Moisture

It would seem, at first thought, that the proper condition of moisture

could be furnished as easily in the house as anywhere. And so it can be

as far as applying water to the soil is concerned; but the air in most

dwellings in winter is terribly deficient in moisture. The fact that a

room is so dry that plants cannot live in it should sound a warning to

us who practically live there for days at a time, but it does not, and

we continue to contract all sorts of nose and throat troubles, to say

nothing of more serious diseases. No room too dry for plants to live in

is fit for people to live in. Hot-air and steam heating systems

especially, produce an over-dry condition of the atmosphere. This can

be overcome to a great or complete extent by thorough ventilation and by

keeping water constantly where it can evaporate; over radiators, etc.

This should be done for the sake of your own health, if not for that of

the plant.



Further information as to watering and ventilation will be found in

Chapter VII (page 45), but before we get anxious about just how to take

care of plants we must know how to get them, and before getting them we

must know what to give them to grow in--the plant's foundation. So for a

little we must be content with those prosaic but altogether essential

matters of soil, manures and fertilizers, which in the next chapter I

shall try to make clear in as brief manner as possible.