THE PLANT WORLD UNDER CARE. 



47 



strong and thrifty. The Ammobium 

 that produced small white flowers was 

 especially oi botanical interest in that 



the leaves, small and lanceolate, extended 

 down the stem in the form of leaf-like 

 wings. It plainly showed the close con- 

 nection of stem and leaf, — a modifica- 

 tion for different class of plant work to 

 he done. The coloring of some of the 

 brighter kinds was marvellously exquis- 



1 hiring their cultivation in the gar- 

 den, they had attracted the attention, not 

 only of my friend, the Aged Resident, 

 but of numerous passing strangers, who 

 Stopped to admire and remained to ques- 

 tion. When summer tied and winter 

 had possession of the garden, the gar 

 dener's friends smiled at the sight of his 

 boxes of straw dowers, and, with a 

 heart made joyful by the sight of the 



A HAT TRIMMED WITH "BACK YARD MILLINERY. 



ite, changing in different lights and sug- 

 gesting changeable silk. 



As the flowers unfolded, they were 

 cut with seven or eight inches of stem 

 and pinned upside down on the edges of 

 shelves or on sticks especially placed in 

 "racks" for the purpose. With some 

 kinds it was necessary to learn by ex- 

 perience just the right time to cut them. 

 If too early, they shrivelled up; if too 

 late, they "went to seed," the heads fall- 

 ing to pieces and floating away as do 

 tufts of milkweed or dandelion. 



When thoroughly dry, the flowers 

 were packed in boxes, for convenience 

 in handling and preserving. 



beautifully variegated petals, murmured 

 inarticulate words about the "conserva- 

 tory" and the "greenhouse," and as they 

 passed on, after another admiring look, 

 gently declined to listen to him when he 

 said "out of doors," or "my own back 

 yard," or "just along the front fence." 

 But the reader knows and believes. 



The stem and leaves of some, espec- 

 ially of the Amobium, remained green 

 and continued to grow even in midwin- 

 ter. I commend these beautiful, papery 

 everlastings not only for permanent bou- 

 quets whose beautiful colors will bright- 

 en the home during the entire winter, 

 but as an ornament for the buttonhole, 



