CARE OF PLANTS IN THE HOME
The care of flowering bulbs which was begun in Form I will be continued in Form II. The growing of new plants from cuttings will now be taken up. In those schools which are kept continuously heated, potted plants may be kept throughout the year. The pupils will come to appreciate the plant's needs and learn how to meet them in the supply of good soil, water, and sunlight. The following points should be observed:
1. Good potting soil can be made by building up alternating layers of sods and stable manure and allowing this compost to stand until thoroughly rotted. A little sharp sand mixed with this forms an excellent soil for most house plants.
2. Thorough watering twice a week is better than adding a little water every day.
3. The leaves should be showered with water once a week to cleanse them from dust.
4. An ounce of whale-oil soap dissolved in a quart of water may be used to destroy plant-lice. Common soap-suds may also be used for this purpose, but care should be taken to rinse the plants in clean water after using a soap wash.
5. Most plants need some direct sunlight every day if possible, although most of the ferns grow without it.
6. Plants usually need re-potting once a year. Many kinds may be set out-of-doors in flower beds in May and left until September, when they may be taken up and placed in pots, or cuttings made from them for potting.
7. A flower exhibition at the school once or twice a year, or at a local exhibition, adds to the interest.
8. The pupils should report to the teacher from time to time the progress of their plants and make many drawings showing their development.
PLANT CUTTINGS
The pupils will be interested to know that it is possible to produce new plants without waiting for them to grow up from the seed. It will indeed be quite a surprise to them to see a new plant complete in all its parts grow up from a small piece of stem, root, or even leaf. With a little care even children may propagate plants in this way.
SELECTION OF CUTTINGS
Begin with some of the common herbaceous bedding-plants, such as geranium, coleus, or fuschia. These are such common bedding-plants that they are easily obtained in the autumn. Only well-matured stems of the season's growth, such as will break with a slight snap when bent, should be used.
Let the pupils provide themselves with sharp knives for the lesson, with small boxes or pots, and with some moist, clean sand—not potting soil. A few holes should be bored in the bottom of the box, then a layer of fine gravel put in to provide for good drainage, and over it layers of moist sand. Take a slip or growing end of a stem about three inches in length, always cutting it at or just below a node, or joint, and leaving only a couple of small leaves on the top of the slip. Insert it to about half its depth in the box of moist sand. These cuttings may be placed a few inches apart in the box, which should then be placed in a warm, light room for a few weeks until the roots develop. The cuttings should be partly shaded by papers from the strong sunlight, and the sand kept slightly moist but not wet. Bottom heat and a moist, warm atmosphere hasten their development.
Another very convenient and very successful method of starting cuttings is to take a six-inch flower-pot, put two inches of fine gravel in the bottom, set a four-inch unglazed flower-pot in the centre, and fill up the space around it with sand and garden-loam, mixed. Put a cork in the hole in the bottom of the small flower-pot, and then fill it with water. Put the cuttings around in the space between the two pots and set in a fairly warm room in moderate light.
POTTING OF ROOTED CUTTINGS
When the cuttings are well rooted, which requires from three to six weeks according to the variety and growth conditions furnished, they should be carefully lifted with a trowel and each set in a small pot or can. First put in the bottom a few small stones to secure drainage, and then a little good potting soil. Set the plant in place and fill in around with more soil and pack this firmly around the roots. Keep room in the top of the pot for water. When the new plant has made some growth, it may be shifted to a larger pot. Geraniums and coleus (foliage plants) should not be kept more than two seasons. Take cuttings off the old plants and then throw the latter away.