VOL. XXIX.
INDIANAPOLIS. IND , NOV. 17, 1894.
NO. 46.
Window Gardening.
An illustration is given upon this page,
showing the pleasant appearance ot a window furnished with plants during the
winter months. Many a child has found
Its first taste for rural subjects in the contemplation of the beauty of growing
plants in the honse in winter. The window need not be as elaborate as here shown
bat plants may be of such number as the
circumstances will admit.
There Is ln window gardening one advantage not found in using pots alone, aa
in parlor gardening. Window boxes may
here be used,and less care will be required,
and so a greater variety of plants may be
oared for in small space. As here shown,
tbe window garden consists chiefly of pots
set upon brackets and shelves, making a
very ornamental appearance, but a box or
boxes may be used alone, or with pots and
vines trained up the window or upon the
walls. Hanging baskets make a fine addition, especially in the absence of brackets.
The window-box may be a simple
wooden box of the shape desired, or more
elaborate and expensive, and made of pottery ware or lined with /inc,;as the taste
and means dictate. A box of the length of
the window-sill, or two made to fit thelsill
for convenience in handling, covered inside with pitch, or they may be used plain,
The outside may be ornamented with
coarse bark or simply painted. The earth
should be light and porous, and with
coarse gravel or charcoal in the bottom. If
preferred, there may be small boxes placed
npon an old table, or on a stand purposely
constructed, with one stair above another,
The addition of simple trellises or uprights with cross-pieces and the training
of vines upon them, gives a pleasant variety, but whatever may be said, the taste of
the gardener should be cultivated, by designing and arranging these details so far
as possible. I
If a couple of wires, or willow stands, or
rattans, are bent over from one end of the
box to the other, and slats fastened across
them, a couple of wax plants, Hoya car-
nosa, may be planted, and will grow over
the arch,making a complete mass of waxen
beauty. The leaves, like the English ivy,
are strong and firm, never falling off unless through some accident, and as they
will bear almost any neglect, they seldom
lose a leaf. A soft sponge ; will clean the
dust from the leaves, and the great clusters of fragrant bloom of a pure waxen
white, are of rare beauty .remaining perfect
for weeks. The buds usually set the season before blooming, and if the flower |is
not cat, will bloom year after year from
the same flower-stalk. It is also a rapid
grower; I have had one young plant throw
oat four branches of runners, each about
two yards in length, in one season. The
wax plant requires a light, sandy soil,and
only a small quantity of water. A very
rich soil, kept moist, will rot the plant off
near the root. In the same pot can be
placed any drooping vine,ithe numerous
family of sedums, moneywort, or the
prettiest of all droopers, the Coliseum Ivy,
I.id aria Cymbalaria. On a lower shelf
may be placed pansies and primroses. As
they require to be kept cool, a north window suits them best, but as most windows
are raised more or lees above the baseboard,
they will find sufficient shade, and very
few are the house- plants that afford greater
satisfaction. Care should be taken in
watering the primroses that no water fall
on the bud, as It causes them to rot. In
the spring they can be turned oat into the
shady border, ar*l in another autucu should
be divided and put into small pots, and
kept shaded until well rooted, then, as
they grow, repotted, using a pot of larger
size. The primrose usually commence
flowering in December, and continues until the next May or June.
For a hanging-basket, nothing could be
prettier than a clump of oxalls bulbs,
mixed variety; if preferred, or an entire
basket of a single kind. This plant also
prefers a light, sandy soil with liquid manure occasionally. I have sometimes had
my oxalls dissappesr entirely, and, at first
thinking it dead, I turned the soil out of
the pot; where I discovered quantities of
bulbs, fresh and just ready to start a new
growth, which they soon did, blooming
with fresh vigor. Just the cause of the
freak I never understood.
For the shelf ln front, a tall, trellised fus
ohia for center-piece,with foliage plants on
either side, will make a brilliant showing,
wiped up, giving the  plants  proper care
without injuring the carpets.
A steady temperature of from sixty to
seventy degrees by day, and down to fifty
at night, is best adapted to the requirements of most plants grown in  oommon
windows.
■ •  .
Tbe Reading Circle.
EDiToas Indian*. Fauiih:
I heartily endorse the idea set forth in
your excellent journal concerning "The
Farmers' Reading Circle."
"Reading maketh a full man," says
Bacon. It Is as necessary for the farmer
to be full of agricultural knowledge to in-
WINDOW GADENING.
and after filling the box with geraniums
or other shrubbery plants, set German
Ivies, or any other drooping vines, along
the edge to cover the front of the box, and
twine about the rustic supports. No window will be perfect without pots of Eng-
gllsh ivy on either side to arch the window.
Too much cannot be said in praise of the
hardy plant for indoor nse. Growing
either lin the shade or in the sunlight,
bearing almost any change of temperature
to which a living room is subjected, it
still thrives and goes on ita quiet way to
beauty and perfection.
Maderia' bulb*, planted In boxes and
hang behind pictures, will send out dainty
runners and entirely wreathe the cords
and frames; although preferring strong
sun and rich earth, yet they will do very
well on the most scanty fare. And the
oommon ground ivy—the Jil go-over-the-
ground—of our childhood's kitchen garden, makes a very airy, delicate basket-
plant. The sweet alyssum of our mother's
flower-borders is also utilized, and this,
like the mignionette should be planted In
the pot where it is expected to bloom, as
transplanting after the profuse blooming
of summer they are sure to die. I
All plants, as well as people, require
fresh air, and their leaves, whtch serve) for
lungs, should be kept as free from dust as
possible. A fine rose watering pot will
aid In cleaning the leaves and leaf-stalks,
always showering the plants In preference
to pouring a quantity of water about the
roots, which necessitates a strip of oilcloth
underneath the plants, that oan be readily
sure his success as it Is for the lawyer to
be full of legal knowledge, or the physician
to be full of medical knowledge.
Those farmers who succeed In raising
fine cattle, hogs, horses and poultry are, as
a rule, thoroughly conversant with the
literature of those industries. Most of the
most successful ones have long pedigrees
of their stook at their tongue's end. They
know all the reliable breeders. They
know whose stock takes the premiums at
the State and county fairs. Their information la extensive. Now this knowledge
or information did not come to these sue
cessful men throngh dreams. No, it was
mainly gotten through reading, careful
and extensive reading. If every wheat
and oorn grower knew as much about
wheat and corn growing as the breeder of
fine stock knows about atock breeding, the
wheat and corn yield of Indiana wonld be
doubled, and the price realized by scientific feeding of the same would be immensely augmented.
It Is truly within the power of every
farmer to grow two blades of grass where
he grows but one now.
Above all men the farmer has no time
to spend in idleness. Nor should he spend
too much time in sleep. The long winter
evenings should be devoted to reading, to
studying, to thinking.
Barring the county weekly paper I am
inclined to think the majority of farmers
read very little. Perhaps during political
campaigns they read more. Every farmer
shonld read history, poetry, and the better
class of novels.   Hie soul should be filled
with the idea of the heroic, of the beautiful
and of the romantic. If for no other reason simply to get out of life all there is in
Ufe for his pleasure and gratification.
Nothing can be more conducive to the
realization of a higher intellectual sphere
than an enthusiastic reading circle. Every
school district thoughout Indiana should
organize suoh a circle this winter. Every
farmer who wishes or desires to better
himself should beoome an active member.
I think the circle should meet once each
week, at the most central plaoe, which
would be the school house. A president
and secretary should be chosen to conduct
and record the business of the meetings.
The president should always assign to
some member a week in advance, the
work to be reviewed. This member should
prepare a list of questions to be asked at
the meeting, based on that part of the
book to be read. The reading should be
thorough, the questions should be leading
so that the full meaning of the author
would become known.
After this the whole circle can engage in
a general discussion of the subject.
These meetings can be made still more
interesting by having occasionally a debate on some appropriate subject, in addition to the reading work. Subjects like
these:
Should the planting of corn be shallow
or deep?
Should the cultivating of corn be shallow
or deep?
Should the cultivating of oorn be frequent?
How much wheat should be sowed to
the acre?
How much clover seed should be sowed
to the acre?
When should clover seed be sowed?
By what process can an acre be made to
produce the most and best hay?
Is It more profitable to raise sheep than
hogs?
Is it more profitable to raise stock than
grain?
These and many other subjects that interest the farmer can be made very profitable through intelligent discussion.
The wives and daughters should participate in these meetings. Essays on related
subjects will add to the interest of the circle work. How to beautify home? The
raising of chickens, The making of butter,
How to bake a cake? How to roast a turkey? What shall I do? are excellent subjects for essays.
I believe if the farmers of any district
would organize a Farmers' Reading Circle,
follow the plan described, or any other,and
would throw themselves heart and soul
Into the work, that after a wlnter's'experi-
ence they would pronounce the work a
success and never afterward would they
allow a winter to pass without the organization of a society, having for It* object the
upbuilding of the noblest vocation man
can follow. Farmer, try the experiment.
Pekin, 111. F. w. Rkubblt.
What Per Cent.
Will you kindly say what per cent of fat
a good Jersey cow should show in her
milk on a good paying ration?—J. K P.
No oow la entitled to be ranked as a good
Jersey that shows less than 4 per cent fat
*n her milk. In th» Columbian dairy tests
the several herds showed as follows:
Cheese   Ninety-Day   Thirty-Day
Test. Test. Test.
Average.
Jerseys. 4 55 tr, to 5 4 4 6 to 5.3
On**rnseys 4.48 4.1 to 4 8 4.2 to 4.7
Shorthorns 3 5*8 3.3 to4.0 3.3 tj3.8
In the 9 day test the Jersey herd made 5
per cent and over, 16 daya. In the 30 day
test they made 6 per cent and over, 20
days. This impovement was due to the
dropping oat of some of the cows.
These figures give a fair guide as to what
good Jersey oows will do on good paying
rations.—JeraeylBalletin.