1871. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



121 



long, and will be of a green color at first, but 

 change to a rich bluish purple, and bloom for 

 a week or oven more. The calyx is large, and 

 the long stamens, seemingly growing at one 

 side of it, give to the flower a grace and 

 beauty all its own. The plant was named for 

 a Spanish priest, Cobo. 



Stock gilliflowers, and the old fashioned 

 wall flowers, are great favorites of ours. 

 Their brilliant flowers and sweet perfume 

 make them in every way desirable. We al- 

 ways stow them away in a warm cellar until 

 this month, then bring tliem up, trim off their 

 awkward stalks, give them good plant food, 

 sun-light and air, and by March they are the 

 admiration of all. They will bear liquid ma- 

 nure twice a week. 



My Lantanas are commencing to grow rap- 

 idly, and the buds are forming all over the 

 fresh shoots. These plants thrive best in a 

 sandy soil, and should be sparingly watered 

 until late in January. They delight in fresh 

 air, and their brilliant, changing colors, — yel- 

 low and orange, white, yellow and crimson, 

 &c., sometimes to be seen on the same plant — 

 make them always interesting, but their ^ler- 

 fume does not charm us, — is rather disagreea- 

 ble. 



The Azalin is a favorite house plant. Its 

 shoAvy flowers covering its branches, make it 

 very attractive. It flourishes best in a soil of 

 leaf mould, sand and loam, well mixed, — two 

 parts of loom, &c., to one part of sand. The 

 roots are often injured by too frequent water- 

 mgs before the buds are formed ; but after 

 their appearance, care should be taken not to 

 let the soil become dry. Dm-ing February 

 and INIarch, the Azalia is an object of great 

 beauty. 



Double Azcdias have been produced, and 

 their flowers are very handsome ; but we have 

 a preference for the old-fashioned single pink, 

 and the pin-e, spotless white species. 



The Ahtifiloit will bloom this month, if it 

 has plenty of air and water ; but if the tem- 

 perature is hot and dry, its lovely flower bells 

 will droop and blast. It requires a sandy 

 loam to blow in perfection, and when it has 

 proper care, soil and temperature, it is as 

 beautiful a parlor tree as oue can desire to 

 possess. 



All roses, heliotropes and geraniums which 

 were stored in the cellar, can now be re-pot- 

 ted, trimmed, and brought to light and air. 

 If attended to in this month, they will be in 

 full bloom by the first of April, or perhaps 

 sooner. Roses must have a rich soil to blos- 

 som well, and old plants should be pruned 

 with an unsparing hand. Cut close and plen- 

 tifully, if you desire fine roses. The new 

 method of growing them is to prune very near 

 the ground, and to depend upon new, fresh 

 shoots from the roots, for buds and flowers. 



Many plants will require fresh soil at this 

 season. We have had a general re-potting of 

 our pets, and are sure that they will be greatly 



improved by it. Their tender, fibrous roots 

 become interlaced and entwined around the 

 surface of the j^ot, and desire a larger space 

 in which to spread themselves. Run a broad- 

 bladed knife around the inner edge of the pot, 

 turn it over on your hand, rap on the bottom 

 of it ; the ball of earth will slip out into your 

 hand, and you can judge if it needs moi-e 

 room. You can also see if angle worms or 

 the tiny white mites are destroying the vitality 

 of the plants. If you detect the angle worms, 

 pull them out with your fingers, — don't shrink 

 from the touch of such a harmless bit of life. 

 If the minute wrigglers are there, take out all 

 the soil yott can without disturbing the roots, 

 and replace it with fresh earth, of which, if 

 you are a good floi-ist, you will have a bounti- 

 ful siqi])ly stored away in the cellar for this 

 very purpose, and in which to plant seeds, 

 so as to obtain an early supply of flowers and 

 vegetables. This fresh soil must be baked 

 and added to the pots just a little bit warm. 

 The soil that is infested W'ith white worms can 

 then be baked and used again. We always 

 bake the earth we use for our plants or seed 

 planting. 



Cacti are indispensable in every window 

 garden, on account of their gorgeous flowers. 

 Uncouth, snaky, prickly-stemmed though they 

 are, resisting all efforts to train them into any 

 shapeliness or comeliness of forms, and filling 

 one's fingers with their sliarj) nt-edles, still 

 we plead for them. They can be put away 

 on a shelf and not watered until this month 

 commences, and then place them where the 

 sun's hottest rays will tall tipon them, and wa- 

 ter plentifully. Soon their buds will appear, 

 and in a few weeks tliey will rejoice you with 

 the splendor of their huge scarlet chafices — 

 tasseled with shaded violet tassels of flossiest 

 silk, and at the bottom of their brilliant cups 

 are seen rare shades of apple-green. The con- 

 trast of their colors are both rich and rare. No 

 plant of delicate, graceful foliage can boast 

 such coloring as the homely Cactus plant ex- 

 hibits in its flowers. A single blossom lights 

 up a whole room — is a picture in itself ! 



The Ci'ab Cactus possesses most curiously 

 shaped flowers, yet so brilliantly colored, and 

 every tip of its peculiar leaves displays the 



"Rare, consummate flower." 



Cactus Flagelliformis and Cactus Mallisoni 

 are very desirable for hanging baskets, or the 

 pot in which they grow may be suspended by 

 cords from the casement, and their snaky- 

 shaped branches will be covered with bright 

 waxy pink or crimson flowers. 



We found a Cactus growing wild among the 

 green fields of the Rocky Mountains last sum- 

 mer, and carried it safely home. It has not 

 grown any, but as it still lives, we have hopes 

 of its future. We brought two specimens, but 

 the rarest, a turban-siiaped variety, became 

 too dry to be restored to life. Immense 

 prickly pears, which belong to the species of 



