Page:Australian enquiry book of household and general information.djvu/253

 experience, but I would suggest to all gardeners of this class to study the plants they experiment upon, and their natural soils.

The fernery requires a thorough watering once a day. Many people make the mistake of over-watering. I think the best time for it is after sundown, but in the very cold weather I have noticed that the plants watered in the mornings appear to do best. In winter, less water is required, and those plants, bulbs, etc., that hibernate, should receive very little, if any, moisture, as it prevents their going to sleep properly, weakens them, and in some instances thoroughly alters their character.

Almost any one old enough to handle a hammer and nails can make a flower stand, The most simple and easiest made is like a wide ladder in form. I have even seen them made without the two uprights or legs at the back, being merely rested against the wall or nailed to it. But it is very much better and more convenient to have the stand portable, so that it can be moved according to the time of year and season, and if a broad shelf is put at the back, any pots not in bloom, or not looking well can be put there. A stand can be made any size, and, for that matter, any shape, according to the maker's fancy but a five foot stand is the most useful, one advantage being the ease with which all the pots can be watered and reached.

The wood work, indeed, the whole stand should be painted; green is the most suitable colour, but that is quite a matter of opinion. I saw one lately done with brown enamel and gold paint.

A very effective position for two stands, or even for one, is at each side of a French light leading from the drawing room, or if one, right in front, that is opposite the window. At one station I know of, every French light opening on to the verandah has one or two well-filled flower stands immediately opposite to it and baskets hanging at intervals all along from end to end. At another station the large well-filled fernery opens directly out of the drawing room; originally it was built from the verandah, then that part of the latter was stocked and arranged, giving a most beautiful effect, particularly at night when lighted up. But what one man can do another can; I go even farther and say what a man can do a woman can, in the matter of gardening and tending flowers.

If you have plenty of money of course you can make your fernery and garden beautiful almost at once, and your flowers will be a pleasure and an interesting study to you, and if you are—as I was—badly off, quite unable to spend one shilling upon it, then you must work all the harder, and make it not only self-supporting but a means of profit to yourself. In short, earn money by your plants and flowers. Sell your pot plants, your cuttings, your cut flowers, and the interest in the work will be increased ten-fold.