FOREST AND STREA 



T 



the spring is eighty-five feet and objects on its bottom can 

 be seen almost as plainly as if held in the hand. Visitors 

 usually take with them small, round, bright pieces of tin, 

 which appear like tiny mirrors lying on the bottom, which 

 is smooth and covered with a fine white sand. On the 

 western side is a broad ledge or cliff of rock, the top of 

 which is sixty-five feet below the surface. At the edge of 

 this cliff the water is black, and I found bottom at a little 

 over one hundred and twenty-five feet. Out of this Gulf 

 the stream seems to gush, and one can see the fish floating 

 over and in front of it, steadily maintaining their position 

 —though the somewhat quick motion of the fins and tail 

 show the resistance they are obliged to overcome. 



The water is impregnated with limestone, and is icy cold. 

 One or two persons who have experimented in swimming 

 in this spring, after a few seconds immersion, became so 

 benumbed as to require assistance to get back into the 

 boat. The sides of the spring are very steep ; being almost 

 perpendicular for some distance below the surface. The 

 river leading from the spring is full of grass, and among 

 this lie the fi3h. Fishing with a line is out of the question 

 — but many are caught with a "gig." 



There is a legend connected with the spring, which goes 

 on to say that many years ago, long before the white man 

 trod the shores of America, this spring was a little fountain, 

 and was the favorite resort of a pair of mastodons. One 

 day while standing at the spring, cooling themselves by 

 throwing over their backs "trunk-fuls" of the icy water, 

 the ground suddenly gave way beneath their feet — and the 

 ill-fated pair found themselves swimming in a lake of ice- 

 cold water. Terrifically they "trumpeted," and frantically 

 they strove to clamber out upon the bank— but the steep 

 sides afforded no foothold— until benumbed and overcome 

 with the cold, and feebly struggling, they sank, with their 

 trunks lovingly entwined, to rise no more. As my fair in- 

 formant remarked: "lovingly they had spent their lives 

 together, and in death they were not divided." The bones 

 of the ill-fated pair remained long at the bottom of the 

 spring— a memento of their fidelity and their fate. Some 

 years ago, some enterprising individuals succeeded in get- 

 ling out their skeletons, which were large and perfect, and 

 shipped them to New York. The vessel was wrecked dur- 

 ing the voyage and they were lost. * 



The country around Tallahassee is attractive and beauti- 

 fully undulating. There are many fine views, and pleasant 

 drives in almost any direction. All the varieties of forest 

 vegetation peculiar to the country, are abundant. The 

 superb magnolia, with its glossy deep-green leaves and 

 large cream- white flowers, the bay-tree, the live oak, so 

 famed for ship timber, the scarlet oak, the sweet gum, the 

 sycamore, the long-leaved pine, the catalpa, the hickory, 

 the beech, the wild plum and crab-apple, of size almost in- 

 credible until seen, the dogwood whose large, white flowers 

 and berries of vivid scarlet far exceed in size those of its 

 northern compeer— grape, and other vines of every variety 

 and size; the yellow jessamine, which climbs the trees and 

 overspreads their tops with its clusters, and hangs in grace- 

 ful festoons from every branch, in a wealth of floral pro- 

 fusion which illumines its surroundings, and covers its 

 forest supporters with a crown of glory. Along the fences 

 and hedges the Cherokee rose, (I may tell you its legend 

 some day), clambers in wild luxuriance— its fair snow-white 

 blossoms shining like stars in the dusk of the evening, as 

 you ride along. The oleander, the cape- jessamine and the 

 cr&pe-myrtle, puny shrubs and hot-house plants at the 

 north, here are trees, and grow to the height of twenty feet. 

 The camelia, too, reaches the height of ten feet or more, 

 and, living in the open air, blossoms with a luxuriance un- 

 known to its sisters of the northern conservatory. 



But why say more. The lover of the rod and gun 

 keenly appreciates all of nature's loveliness— and where is 

 the beauty and delicacy of God's handiwork more manifest 

 than in the "Land of Flowers?" Monmouth. 



*Chas. Lanman, Esq., in his " Wilds of America," eays that the bones 

 referred to were sent to Philadelphia by Geo. S. King, of Florida, and de 

 posited in the museum there.— Ed. 



Several mouths since a store boat sank near the little 



town of Reno, Indiana, which had on board among other 

 things several kegs of powder. One keg was carried up to 

 Mr. G-aley's and kicked around the yard for several days, 

 but at last the inquisitiveness of Mr G. overcame his accus- 

 tomed prudence and he determined *o experiment upon the 

 keu;. The powder had caked and become, to all appear- 

 ances, a solid mass, but was in fact streaked all through 

 with little veins of dry powder, which the water had affected 

 very little. Mr. G. applied a torch to the aiouth. of the keg, 

 and after considerable scraping and poking, the fire took 

 hold a few seconds before Mr. G. let go. The keg made a 

 puff like an infant Vesuvius, and bounded up t'ne hill like a 

 frightened coon— endwise. It puffed and smoked a few 

 mo"ments, when it made another spring into the air, turned 

 over several times, and made straight for Mr. G., who by 

 this time became somewhat frightened and began to yell 

 for water. This roused the entire family, and while Mr. 

 G and his eldest son were vainly endeavoring tc capture 

 the keg and kept busily avoiding it in its peregrinations, 

 the other members were busily heaving bucketfm after 

 bucketful in the direction of the kicking keg. One bound, 

 more lofty and vigorous than any of the preceeding <mes, 

 carried the keg tolhe top of the house, where it whined 

 and buzzed behind the chimney, until finally it rolled t>ff 

 and landed just in front of Mr. G., who sprang astride the 

 smoking thing and yelled for more water. It came. Buck- 

 etful after bucketful was thrown upon the man and keg a*, 

 thev rolled over and over the ground, filling the air with 

 smoke and soot and cuss words, until the tire in the keg 

 and curiosity in Mr. G. were both totally extinguished 

 The bare sight of a powder keg is sufficient to cause a cold 

 streak to run down Mr. G.'s spinal column.— Ex. 



-+*+- 



—The oldest timber in the world is in the ancient temples 

 af Egypt. It is 4,000 years old and perfectly sound. 



hodhnd, Wuwn m& %milm. 



WINDOW, OR PARLOR GARDENING. 



THE HALF DOZEN PLANTS.— No. H. 

 •'Bright gems of earth, in which perchance we see 

 What Eden was— what Paradise may be." 



WE often hear it remarked, in relation to plant culti- 

 vation in rooms in the winter months, that Mrs. 

 Flora, or Mrs. Pomona, or Miss Barefeet always has a 

 bright and lovely stand near her front windows always 

 bright and glowing with green leaves and flowers. And 

 quite often our fair questioners ask, "Why cannot I have 

 as fine a variety of rare plants in my room as Mrs. Laven- 

 der?" You can do so, and we are disposed to give you a 

 few practical hints of how to begin in order to be suc- 

 cessful. 



Beginners frequently make a mistake at the very outset. 

 They quite naturally suppose, after looking at a finely ar- 

 ranged, thrifty window garden, that this is all very easy, 

 and they have only to go and do likewise, and have as fine 

 a show as their friend. Very well; so they will, provided 

 they take the care, and notice every little requisite that 

 they will find they have overlooked. We do not wish to 

 discourage our lady friends from the pleasing amusement 

 of window gardening, but we wish them to understand in 

 the beginning that from the most simple elements the most 

 beautiful combinations and gratifying results may be ob- 

 tained. 



As you have constituted me your mentor, you must fol- 

 low as I lead. You must in the first place make up your 

 mind that were you to attempt the stocking and culture of 

 a large number of plants with complete success you will 

 assuredly fail. First attempts generally fall far short of 

 our anticipations. You must try and fail, and try again, 

 to a certain extent, and if you lose in plants you will have 

 gained in knowledge what you have lost in plants. Gar- 

 dening, and window gardening in particular, like all arts, 

 requires practice, self-reliance, and careful observation; 

 every little thing tells in the window garden. A lady said 

 to me, "O, the many, many failures I have made in my at- 

 tempts to cultivate good flowers ! I have made such sacri- 

 fices to cash, time, and patience that I think I should suc- 

 ceed, if only to reward me for my patience. " ' 'Have you 

 not obtained your reward in the knowledge you have ob- 

 tained under difficulties? Does not this beautiful passiflora, 

 that so gracefully twines its blossoming branches, covered 

 with flowers, alone compensate you for all your time, 

 money, and observation, your study and patience? Is not 

 this one splendid plant a reward in itself sufficient for all 

 your pains?" "Most truly, and now I can cultivate every 

 plant I attempt to place in my window, for I have learned 

 never to attempt impossibilities." This is my second point 

 of consideration— never attempt to cultivate plants or flow- . 

 ers you know nothing at all about. True, you will have 

 failures in the beginning; you must have, but remember, 

 you will have success in the end. 



The most essential requisites to window plant cultivation 

 is a knowledge of the proper appliances. Take as an illus- 

 tration of our subject, its simplest form. You have one 

 window which you propose to make into a window recep- 

 tacle of plants, flowers, &c. We will suppose it to be an 

 ordinary window only. This window is to be* fitted with 

 shelves to receive your pots, and in the first place you will 

 quite probably place a board upon the window sill, on the 

 inside, of eighteen inches width. This is for your bottom 

 shelf, and upon this shelf you will place your larger sized 

 pots, and you will place them as near to the glass as pos- 

 sible, in order to give them all the light and heat possible 

 from the outside as well as inside of the room. About 

 three or four shelves is as many as I wonld recommend to 

 begin with, and one shelf of six good pots is better well 

 cultivated, thrifty, and, as I expect from you, understand- 

 ingly, than a full shelf of meagre starvellings, as unsightly 

 as undesirable. If you prefer, instead of pots you can 

 have a neat bed made, of the requisite dimensions to place 

 on your shelf. It is a good plan. 



Full light and open air are loved by plants; one they 

 must have all the time, the other occasionally. With such 

 a window, arranged in this manner, suppose you begin 

 with one shelf of six pots, or a single long box of earth. 

 We think you could do yourself credit with these prelimi- 

 nary instructions, for they are as the stepping stones across 

 the brook. If you would ford the stream you must look 

 carefully to the wpy marks. If the window is fitted with 

 double sash, or a recess between the outer and inner sash, 

 so much the better, but of all these progressive arts we 

 shall inform you as you are prepared to receive the neces- 

 sary practical instruction. 



You will observe that in the first attempts at window gar- 

 dening on a small scale the great principles of heat, light, 

 moisture, air, earth and soils, in elementary or primitive 

 parts, and their compostings, are to be thoroughly consid- 

 ered. First— heat, the mover and great motive power, is 

 to be supplied as the plant requires, within certain limits; 

 tropical plants, heat of a certain degree, and plants of a 

 more temperate clime their climatic heat as nearly as pos- 

 sible. The medium heat is from forty to eighty degrees. 

 Now, w T e suppose, you are ready to commence your simple 

 wi^ ow garden with good plants. Do not buy your plants 

 of the venerating tribe of flower sellers, whose name is 

 legion, ana who are generally humbugs, but go to your 

 seedsmni or florist, ask him to select for you good honest 

 plants and bulbs, and if he is an honest man he will do you 

 no wrong. Ai^q. ya obtain new plants— plants that have 



bloomed during the summer are not such as you should 

 place in your window. Now as to the plants — nearly all 

 our ladies say first the old calla lily. Well, it is a grand old 

 plant, and its green leaves alone are full of beauty. Place; 

 this lily, if you have only one, in a good sized pot in the 

 centre of your window. You are to recollect that for this 

 lily the soil is to be composed of a compost made from rich 

 loam, one quarter sand, thoroughly decayed cow manure 

 two parts, and a small portion of leaf mould from the 

 woods. Two or three attempts will give you the required 

 parts of each. One fact bear in mind, for a general winter 

 compost have on hand in barrels in your cellar rich loam, 

 clean sand, old well rotted manure, leaf mould from the 

 woods, meadow peat, and for some plants the old rotted 

 stump soil found in our woods. We could tell you the ex- 

 act component parts, but we think you had better rely 

 somewhat upon yourself in the preparation of particular 

 soils. A very good compost for general use may be made 

 from rich loam, sand, cow manure, and leaf mould in equal 

 parts. I have successfully used it in the above form. If 

 you wish to add a camelia, rose, or geranium to your win- 

 dow, you will pot them in one part river sand, one part 

 leaf mould, two parts of turf or garden soil. In potting 

 your plants, press the earth well about the roots. There is 

 what we call an unpardonable mistake, made by many of 

 our friends, in not looking at the plant they would repot. 

 Repotting is an art of itself, and you will find it requires 

 knowledge to considerable extent, simple as it appears. 



Watch a skilful florist the very next time you visit a 

 green-house, and see how he repots any rose or geranium, 

 We will tell you how he does it, or how he should do it, to 

 have a good plant. He will take the plant he is to repot, 

 and turn it upside down, with his left hand over the pot, 

 the stem of the plant being between his fingers ; he now 

 gives the pot a smart rap, over the bin or barrel, and lifts 

 up the pot, having in his hand the plant, with its ball of 

 earth. See how very carefully he removes every worm or 

 insect he may find. "Now," he says, "this plant requires 

 a larger pot, for the roots are large and matted together, 

 sometimes closely around the sides of the pot." Heed this, 

 it is an infallible sign of ' 'bigger pot" wanted. Give this 

 plant a pot one size larger than the one you took it from. 

 Now place the ball of earth or roots in the centre of the 

 pot selected for its home, and fill it up all around with fresh 

 soil, pressing it down firmly either with a stick or with 

 your hands. Cover the "ball" with half an inch, and settle 

 the dirt in the pot by gently striking the same on the edge 

 of the table. You can now set your pot in your window. 

 As for stimulating your plants, there are quite a number 

 of good fertilizers, the effects of which I shall give in their 

 proper places in these papers. But after adding a good 

 strong plant of the English ivy {HedraheUx) on one side to 

 climb up a rustic trellice, and on the other side (if you do 

 not prefer the lantana, or running German ivy) you can 

 place a fine plant of the Begonia rex as a side plant. Never 

 think of potting a plant that has the ball of earth very dry. 

 You must have your root moist, for you cannot well water 

 it after repotting. A badly formed root will sometimes be 

 found in pots, and are called "snake curls" or "snag roots;" 

 these require skilful prunings to ever succeed. You can 

 only in cases like this repot in a smaller pot, to which you 

 have added powdered charcoal dust, and give gentle heat 

 and moisture, and you may succeed. 



There is no better or more showy plant to be had in this 

 country, or one that will give you the satisfaction that this, 

 under good culture, will. The leaves of this plant, in good 

 circumstances, grow to considerable height, are of quite 

 large size, and beautifully shaded with crimson, with an 

 intermixture of broad silver zones and irregular patches. 

 It is, as the ladies say, "a love of a plant," and we place 

 it first among our list of plants as deserving especial atten- 

 tion. 



In this paper we have laid down a few practical, simple 

 rules, the results of our own careful experience, and leav- 

 ing our readers to profit by the instruction of this paper we 

 will in paper number III take them a few steps further 

 on in this delightful study. . Ollifod Quill. 



Pruning Out-door Grape Vines. — This work, if not 

 already done, should not be delayed. Let the pruned vines 

 lie flat upon the ground, as it is warmer there than on the 

 trellis. Besides allowing them there until the buds have 

 started in the spring, it will have the effect of causing buds 

 to strike low, and thus provide new leaders to take the 

 place of old ones. Rampant growing vines should be cut 

 back more severely than slow growers, and none should be 

 trellised higher than six feet from the ground. Lateral 

 branches should be cut to two or three buds. The soil in 

 which grapes are grown should be kept in the best condi- 

 tion — ground bones being probably the best fertilizer. — 

 Germantoion Telegraph. 



■**♦ 



Resurrection op Long Buried Germs. — The Canan- 

 daigua Repository and Messenger 'has the following: — "About 

 thirty years ago, near the southern boundary of this coun- 

 ty, a farmer's wife, living in a small log cabin on a hillside, 

 planted in front of her door a plat of flowers, among wdiich 

 was the purple poppy. After the farmer built himself a 

 new house at a little distance from his former abode, to 

 take advantage of the hill, the road was moved so as to 

 run directly across this plat of flowers, and for tw T enty-five 

 years or mbre there has not been seen the least vestige of 

 any flower that formerly grew there. Last year, in work- 

 ing on the road, the hill was ploughed and scraped and gra- 

 ded down, and this year, circumstances proving favorable 

 for the germination of the long buried seed, purple pop 

 pies are blooming along that roadway." 



— What is the difference between a great coat and an in- 

 fant? One you wear the other yon was. 



