. Bulbous roots are propagated by offsets; some growing on the top, others around the sides. Many plants are propagated by cutting off twigs, and setting them in earth, so that two or three eyes are covered. To do this, select a side shoot, ten inches long, two inches of it, being of the preceding year's growth, and the rest, the growth of the season when it is set out. Do this, when the sap is running, and put a piece of crockery at the bottom of the shoot, when it is buried. One eye, at least, must be under the soil. Water it, and shade it in hot weather. Plants are also propagated by layers. To do this, take a shoot, which comes up near the root, bend