INVITATION TO REDERS.—lVe want shot I, practical 

 notes on cultural methods atid devices, and sketches and photo- 

 graphs of choice plants, fruits, flowers, vegetables, garden-scenes, 

 implements, etc. Therefore, for any available article occupying 

 a half-column or so of space, or for any sketch or photograph from 

 which an acceptable engraving can be made, a year's subscription 

 to this magazine will be given. Please always so specify when 

 contributions are sent in under this offer. 



I. LITTLE TWIGS. 

 To Keep Seeds. — Keep the mice away. 

 Plant-growth now needs plenty of light. 

 Plan well now, that you may plant well later. 

 The best scions are those cut before solid freezing. 

 December is the best month for sending in subscrip- 

 tions. 



Notes of experience from subscribers are always 

 welcome. 



Name Your Home ; a good name will give both dig- 

 nity and individuality to a farm. 



Sweet Alyssum sown in pots now will be white with 

 bloom during the early spring months. 



A GOOD EDGING for a large clump of mixed shrubs is 

 the low and neat Dcntzia frracilis. 



Winter coverings for plants, etc., should be provided 

 this month, if they are to be of any service. 



A Christmas Present. — Some friend of yours who 

 grows green things would appreciate a year's subscrip- 

 tion to American Gardening. 



Flower-pot stains upon window-sills may be re- 

 moved by rubbing them lightly with line wood-ashes 

 and rinsing with clear water. 



It is a mistake to bring forcing bulbs into rooms hav- 

 ing a high temperature. Nature flowers them outdoors 

 in cool spring weather. 



Too LITTLE HEAT is less injurious to the health of 

 plants than too much, especially with regard to hardy 

 and half-hardy sorts. 



The gooseberry mildew can now be overcome by 

 cheap applications. Plan to make a new trial of the 

 fine English sorts. Gooseberry culture can be made 

 to pay. 



Feminine names for pistillate strawberries, and 

 masculine names for staminate ones, is a new and good 

 dea suggested in The Rural N'ew-Yorkcrhy omx vener- 

 able friend, E. Williams, of New Jersey. 



Fine deciduous trees must not be slighted for ever- 

 greens in planting a place, much as the beauty of the 

 latter is appreciated during winter. In England the 

 planting of evergreen masses is overdone. 



A Garden Note-Book. — If you did not note down all 

 the changes which you wish to make in your garden this 

 summer, do it now, or you may forget what they were 

 when the time for attending to them comes. 



An Enterprising Woman. — A London woman adver- 

 tised her wish to take care of valuable plants while their 

 owners were out of the city. She managed to secure 

 many patrons, and although she charges only small fees, 

 from this source she derives quite a comfortable income. 



Winter Cheer. — A new carnation, with this pretty 

 and appropriate name, is now making its appearance in 

 florists' windows. The blossoms are bright scarlet, i with 

 firm calyxes, and the habit of the plant is dwarf and 

 sturdy and free-flowering. 



Ants on Oak Trees, — A number of our authorities be^ 

 lieve that the galls on an oak, by attracting ants, lead to 

 the slaughter of quantities of caterpillars and other in- 

 sects, which are its natural enemies. He illustrates the 

 value of this protection by the statement that the inhabi- 

 tants of a single ant's nest may destroy in a single day 

 upwards of 100,000 insects. 



Gray's Field, Forest and Garden Botany is now 

 being revised by Prof. L H. Bailey, of Cornell Uni- 

 versity. This is the second book of Gray's given out for 

 revision by the Board of Corporators of Harvard. His 

 "Manual" was revised by the late Sereno Watson, 

 Gray's colleague, and J. M. Coulter, Pres. of University 

 of Indiana. Gray's will specified that the copyrights of 

 his books should go toward keeping up the botanical 

 library at Harvard, and that his books should be revised 

 from time to time. 



Two Fine Aquatics. — I'olamogetou pcrfoUat us is 

 one of the handsomest of our ponds-weeds, and a fine 

 plant for aquariums, artificial lakes, or carp-ponds. The 

 bright green leaves are rather closely arranged in two 

 ranks, and heart-shaped at the base; the border is beau- 

 tifully waved. P. luccns, shining pond-weed, is anoth- 

 er handsome species, growing from three to four feet 

 high, in the deep water of rivers and lakes. The leaves 

 are quite broad and from four to six inches long. — //'. 

 A. Brothcrton, Muh. 



