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138 



THE ILLINOIS FARMER. 



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week earlier. When ripe, thsy will hang 

 longer on the vines without decaying. The 

 situation can hardly be too suuuy. Deep^ 

 light, loamy soil, suits them best. I al- 

 ways save my own seed. I began, by sav- 

 ing a few of the roundest and smoothest 

 tomatoes I could find for seed; now I have 

 them, not flat or wrinkled all up, but as 

 round as an orange, and as smooth as can be 

 and quite large." 



THE FLORIST . 



The garden shrubbery the present season 

 w-ill exhibit an unusual amount of bloom 

 and beauty. The double flowering cherry, 

 peach and almond, have already dropped 

 their flowers. The lilacs and snow balls 

 are in their glory. Several varieties of the 

 spirae are in flower, and these uuappre- 

 ciated beauties will ere long be favorites in 

 the parterre. The Wieglea Ro.sea is in full 

 bloom, audits pink flowers .shov/ beauti- 

 fully among the green leaves of the plant: 

 they resemble greatly the Azelias of the 

 green house. The upright honeysuckles 

 are also in flower,and these miniature trees, 

 when properly trained, make a flue show ia 

 borders. The season of hyacinths and 

 tulips has passed. The dielytra is now in 

 full flower, and is in our opinion the most 

 beautiful of all the perennial herbaceous 

 flowering plants Perfectly hardy, it 

 springs up early in spring and is in flowers 

 with the lilac, and these continue a lovfr 

 time. Indeed, where the ground ia rich, it 

 has often a second flovvering in aalumii. 

 Roses promise a fine show; the biads are 

 now prominent,and in three weeks moi e they 

 will exhibit a mass of beauty in tLie gar- 

 dens of Springfield greater ihan ever seen 

 here before. 



Seeds of annuals are mostly planted, and 

 many of the young plants have appeiired. 

 We are in favor of their being put .into 

 clumps or masses, because in that posi tion 

 we think they show best. The Petunia has 

 become- a very popular flower, as v/ell 

 from its beauty as its hardiness and from its 

 blooming during the whole season. There 



are now many varieties superior to the old 

 sorts, aud they are cultivated with much 

 ease. The plant when once in cultivation 

 ROWS its own seed, and the oniy difficulty is 

 in thinning out the plants, so that each 

 good plant shall have a foot of room, and 

 the pulling np'of such plants as show poor 

 flowers. The Verbena is a most beautiful 

 plant for .bedding out, indeed, it has no 

 superior. The annuals should be kept free 

 from weeds, for they lose their beauty when 

 surrounded or dwarfed by weeds. 



lu a few days, the time not yet fixed on, 

 the Springfield Horticultural Society will 

 have their annual exhibition of flowers. 

 The prospect now is, that it will be a most 

 gorgeous exhibition, probably exceeding in 



interest any that has been previously held. 



.._ . — -1^, . 



Flower vases, when the plants are chosen 

 with taste, discrimiuately arranged, and 

 curefuily attended to, are very beautiful. 

 To succeed v/ell. in vases in a climate like 

 this, where tiie sun strikes on any isolated 

 object, as a vase, with "extraordinary power, 

 corisiderable attention is required in the 

 wateriiig, so that flowers never become 

 parched. A raulchins is of great benefit to 

 arres't evaporation. 



The scarlet geranium or a fuschia will do 

 well for a centre plant. About this may 

 be arranged some of the following, as fancy 

 may dictate: Gahiirdia pieta, or other 

 varieties; cnphea platyceutra; heliotropes, 

 verbenas, and petunias; the two latter suf- 

 fered to hang over the outside. Besides 

 these, a plant cr two of inamandia, loasia, 

 and thunbergias ciay be introduced to hang 

 in festoons over *L j side. — [Exchange. 

 '■ <» — 



JE@="The fly has been very destructive to 

 cabbage plants the present season. They 

 take the plants as soon as they appear above 

 ground, and eat them off smooth. This 

 Ciin be prevented by sowing the seed in a 



hot bed; but* some of onr country friends 

 have a way of raising plants which are en- 

 tirely unijijured by the fly. They put a 

 little manure into a trough or box, place 

 earth upon- the manure, and sow the seed 

 as usual. They then elevate the box on a 

 frame or fence, any thing that will raise 

 the box three feet from the ground will an- 

 swer the purpose, and keep the earth 

 moderately. moi.'St. In this way good plants 

 can be always secured. 



