HOUSE-PETS
890
HOUSE-PLANTS
Canaries are naturally hardy, and disease is the result of neglect. The cage and perches should be kept very clean. Drafts, extremes of temperature and the steam of the kitchen are to be avoided. The best seed is equal amounts of canary-seed, rape-seed and millet. Supply sand, cuttle-fish and greens, but avoid sweets. Loss of voice is due to overfeeding, a cold or too much singing. Persian powder in the cage and among the feathers destroys lice. (See CANARY.)
Rabbits and guineapigs are popular as yardpets, though the former are often bred for eating, as the Belgian and Flemish varieties. The lop-eared varieties occur in various colors and require mild winters. The Himalayan is a smaller breed than the last, is hardy, and has a beautifully marked "mock ermine" fur. The Angoras, in white and other colors, are popular, but hard to keep clean on account of their long fur. The Dutch rabbits are smaller than most, are hardy and prolific; they are colored with a white collar. Rabbits breed several times a year, with from five to twelve in a litter. Clean straw should be provided for the nests. Provide clean water every day. Feed on hay and oats, with turnips, carrots ar.d apples. Feed grasses and leaves only afcer partly drying them out. Salt should be provided at all times. The pens should be shaded, be dry, have good ventilation, be protected from rats by wire netting, and furnish room for exercise. Does with young must be kept apart. The young are liable to internal injury if picked up by their bodies. Rabbits should be handled by their ears or by the nape of the neck. (See RABBIT.)
Guineapigs or cavies of the common sort are black, chocolate brown, reddish, gray, yellow, white and spotted. The Abyssinian and Peruvian varieties are both long-haired, the former albino and the latter in colors. The animals have nothing to recommend them as pets except their cleanliness and general hardiness. Their general treatment is the same as that of rabbits.
Pigeons are attractive because of their variety of color and form and for the possession of many human-like traits, some altruistic, others not. The best quarters, unless a special house be provided, are those rigged up in a loft, rather than boxes nailed outside of a barn, as they furnish more protection. If the birds are confined, an outside cage should be annexed. Pigeons breed in pairs, and must have a separate home for each family. They should be given plenty of clean water to bathe in, gravel, coal ashes etc. to peck at, grain and grass seeds to eat. They are fond of hemp seed, which may be used to tame them. The nests should have ab-SQrbents, as sawdust or fine shavings of
seasoned lumber,—never from resinous pine. Under good management five squabs a year can be raised by each pair. (See PIGEON.)
Many wild animals, as raccoons, rats, squirrels etc., can be kept as pets, and seem to be reconciled to their lot if captured young enough. The main requirements for health are cleanliness, exercise and food as nearly like their natural diet as possible. See Biggie's Pet Book and Hodge's Nature Study and Life.
House=Plants must contend with too dry air, too high temperature and lack of light and fresh air. They may be classed as those grown principally for their foliage and as those principally grown for their blossoms. The best plants of the first kind are those with leaves of leathery nature, or adapted to retain their moisture by other means. Such plants are the English ivy, the various cacti, century-plant, rubber-plant, fan and sago-palm and screw-pine. The flowering plants are best brought into the room when about to bloom and removed when through; of these are the "calla," chrysanthemum, cyclamen, freezia, heliotrope and primrose. The begonia, fuchsia, "geranium" and oxalis, though helped by similar treatment, are apt to be deprived of such benefits. Because of the moist air, the kitchen is an excellent place in which to grow these plants and to bring plants from the other rooms to recuperate, if it is impossible to provide a special room that can be kept moist. Zinc trays with moss, pebbles and water, to set the pots in, help to keep the air moist. Nonporous pots or vessels dry out less quickly than porous crockery. All should have holes in the bottom, and should stand in or above trays or saucers to secure good drainage. Thus the plants may be plentifully watered without depriving the roots of needed air. Broken stones or bits of crockery in the bottom facilitate drainage and soil-ventilation. Small pots need watering oftener than large ones. Most plants do best in a soil of equal parts of rotted sod, old leaf-mould, well-decayed cow manure and clean sand. Pots should not be too full. Plants should be potted before growth begins or after it stops. After growing all summer they need a rest, with little water, in a cool place. Insect and fungous pests are usually troublesome on account of lack of water and fresh air. Plants should be washed off with warm water; scale insects should be scraped off with a stiff brush. Night temperature need not be over 50 degrees, and may fall even ten degrees lower. Special directions for the growth and care of some of the more popular house-plants are here given. Begonias will grow better in north windows than will many other plants, but need considerable sun in the winter. They require e^rth composed Qf three parts loam and
