Watering pot

Watermelon. The culture of this is essentially the same as that for muskmelons ([which see]), except that most varieties require a warmer place and longer period of growth. Give the hills a distance of from 6 to 10 feet apart. Choose a warm, “quick” soil and sunny exposure. It is essential, in the North, that the plants grow rapidly and come into bloom early. One ounce of seed will plant thirty hills.

Wax Plant. The Wax Plant, or Hoya, is one of the commonest of window-garden plants, and yet it is one which people usually have difficulty in flowering. However, it is one of the easiest plants to manage if a person understands its nature. It is naturally a summer-blooming plant, and should rest during the winter time. In the winter, keep it just alive in a cool and rather dry place. If the temperature does not go above 50° Fahr., so much the better; neither should it go much lower. In late winter or spring, the plant is brought out to warm temperature, given water and started into growth. The old flower-stems should not be cut off, since new flowers come from them as well as from the new wood. When it is brought out to be started into growth, it may be repotted, sometimes into a size larger pot, but always with more or less fresh earth. The plant should increase in value each year. In conservatories, it is sometimes planted out in the ground and allowed to run over a wall, in which case it will reach a height of many feet.

Potato hook and weed-puller

Finger-weeder

Trowel and angle-weeder