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.