BUDS. BLOSSOMS. FRUITS. 



557 



the autumn this wilding is especially brilliant, with its 

 crimson foliage. Celastrus scandens, the bittersweet, is 

 also a fine climher. It is slow to start, but once estab- 

 lished it never flags. Its orange and yellow berries and its 

 pale yellow foliage make it very desirable for decorations- 



Fig. 



-A Sprinkler on Wheels. (Side 



Many native shrubs are worthy of a place in cultiva- 

 tion. Th:3 azalea, commonly known as honeysuckle, is 

 a beautiful shrub, and will repay a little kindness most 

 liberally. Bcrbet is j'ulffai-is is beautiful all the year 

 round. Its drooping racemes of golden bells and its bril- 

 liant red fruit make it a showy object until well into the 

 winter. Clelhra alnifolia is the most delightfully fra- 

 grant of any of our native shrubs, and while not espec- 

 ially showy, its creamy white blooms increase in size and 

 beauty under cultivation. There is much other native 

 beauty obtainable almost anywhere — native asters in 

 great variety, native lilies, cypripediums, gentians, gol- 

 den-rods, lobelias — yes, scores of other things that would 

 be eagerly sought in any place where they were not com- 

 mon. Asclepias tubei-osa for real worth is unequalled. 

 Once well established, it increases in beauty perennially. 

 It starts quite late in the spring, but grows rapidly, and 

 by August 15 forms a compact clump from one to three 

 feet in diam.eter and about two feet in height, covered 

 with umbels of brilliant orange-colored flowers, which re- 

 main unchanged for two or three weeks, — Chas. Pier- 

 son Augur, Connecticut . 



A Water-Cart and Sprinkler.— Water for my garden 

 must be carried from a distance, and so I rigged up a 

 barrel on wheels. The wheels of an old wheat-drill will 

 be serviceable for this cart, or old wagon-wheels may be 

 used, as in my case. The axle (I have a forge of my own) 

 was heated and bent until it would reach about half way 

 around the barrel. I bolted i><-inch old tire upon the 

 axle in the middle of the the bent part, then when past 

 the end of the barrel, I bent it straight up, till it came a 

 little above the barrel, then made a short bend at right 

 angles to take the bolt of the singletree of the shafts. 

 I then bolted short pieces on each side to lengthen the 

 shafts, put the shafts on, bent the iron up in front on fop 

 of singletree and put the bolt through. Next I m.ide a 

 staple to drive into the top of the barrel, ovL-r the 

 iron which comes up in front, and bent a piece of iron 

 over the top of the barrel. This holds the barrel so 

 that it can't rock, and also comes handy if you want to 



put a seat on. A sprinkler to sprinkle potatoes can be 

 put on at small cost, and if the wheels are too narrow to 

 span two rows, a pole can easily be put on, with extra 

 nozzle in the middle behind the barrel, so that three 

 rows can be sprinkled at once. All the material neces- 

 sary can be found around 

 almost any farm, except 



" jjjg sprinkling attachment, 



which must be bought at 

 a plumber's. It takes one 

 stop -cock, one T, four 

 pieces of pipe about a foot 

 long, four nipples, and a 

 '/ sprinkler for each pipe 

 used. The cross-bar of 

 the shafts will need to be 

 shortened to make it fit the 

 axle. The figures i, 2 and 

 3, herewith, illustrate this 

 sprinkler. — F. E. Pogue, Dclaiuarc. 



A Fine Shaded Border. — It is a front border, and 

 must be made attractive, but on account of shade, no 

 sun-loving plants will grow there. Last summer we con- 

 trived to have it a harmony of pink, rose-color and soft 

 shades of green. The background was filled in thickly 

 with hardy ferns brought from the woods. A dozen 

 choice coleus were planted near the front of the bed, and 

 between the ferns and coleus I set cuttings of Imfatieyis 

 Sultani taken from a year-old plant. They were stuck 

 down here and there all over the border, and began to 

 grow at once, blooming when only a few inches high, and 

 never ceasing until frost killed them. The root or stock, 

 from which the cuttings were taken, I set in the front 

 corner of the bed. It soon put out afresh and grew to be 

 a fine plant, more than two feet m height and diameter, 



1 END VIEW 



Flu. 2.— Sprinkler on Wheels. (End view.) 

 and covered with hundreds of soft rose-colored blooms. 

 Several pink geraniums bloomed profusely in this border. 

 Their trusses of bloom were almost as large as a snow- 

 ball. I had also in this border one or two blooming 

 begoniis; in future I mean to use more of them. Sweet 

 alyssum formed the edge of the border. — Mrs. W. V. L. 



Ferns and Palms for House-Culture. — No collec- 

 tion of plants seems complete without a few palms and 

 ferns, and though they were once considered unfit for 

 house-culture, the ease with which they are cared for, 

 even in a common sitting-room, has proved the contrary 



