400 



THE HOUSEHOLD. 



BHySCHOCABPA OLOMEBATA. — FIG. 3. 



easily be noticed. This variety has already been cultivated for several 



years, and has proved perfectly true from seed. It represents a valuable 



addition to the assortment of ornamental graaaos grown on an extensive 



scale for bleaching purposes or 

 dry grass bouquets. 



EhjTichocarpa Glomerata, 

 Fig. 3, is a charming and inter- 

 esting climbing member of the 

 same family, from Brazil, grow- 

 ing twelve to fifteen feet in 

 height. Its branching habit and 

 thickly-set, abundant foliage 

 make it especially well adapted 

 for covering arbors and fences, 

 or for garnishing festoons. The 

 whitish flowers, as is mostly the 

 case in this tribe of plants, are 

 not very conspicuous, but the 

 deeply-cut, five-lobed leaves, 

 together with the numerous 

 hazle-nut-like fruits appearing 

 in dense clusters, render this 

 plant one of the most attractive 

 climbers for outdoor culture. 



To judge by the tuberous-like root it may bo treated as a perennial, but it 



succeeds well in any warm border as an annual. 



Begonia Davisii, Tig. 4, is a beautiful free-flowering new tuberous-rooted 



species of dwarf habit. The 



flowers are of the brightest 



scarlet imaginable, standing 



■well out of the foliage, as 



the illustration shows plain- 

 ly. Undoubtedly it is one 



of the finest introductions 



among the tuberous-rooted 



class. 



A Sponge Garden. — A 



hanging garden of sponge is 

 one of the latest novelties in 

 gardening. Take a white 

 sponge of large size, and sow 

 it full of rice, oats and wheat. 

 Then place it for a week or 

 ten days in a shallow dish, in 

 which a little water is con- 

 stantly kept, and as the 

 sponge will absorb the moist- 

 ilre, the seeds will begin to 

 sprout before many days. ^Vhcn this has fairly taken place, the sponge may 

 be suspended by moans of cords from a hook in the top of the window, 

 where a little sun will enter. It will thus become a mass of green, and cfto 

 bo kept wet by merely immersing it in a bowl of water. 



BEOONIA DAVISn.— HO. 4. 



