5
A Few Good Plants for
the Dining-Room Table
Another
Record!
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THK first requirements of plants
which are to be used for orna
menting the dining-table is that
they be small not over six or eight
Inches in height except in rare In
stances, when plants 10 to 12 inches
may be used. When the centerpiece
is too high. It becomes an uncomfort
able obstacle to observation and con
versation. Ferns are best for table decoration
because they are small, long-lived In
the case of several varieties, and
cheap, as a rule; at most greenhouses
one can buy them grown in two or
three-inch pots for 10 cents apiece.
The best, or at least the hardiest,
of the small ferns, are the pteris.
There are several of them, and the
oddly shaped, and, in some cases,
peculiarly marked, fronds make them
very attractive.
The so-called umbrella palm also
makes an excellent centerpiece until
It grows too tall, but a small plant
will not, as a rule, grow so fast but
that It can be used all Winter.
Slow Growers,
Pandanas Vietchli, Asparagus
plumosus, var. nanus, the silk oak
(Grevillea rodusta), Cocos Wedel
liana, and Phoenix Rocbelllnl,
re excellent plants for use as
the main plant. Although they will
all eventually grow large, their
growth is slow, so that, with few ex
ceptions, the trying conditions found
In the ordinary house will cause the
death of the plants long before they
become too large for use. Around
these larger plants there should be
smaller ones, to cover the soil, and
for this purpose the small ferns al
ready mentioned are excellent. The
small fern allies, too, like selaginella
and lyeopodlum, may be employed In
the same way.
Whatever the plants, however,
they must have good care if they are
to prove satisfactory for more than
a few days. Only recently I over
heard a woman complaining to her
florist that the plants in her tern
dish, which she was using as a cen
terpiece, were not good plants.
A few questions only were needed
to elucidate the fact that, as the
woman had bought the plants to
decorate the dining-room table with,
she had kept them on the table con
stantly, which, of course, was a great
mistake. Ferns, palms and other
plants must have light; therefore,
when the table Is cleared, the best
plan is to put the plants in a North
or other window, where they will re
ceive an abundance of light, but not
the direct rays of the sun, except, pos
sibly in the early morning and late
afternoon. Watering must also be
carefully attended to,
The dishes used for table center
pieces are so small that, under ordi
nary circumstances, the soil dries out
rapidly. If a special dish, large
enough to allow the packing of damp
moss around the pot containing the
ferns is used, a more uniform con
dition of moisture can ba maintained,
but the dish will be so large 83 to
look clumsy. A better way would
be to have a moss-filled dish or box
tn a north window in which the dish
may be set during the time it is not
oa the table.
Hardening Plants.
One reason why centerpieces and
other plants bought in greenhouses
often fall to give satisfaction is that
the plants have not been hardened
off to meet the conditions found In
the ordiuary house. To circumvent
this, get the fern-dish filled with such
nlants as you like that will succeed
in the house under ordinary condi
tions, and then ask the florist to
keen It for you a week or two until
the soft growth, if there is any, has
been hardened off, so that the plants
will not wilt or the leaves turn
brown shortly after they are taken
home.
Ornamental centerpieces for table
ferns are to be found in great va
riety both as respects material ana
nize. Brass fern-dishes are particu
larly attractive and may be secured
for as small a sum as one dollar.
China dishes, attractively ornatnent-
nrt. are used, to a large extent, ana
cost from 25 cents up. Sometimes
It is possible to find dainty, small
lardinieres Imported from Japan,
which make very attractive center
pieces when containing single small
rrn. These lardinieres come both
in a deep green and a dark red, and
have characteristic Japanese decora
tions. Silver fern-dishes are fre
quently used, and, while somewhat
expensive, are always ornamemui uu
la good taste. By n. n. neary.
Trimming Grape Vines.
The old rule which has become
well established la to trim grape
vines In early Spring.
That Is a good time to trim it the
The Second Special Train of
Automobiles for the Season 1915
Will Be Bricks, of Course
100 Carloads
500 Automobiles
will leave the Buick Factory, Flint, Mich., February 20th, consigned to the
Howard Automobile Company for distribution on the Pacific Coast.
This will be the most valuable shipment of first-class freight ever made
in the world, and breaks the former record of 88 carloads established by the
Howard Automobile Company in 1913.
$550,000
or more than half a million dollars is the value of this trainload of
Buicks. The freight alone will be over fifty thousand dollars.
Our second trainload for the season.
, REASON? BUICKS SELL!
Howard Automobile Co.
MEL. G. JOHNSON, Manager
Phones Main 4555 and A-2550 Fourteenth and Davis Streets.
nanihm' nr snmpthins else does not
interfere until the vines are full of
sap, and bleed profusely when tne
trimming is done..
After the fruit and foliage is oft
the vines, the sap returns to the
roots, and then is the best time in
the whole year to prune the vines.
Late in November, or during the
month of December is an meal time
to prune thoroughly and properly.
Gi.m-r.oiv anvnnp la wtlline to trim
a grape vine as much as it actually
noeds. It loons too mucn line rum
inn ti,o irinoa to remove the surplus
growth that should come away.
Thin the vines out wen. nemove
,.,., AaaA nr riicpnaprl nnrtion. and
much of the growth made during the
past season. Thin out so me ugni
can find its way through next season
when the new growth appears, and
the foliage is heavy.
Place the vines over and about the
wish them, and
tie up carefully so the Winter winds
cannot beat the vines auout ana in
jure the wood.
Pieces of old shoe leather wrapped
about the vine and tacked to the
arbor make good retainers, but care
should be taken not to have these
too tight. J. T. T.
01d-Fahicned Peony
Is Again a Favorite
THE peony is becoming one of
the popular flowers again. The
oldtime garden was not complete
without a generous supply of large
double peonies in red, white and
pink. Today there are hundreds of
varieties, varying greatly In form
and embracing almost every shade
from pure white to the darkest violet
red. Odd and beautiful as many of
these new sorts are they do not
greatly excel the old favorites, and I
would advise a liberal use of the old
standard doubles, for they are not
so expensive as the new sorts and
probably somewhat hardier, forming
strong clumps in a shorter time.
Peonies like a deep rlou loam, high
enough so water will not stand
around their roots, and the surface
soil should contain sufficient decay
ing vegetable matter to prevent its
becoming compact or forming a
crust.
Stir a liberal supply of thoroughly
rotted manure or some bone meal
into the soil just before growth be
gins In the Spring, and later give
a light mulch unless you Intend to
give thorough cultivation throughout
the season until they have matured
the eyes tor the coming year.
The hardiness of peonies and thoir
compact habit of growth make them
especially valuable to plant with
shrubbery. A baokground oft ever
greens sets off their magnificent
blooms to advantage. Planted along
the edge of a clump of spirea Vau
Houttcl, or Bridal Wreath as It is
usually called, they form pretty
masses, but they should be fitted into
nooks in the outline of the shrub
bery rather than a solid row in front
of it, for the Bridal Wreath has
graceful drooping branches which
would not show to good advantage
over a row of stiff peony plants.
The best time to set peonies is af
ter they become dormant in the Fall
and before they begin to form the
tender shoots from the base prepara
tory to starting the Spring growth.
As this is done very early It is well
to get the work done during some
warm spell in Winter. Do not dis
turb the clumps when once planted
for several years, for they do not
take kindly to having their roots
disturbed, often refusing to bloom
for a year or so.
Orchard and Gurdun Notes.
It pays to pick up the fallen fruit
just as soon as it begans to Fall. Go
over the orchard each week and
gather the "drops" and feed to the
hogs. By so doing you will destroy
many insect pests.
Never cut a limb from a fruit tree
unless you know just why you do it.
If the rabbits have only gnawed
the outer bark wrap the wound with
cloth.
Cowpeas or vetch makes a good
cover crop for the orchard.
Blow Out Your Stumps
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