The Canadian Horticulturist. 173 



packing makes one of the very best mulchings I know of, it is clean and neat in 

 appearance, and fifty to one hundred pounds put on one and a half inches thick 

 will cover a large bed. This keeps the soil in a moist condition, thereby induc- 

 ing free root action, with rapid growth, which means an abundance of roses 

 Should very dry weather continue the bed should have a good watering at least 

 every ten days. There is another important thing in favor of the excelsior 

 mulching, having no weed seeds in it they will grow if the soil is kept covered 

 with it. Cut off all decaying blooms as fast as they show signs of going past their 

 prime. 



Good sized plants such as would be in 4-inch pots at the time of planting 

 should always be used. Very small plants are hardly ever satisfactory, as the 

 season is nearly over before they produce anything like a crop of flowers. The 

 best time to plant such a bed is about the first week in May. — Ex. 



Roses in Window Gardens. — To have healthy roses in the house the 

 plants should be washed and syringed frequently, and they must have plenty of 

 light and sun. They have to be watered whenever the soil becomes dry. Then 

 they should have enough water to saturate the entire ball of soil, but not so 

 much that the water stands around their roots in the saucers beneath them, 

 which is a rule to be observed with all house plants except aquatics. Fading 

 flowers have^to be removed at once. Straggling branches should be cut off 

 Few plants bear pruning better than the rose. Keep a constant look-out for 

 insects. 



All Fruits have a medicinal value, and the cranberry ranks as an anti- 

 scorbutic. It is a blood cleanser ; bruised and heated, not cooked, it has a 

 healing effect on humors. One cut in half and bound on a corn will cure it in 

 one of more applications. It will be equally efficacious in the case of pimples. 

 As an article of food the cranberry is too little known. Many families know it 

 only in the form of sauce, but it may be served in many other ways. A cool, 

 refreshing drink may be made by boiling the berries in water double the 

 measure of berries. Boil until the juice has been thoroughly extracted, sweeten 

 with one half-pound of sugar to the pint of juice, and bottle hot. Greengrocer. 



