374 



CURRENT GARDEN LORE. 



use. This vin-e now covers a large arbor-like trellis. 

 Such an arbor can be made very cheaply, and will not 

 only give a good support to a few grape-vines, but it will 

 afford a fine shelter for children to play under during hot 

 summer weather. The diagram shows such an arbor, i6 



Gr.-\pe-Arbor for Fo 



feet long. 6 feet wide and 6'4 feet high. Six posts 9 feet 

 long ; three scantlings, 2x4 inches, 6 feet long ; fifteen 

 wires 16 feet long, and a few nails and staples, are all the 

 material required. One day's labor will be sufficient to 

 build the arbor and plant the vines — two on each^ide of 

 the arbor. A good selection of varieties would be one 

 each of Concord, Worden, Brighton and Niagara — all 

 strong-growing sorts which would soon cover the arbor 

 entirely. I believe more grapes can thus be grown on 

 the same ground than with the ordinary trellis system. 

 — Fai-mei-s' Adi'ocate. 



Orchids for Windows. — Cypri- 

 fcdiiim i)isif4iic is a capital plant 

 for the south windows of a living- 

 room, where no gas is burned. This 

 is one of the handsomest of orchids, 

 and its bloom lasts for six or more 

 weeks when properly managed. The 

 blooms must be carefully preserved 

 from water overhead, but the roots 

 of the plant must always be kept duly 

 moist. This will be specially neces- 

 sary after having a fire in the rooms, 

 because the soil quickly dries under 

 these conditions ; and if not watered 

 soon after becoming dry, the plants 

 speedily become unhealthy. During 

 the spring and summer they should 

 be sprinkled overhead to wash away 

 the dust and dirt, and may be stood 

 outdoors when a steady warm rain is 

 falling ; such a washing will be found 

 to benefit the plants greatly. The 

 pots for the reception of this orchid 

 should be half filled with broken 

 pieces of pot, and above this a good 

 layer of sphagnum moss should be 

 placed, using for soil a potting mixture compo.sed of peat 

 and loam in about equal parts, to which may be added 

 some chopped sphagnum moss and a little dried cow- 

 manure. Press the compost down firmly about the roots, 

 and thus prevent the richness of the soil from being use- 



lessly washed away ; in the latter loose state the strong 

 roots could not work through it so well. The best time 

 for repotting is immediately after the blooms have faded, 

 and if a favorable opportunity occurs it may be done just 

 before that time ; but do not repot merely for the sake of 

 doing so. If the plants do not want a fresh pot, then re- 

 surface them with fresh earth at this time, dividing the 

 stem and making several more plants. And here I would 

 speak against the absurd practice of using the knife for 

 the purpose of division ; it may be wanted just to separ- 

 ate the growths, but afterward this instrument should be 

 put out of reach, as the roots can be carefully unraveled 

 without its aid. — Gu>-dc}iin,if lllustralcd. 



The China Fringe-Tree. — The botanical name of this 

 plant is Cliiouatitluis rt/nsus, and the generic name 

 comes from two Greek words signifying snow and flower, 

 in reference to the snow-white flowers. The plant is a 

 low shrub, a native of China and Japan, whence it was 

 introduced into this country in 1850. It flowers in May, 

 and the blooms are produced in cymes terminating the 

 shoots. Just before expansion they resemble the flowers 

 of a snowdrop, but when in full bloom they are erect, 

 with deeply four-parted corollas, the segments of which 

 are narrow, as in the flowering ash {Fraxinus ornus) ; 

 bot-h are members of the olive family. C. j-eLusus has 

 been grown in the open air in this country, and is hardy. 

 The flowers are sweet-scented. — Cardoiiiitr World. 



Flower of China Fringe-tree. 



The Spanish Dagger, or Angel's-Sword {Yucca 

 aloifoUa) is native in southwestern Texas, Mexico and 

 Florida. Not indigenous to Alabama, Georgia, Missis- 

 sippi and Louisiana, it was introduced into those states in 

 ante-bellum times as a decorative plant, and has now 



