424 



BUDS, BLOSSOMS, FRUITS. 



section, the plants become very large, almost shrubby, 

 and will produce hundreds of blossoms. They must be 

 supplied with abundance of water during hot, dry 

 weather, and after soaking rains must be examined, so 

 that any of them that may have been blown over can be 

 straightened and secured to stakes. There are several 

 varieties of marguerites ; the small - flowered ones are 

 hardiest, but the large-flowered kinds are most pleasing 

 and desirable. There is also a yellow-flowered variety, 

 but this is more difficult to manage If grown outdoors, 

 watered freely, and protected from cold winds and frosts 

 it succeeds well. — H. W. Smith, Louisiana. 



Vine-Arch for Graves. — A wire arch, about three 

 feet high and as broad, used for decorating graves, is 

 shown in the illustration. It may be covered with Eng- 



^^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^ '. ^ ''^^^ ^'^''^'y^ ^ 



one-fourth the length of the grave from the headstone, 

 which was low, as all headstones should be in garden 

 cemeteries. Such an arch is in much better taste than 

 the tall and more pretentious ones often seen in grave- 

 yards. In the absence of a wire-worker it could be con- 

 structed by anyone using four rods, one-fourth or three- 

 eighths of an inch in size, as a basis for corners. 



Growing Seedling Strawberries. — Select good- 

 sized and thoroughly ripened berries, perfect in shape. 

 Remove the seeds and sow them thinly, about one-fourth 

 of an inch deep in drills four inches apart. A soil half 

 leaf-mold and half sand suits them best. They may be 

 sown in a hotbed frame after the early plants are re- 

 moved. Give the young plants a little shade, and 

 plenty of water. Let them grow as they will the first 

 season, and give a light mulching of cut-straw or leaves 

 to protect them through the winter. The following 

 spring they should be carefully transplanted, about six 

 inches apart in the hotbed, and when large enough, set 

 in the open field for trial about six feet apart in the row. 

 If set closer they will run together and your varieties 

 will mix. The third year there should be a fair crop of 

 berries ; but it takes several years to test thoroughly a 

 new variety. There is room for better varieties than 

 any we now have, but it never pays to send out a berry 

 of doubtful merit. The best strawberries I have ever 

 grown were picked from a trial row of seedlings — there 

 was hardly a poor berry among them. — Mayflower. 



Some Simple Devices. — A clump of tall perennial 

 phlox in an out-of-the-way corner yields me double har- 

 vests every year. The blossoms are beloved by many a 

 quaint winged creature, and I like to gather a great hand- 

 ful of the tall blooms for a large jar beside the parlor 

 fireplace When the stalks are dry and stiff in autumn, 

 I break off quite a bundle of them, tie them with a stout 



cord, and hang the sheaf away in the tool-shed. They 

 are very useful about the flower-beds all summer to 

 prop up a tulip, a poppy, or any gorgeous flower whose 

 stalk is too weak to support its bunches. The little 

 crotches at the top afford secure resting-places for the 

 blossoms, and the slender prop is too inconspicuous to 

 annoy the eye. If the painted stakes chance to be all in 

 use, these substitutes do very well to support a bushy 

 plant. Break them off to just the right height, and set 

 taller ones as the plants grow. I like to keep trellises 

 and all supports as inconspicuous as possible. Old 

 hoopskirt-wires are useful among house-plants, being as 

 nearly invisible as anything can be. When heliotropes, 

 mahernias and plants of slender, bushy growth need a 

 support, take a piece of the wire, strip off the covering, 

 push one end down into the earth close to the side of the 

 pot, bend the wire over, and insert the other end in the 

 soil directly opposite. The top of the arch should be a 

 trifle lower than the top of the plant, so that the wire 

 will be concealed by the leaves. Other arches a few 

 inches higher or lower may cross this at the top at right 

 angles. Tie the branches loosely in place with green 

 worsted and no injury will be done them. I keep, in a 

 drawer near my plant-shelf, all the green cord that 

 comes from the druggists, to use in tying up plants. — 

 Prudence Primrose. 



Supports for Raspberry- Bushes. — Stakes and 

 twine are generally used for this purpose, but when the 

 wind blows, the canes sway back and forth, and so wear 

 away and break the twine, especially when they are cov- 

 ered with ice. Another, and a more complicated 

 method is, to set posts along the rows at fixed distances, 

 and stakes between, with a wire running the length of 

 the rows, or two wires, one on each side. To the latter 

 method there are more objections than to the former. 

 It is more expensive and less efficient. In heavy soils 

 posts and stakes are liable to get loose by heaving in 

 winter, the wires to become slack, and the whole fixture 

 entirely out of order. A simple, cheap and effective 

 way to train the bushes is to encircle each clump with 

 good strong twine — hemp or jute — running it just above 

 a limb or two, to keep it in place. Each cane is strong- 

 est against the wind from a certain direction and weak- 

 est in the opposite direction. Tying the canes together 

 makes each one a support for some other one. — J. 

 Hayes, Essex Co., Mass. 



Hard Woods. — United States Consul Ginnel, of 

 England, comments on various hard woods, used in the 

 manufacture of weaving-shuttles and wood-engraving, 

 etc., in a recent report. After speaking of the growing 

 scarcity of boxwood, which is derived from Bttxus 

 Balearica, closely allied to the box-trees of our gardens, 

 and which grows in Turkey, Asia Minor, he intimates 

 that the woods from the United States which most 

 closely compete with boxwood in the manufacture of 

 shuttles, etc., are first, cornel (dogwood); and, second, 

 persimmon. Where boxwood is worth, for small or in- 

 ferior pieces, from $29.20 to $34.07 a ton, prime and 

 very clear, $87.60 to $97.33 a ton, the cost of the Ameri- 



