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. “Oh, very fair and sweet am I,
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'’■’ST & “The earth, the air, the sea and sky.
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* A faithful guard o’er me they keep.
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Throughout the night, and through jBBBKBf'
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' “A grateful little flower am I, (•
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Flower Talks.
[Note.]—Letters or MSS. for this Department
(but for no other) should be addressed to Mrs.
Imogene E. Johnson, Box 168, Los Gatos, Cal.
OR those who keep plants in the house
during winter, now is a good time to
he rooting cuttings. For the root
ing of cuttings, a box of sand is desira
ble. Sand that has a small amount of
earth intermingled is the best. The sand
must be always moist, and in a half shady
place, as too great heat is not well.
For Geraniums, the cutting should be
selected of strong, vigorous wood, and af
ter having been taken off, left to dry over
on the peel before putting into the sand;
this will keep them from damping off. I
had rather have a cutting four or five inch
es in length than a larger one, as a rule.
Heliotrope and Fuchsia are easily rooted,
if small pieces of soft wood are taken, and
placed in the sand with a glass turned over
them until growth begins. Begonias
should be treated in the same way. For a
handsome lot of plants for the house in
winter, an assortment of Geraniums, both
double and single, a skeleton leaf, and a
rose-scented; a Fuchsia or two, several Be
gonias, and a few foliage plants, will fur
nish a variety, and make an attractive bit
of greenery for the sitting-room.
A very handsome plant, for outdoors or
in, is the dwarf Ageratum; it grows read
ily from slips, and in a very short time be
comes a thing of beauty, with its attrac
tive green foliage and clusters of fluffy blue
flowers.
A convenient article for the veranda,
and one that is very ornamental, is a plant
screen. Have made a box of four, five, or
even six feet in length, according to the
space for which you require it; perhaps
four feet is as long as is really convenient.
Let it be a foot in width, and the same in
depth. Have it well secured at the cor
ners, to prevent warping, and place under
it a stout and large set of casters; from the
centre of each end let an upright stick rise
four feet, and build a rack for vines on
these; or, better still, stretch a piece of
coarse wire netting across.
The box finished, fill it with rich earth,
and then plant vines in it. When
these are grown you will have a handsome
screen that may be used upon the veranda
to shut off either a view of the occupants,
or a breeze that is too brisk. Perhaps Ivy
is as good as anything that can be found
for a box of this sort, as its strong growth,
and thick, leathery foliage render it less
susceptible to winds and disturbances than
almost any other plant.
• «*•**•
There is one of the old time favorites
among the annuals that is deserving of a
place in every garden, particularly in the
North, where the short seasons make an
nuals desirable, and that is the Mirabilis,
or Four O’clock. They are easily grown,
grow into a bushy' plant of considerable
size in a short time, and are covered with
bloom from the time they are ten inches
high until frost comes. Nothing can be
sweeter than they, when the dew of a sum
mer’s night kisses the perfume from their
dainty trumpets. Our mother and our
grandmothers, too, grew them; and what
one of us cannot see again, as we inhale
the fragrance of the Four O’clock, the
dear old homestead with the vine-covered
porch, where the loved ones sat and looked
out into the moonlit garden? And then
see a white-robed figure flit down the walk,
between the rows of blossoming flowers, to
the gate where, under the shade of the
trees, we could still see the gleam of the
white drees, as the sound of her voice came
to us intermingling with the deeper tones
of a manly one. Ah! yes, the days are
faraway, and the dear daughter of the
house went out to the gate in another
white robe, with the owner of the manly
voice beside her. Later, she was borne
along the flower-bordered path, for the
last time; her robe was white, but not
whiter now than her face, or the pearly
hands that were filled with white roses ;
the manly voice was silent, except for sob
bing,as he bent over the white brow of his
dear one.
Many of these old-fashioned flowers are
dear to us from association, and for that
reason we ought to be thankful that a
great many of them are well worthy a
place among more fashionable ones.
The Campanula, or Canterbury Bell, is
another old favorite, and its beautiful bells
add a touch of blue that is desirable in a
garden. A row of Hollyhocks of the deli
cate shades of pink cream, and salmon,
mingled with the crimsons and maroons
along a garden fence make a stately ap
pearance.
Poppies are grown of such beautiful
colors, and such superb size, that they are
well deserving ot a place. The single
ones, of large size, are lovely; there are
white centres, with scarlet-fringed edges ;
and those with the fringed edges glowing
like coals of fire, with the centres, black as
night, looking like gypsies of the garden ;
then the giant double ones, six or seven
inches in diameter—great fluffy balls of
pink, white, red, or amaranth, are most
gorgeous affairs.
And, for late blooming, the Asters, of
different shapes and many shades of color,
are another legacy from our grandmothers’
gardens, and a most appropriate close to
the season’s wealth of bloom.
*******
Mrs. S. A. wants to know how to graft
Cacti. Will some one who has had expe
rience, kindly give us directions?
Miss T. M. G. writes: “ I want to tell
you what a cheerful flower garden I have
this summer. I live in a little hall bed
room, on the fourth floor, in a big city
boarding house.
I love flowers, and sadly miss the gar
den of my country home. I got a box that
would just fit my window sill, which is a
WOMAN’S WORK.
p led up in some out of the way
corner, where one may go and
dip the pot without more trouble. Good,
rich loam, with a fair supply of hen ma
nure, is good ground for nearly every sort
of plant. Where loam is not to be had,
well-rooted sods, sand, and your ordinary
garden soil will answer well. Ot course if
your garden is sandy, the further use ot
sand is to he omitted, and some stiffer soil
used in its place. Hen manure is an excel
lent fertilizer, but as it is strong, a small
amount goes a good ways. It does not
send up such a crop of weeds as barn-yard
manure. Roses, especially, grow luxuri
antly if fed with it.
*******
Dear Editbkbs :
I want to toll you what a pretty bit of
garden I have under a north window, and
one that planted itself, too. The plants
came up there, and after I noticed them, I
worked the ground around them, and let
them grow. There are three sunflowers,
not of the giant sort, though they are seven
or eight feet tall, rather slender, with me
dium sized flowers; these stand some little
distance apart, and a number of the old
fashioned Love-Lies-Bleeding have grown
up to heights of from three to six feet.
Blue Morning Glories have climbed all
over and around the upright stalks of the
Sunflowers, while the Love-Lies-Bleeding
is twining and festooning back and forth
among the taller plants until it is all a
graceful tangle. The yellow discs of the
Sunflowers, the long, drooping, blood-red
plumes of the Love-Lies-Bleeding, and the
purple trumpets of the Morning Glories,
make a most enchanting bower of loveli
ness. Looked at from the window, it is
the prettiest sight I ever saw. I show it
to everybody. I never should have
thought of planting those things together,
and yet what a beautiful combination na
ture made! The Euphorbia, or Snow-on
The-Mountain grows wild here, and what
is cherished as a choice foliage plant in
some places, is a common weed here, called
“milk-weed.” But then, all plants grow
wild somewhere, I suppose. lam glad
that we have a floral department to our
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THIS IS THE GREATEST HONOR EVER AWARDED IN THIS COUNTRY TO A PIANO MAN
UFACTURER. EXAMINE THESE OUR LA TEST PRODUCTIONS BEFORE PURCHASING.
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good broad one, and
little by little I filled
it with earth. When
I had it full I plant
ed double Portulacca
in it; it grew well
and has been covered
with blossoms every
day for a month.
“On a stand by the
window I have a
Fern and a Lycopo
dium, that show a
green bit of coolness
that is quite refresh
ing on a hot day.
“I will never go
without a window
box again while I
have to live cooped
up in a small, city
room.”
Miss T. H. writes
that she always bakes
the soil before using
to fill pots for flowers.
It is a very good plan,
as it effectually kills
all worms, eggs, etc.
Like a great many
other things, it is the
“ounce of prevention”
and, though a tire
some process, yields
great results.
Always take pains,
in filling pots for
plants, to get good,
sweet earth; nothing
from a sour, musty
place, as plants will
> not thrive in such
soil.
It is a good plan to
have a large quanti
ty of soil that is suit
able for potting, well
mixed, and then
paper again, as I am sure all flower lovers
must be.
Mrs. A. Brown.
*#•**•*
Mrs. C. D. H. asks what will grow well
as a basket plant in a north window.
Tradescantia, or Wandering Jew, will
thrive in almost any place. The finest
plant I ever saw grew in an old tin pail,
hung near the ceiling, before a north win
dow. Loam enriched with half a pint of
hen manure filled the pail, and the Trades
cantia, the green variety, (which, by the
way, is the strongest grower of the family)
grew and grew, like Jack’s bean stalk. It
grew until it reached the floor, and was
a dense green mass, two and a half feet
through. Plenty of water given about
twice a week in dry weather, and once a
week in cool or damp weather, with no
drainage, suits the Tradescantia. It will
never grow yellow at the top of the stems
if always kept wet, but if allowed to dry
up and lose the leaves, it is no longer beau
tiful. When a plant of it gets scraggy and
poor,throw it away,and re-set afew thrifty
ends, which will soon make fine plants.
Placed in a vase of water, pieces of this
accommodating plant will grow for a long
time, forming pleasing bits of greenery
for shelf or bracket. Os course, in this
way it does not make much of a growth,
but keeps fresh and green, and for winter
is a pretty ornament. English Ivy is an
other vine that may be kept in water for
decoration.
For Woman’s Work.
STERN TESTIMONY.
A physician was quoted the other day
as saying:—“Every woman who has grown
up in a corset, no matter how loosely worn,
is deformed.” A writer adds: “Thus
motherhood is robbed of its divinity ; for
all children should certainly have the
right to be born healthy and whole, and
not come into the world victims of de
formed mothers.”
Did you ever know a physician of stand
ing and integrity who did not denounce
more or less vehemently the wearing of
corsets ? I once heard one say, with flash
ing eyes:—“They are an invention of the
devil 1”
A friend who has been under the treat
ment of an eminent specialist, reports him
as saying: “I wish I had them all in a
pile and could set fire to them I”
The testimony of such men of science
and broad experience is valuable; but it
seems to me unnecessary proof to any wo
men who has a mind of her own. From
her experience and reasoning she should
draw the same conclusion—that corsets
are detrimental to perfect womanhood and
motherhood. Whatever mars maternity
is an enemy to civilization and Christianity.
Is not this one consideration enough to
make us heed the counsel of the wise?
Should the added argument in favor of
art and grace and beauty, be necessary ?
Not long ago, a lady was conversing
with the wife of a prominent missionary,
who for years had resided in China. As
is usual, the lady expressed horror at the
barbarous custom of foot-binding. The
missionary’s wife smiled and said that
Chinese women do not think foot-binding
half so barbarous as the waist-binding prac
ticed by the following of European fash
ions ; that they consider tight-dressing not
only ugly, but such a display of the form
indecent.
A stern rebuke surely! It seems indeed
a presumption for us to preach to Chinese
a religion to abolish cruelty of foot-bind
ing, when by a “whale-bone” prison we
deform and weaken our bodies m a more
serious way. The Christianity that would
give freedom to the feet, should certainly
call for emancipation from the misery of
corsets and tight dressing. We are prone
to think the Chinese heathen; are we civ
ilized ?
Margaret Mkll.
Os all the joys that bless mankind, the
sweetest is the joy of a new found love.
7