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BUDS, BLOSSOMS, FRUJTS. 



But our friends go still further, for they have discovered 

 that the dust and shavings made in the process of manu- 

 facturing brushes contain a large enough percentage 

 of tannin to render it valuable to leather men for 

 tanning purposes. A waste product making two profits 

 is not bad. — G. R. Knapp. 



The Virgin's Bower. — One of the most graceful of 

 ornamental vines is the Clematis Virginiana, or common 

 wild virgin's bower. For training over windows, 

 porches and arbors, it can scarcely be excelled, as its 

 dainty foliage affords plenty of shade without excluding 

 the air, as so many of the heavier leaved vines do. 

 Growing in our woods and often along osage and other 

 hedges, it can easily be procured, bears transplanting 

 well, and thrives in almost any situation. Though the 

 blossoms are not as large and showy as those of many 

 of the cultivated clematises, yet they have a delicate 

 beauty peculiarly their own. A spray of C. Virginiana 

 leaves and blossoms is the very embodiment of graceful 

 beauty. August is the season of bloom, and during 

 this month the vines are literally covered with pretty 

 green-white blossoms, and the ground beneath drifted 

 over with the fallen sepals. This vine, like others of 

 its family, climbs not by tendrils, but by the clasping 

 petiole. The leaves and flowers, growing in threes, are 

 symmetrical. Need we go to the florist for a high- 

 priced clematis for our porches, when this lovely native 

 can be had for the trouble of transplanting ? Like many 

 other native flowers, it is seldom seen in cultivation 

 because it is common and "plebeian." — Erla Erle, 

 Tama county, loiva. 



Agriculture in the Schools. — I am glad to see 

 an effort is being made to teach rudimentary agri- 

 culture in the public schools. In Springfield, Mass., 

 one thousand chrysanthemums were distributed to the 

 school children this spring, with directions how to care 

 for them. That is an object-lesson that interests them 

 at once. The old-fashioned way of teaching botany 

 was a weariness and source of disgust to the children. 

 What care they that the true name of a dandelion is 

 Leontodon taraxacum, and to learn by heart page after 

 page of the hard names that filled the text-books. But 

 tell the boys how to plant trees, and what are the enemies 

 that destroy the fruit. Have the horticultural journal for 

 a text-book, and encourage talk and comparing notes on 

 real live subjects. Interest the girls in seedlings, slips, 

 potting and flower gardens in general. As winter ap- 

 proaches, have lessons on window gardens, with prizes 

 offered for the best looking shelf of plants raised by the 

 pupils. Some one was trying to impress these views on 

 a teacher, and she said : " The idea is a beautiful one, 

 and would be sure to interest the pupils, but we haven't 

 time. The studies we have are more than enough to 

 occupy us." Yes ! but if half of them were left out, 

 and practical subjects put in their places, the children 

 would be gainers. In most cases, a year after the 

 pupils have left school the algebra and geometry, and 

 many of the "'isms" and "'ics, " have mainly gone 

 out of their heads ; while the practical lessons on agri- 



culture would be sure to stay there, and if not made a 

 daily business might be a delightful recreation and 

 the means of much enjoyment. — Sister Gracious. 



Sending Plants by Mail. — Use a wooden box, strong 

 but light ; lay in a piece of oiled paper large enough to 

 wrap around the plants. Wet the plants you wish to 

 send, before taking up ; then shake off all the earth that 

 does not readily adhere to the roots, and after laying 

 some wet moss on the oiled paper at the bottom of the 

 box, place in the plants, laying more moss over the 

 roots. Proceed in this way till the box is filled, being 

 sure to put in sufficient moss to make firm ; then fold 

 over the oiled paper and fasten down the cover. When 

 the weather is very hot, it is a good plan to cut an open- 

 ing in one end of the box, almost an inch square, to let 

 in the air and prevent heating. When received by mail 

 or otherwise, unpack with care, place the roots in a 

 basin of warm water, and let them remain an hour or 

 two, or till the leaves have revived. Then separate 

 and dip the roots of each plant in fine sand (scouring 

 sand), roll them in it till well covered, and plant in 

 good compost. Use small pots ; those three inches 

 across the top are sufficiently large for the average plant 

 sent by mail. Place a piece of broken crockery at the 

 bottom, fill one-third full of earth, then press in the 

 roots, and fill tightly with the soil. Water, but not too 

 much, keep in shade for a few days, and in a week they 

 will have taken root in their new quarters, and begun 

 growing. — May Mackenzie. 



Chrysanthemums for the Show Rooms. — It takes 

 extra care to procure chrysanthemum blossoms worthy 

 of the show room, but when brought to perfection they 

 will repay all such trouble. Procure well-rooted slips 

 in spring. Seedsmen usually send them out in small 

 pots. Transplant immediately in pots holding about a 

 gallon, lilled with rich soil. In some sheltered place, 

 where they can have partial shade, sink the pots to the 

 brim in the soil, and keep the soil in the pots moist 

 continually during hot weather. Plants for the show 

 room must never be checked in growth from the time 

 they are taken from the greenhouse until they come to 

 the show room. About the first of September, if rightly 

 treated, little roots will run through the bottom of the 

 pot. These must be kept broken off by turning the pot 

 once or twice a week, or whenever the plants are 

 watered. As soon as the buds appear, go over each 

 plant with a pair of sharp-pointed scissors, and clip out 

 all buds but one on each branch. Feed liberally twice 

 every week with liquid manure. After the buds appear, 

 the pots can be lifted out, cleaned and painted, and 

 after the show is over, you have a "thing of beauty" 

 for the sitting-room. — Mrs. John Gaillard, Girard, Pa. 



Mistake Ladders. — " I shall not try to care for a 

 plant again,'' said a lady to me. " Just as surely as I 

 have a geranium or primrose, and get to loving it, so 

 surely it dies." "Ladders," said I. "Make your 

 failures and mistakes with plants a means of rising, and 

 of gaining more knowledge in horticulture." "But it's 

 expensive, " said she. "Soil is," said I; " but every- 



