18CG.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
293 
The Ciiissubis, Rocheas, Eclieverias, and the 
large geiuis of Sodimi, make up a vegetation 
pecLiliaf in Us aspect, anil while many of them 
llowci' fiuL'ly, thi'y arc interesting at all times. 
Among tlie Scdums, i*?. Sicbohlii is a most inter- 
esting species. Its foliage is of a peculiar glau- 
cous hue. It is hardy, and flowers profusely. 
Mr. Hogg has sent home from Japan a variety 
of this with mottled foliage, which will doubt- 
less, if it proves hardy, be a popular favorite. 
A Home-made Lamp Bracket. 
explains itself, so we offer no 
Fig. 1. 
The foUowin 
comments : 
Mr. Editou. — Toil snid yon admired the lamp 
brackets you saw at our house the other day, and 
as that pleases me well, I send you a descri]ition 
of how they were made, 
aud, if you will excuse the 
e^^otism of my saying so — 
I must add that I admire 
them myself, not so much 
for their beauty, — you may 
pass judgment upou that — 
but fur their utility. Well, 
then, you must know I 
have been trying a long 
time to get father to s.aw 
me out some semi-circular 
pieces of board, with brace 
pieces, to make them of, but 
it has been busy time with 
him aud all the rest of maK- 
kiud, so I could do no bet- 
ter than help myself The 
piece A, flg. 2, was made of a portion of the head of 
a uail keg, part being- split otf and the corners 
sawed square, aud the sides thus formed rounded 
into the curve of the head as best I could widi a 
hand saw. B, represents the brace, a triangular 
piece of J^ inch clap- 
boarding. Fig. 3 shows 
how the two, with one 
nail to hold them to- 
gether, were nailed to 
the wall ; one nail going 
through a gimlet hole at 
the notch in the brace 
piece, aud another driven 
slanting through the top. 
I was liieky iu striking 
Btnds in the wall. Before 
tills, however, the cloth 
covering was tacked on to 
the toj). This covering I 
made of plain muslin-de- 
laine (if striped, the 
stripes to ruu up and down, it looks very well,) cut- 
ting apiece a little wider than the brace piece is long, 
and long enough to allow for a frill at the top. This 
piece was hemmed on the top aud a thread ruu % 
of an inch from the edge to draw the frill by, aud it 
was drawn so as just to go round 
the top piece which was covered 
with the same material. A thread 
was also " caught iu " at regular 
intervals along the bottom edge 
of the cloth so as to draw it 
into regular jdaits, and then this 
cover was tacked to the top, tlie 
gathering thread being covered by 
a fancy braid }{ inch wide. Then 
the bracket was nailed np, the 
bottom gathered and tied to the front of the brace, 
and a rosette was made and pinned on. Thin stuff 
requires a lining to prevent the light showing 
through, for whicli brown paper will do. As yon 
saw, I made a pair and placed one on each side of 
the mirror at the toilet stand, so high that lamps set 
upon them will shed a good light upon the head of 
a person before the glass. M. 
Fig. 
A Very Pretty and Cheap Tidy. 
An especial interest in those .articles of feminine 
contrivance called "Tidies," was awakened iu us a 
•few days since, by our setting down (in bachelor's 
quarters, of course,) in a very comfortable rocking 
chair with a high back and inviting arms. The 
day was warm and damp, and the chair was a 
drowsy one, so we were very quiet for sinne min- 
utes, and when finally aroused, found that wo were 
held fast, Abaslum like, by the hair of the head. 
That was a "sticker," aud the iucr(J;ised regard for 
tidUwi will doubtless stick by us as lung as the recol- 
lection. One of our lady friends lends us a neat 
tidy for a pattern, of which we present an engrav- 
ing. It is made of simple "Swiss" or "Book mus- 
lin," which is cut square and hemmed with a nar- 
row hem, and then " braided" with narruw white 
linen braid iu any pretty pattern. That of the one 
we present is simple, yet jdeasing. In forming the 
points of straight parallel lines ; braid of two diflcr- 
cut widths is used, with pretty effect. Finally, the 
tidy is bordered with a narrow white liuen fringe, 
which may or may not have an open heading. 
These little affairs wash and " do up" very easily, 
so the ladies say, and are just as pretty as if they 
cost five or ten dollars. Thej' may be made of dif- 
ferent sizes to suit the backs of chairs or the arms 
of lounges ; and if there are two or more used, it 
gives a pleasing variety, even if they are made alike, 
to arrange some with the points down, aud others 
horizontally. It is a useful practice, and quite a test 
of taste and ingenuity to devise pretty original 
patterns for the braiding. 
All About Mens' Shirts. 
[If there is anywtiere a woman who has had " super- 
vision of a hustiand's w atdiube fur a il'izen or muie 
years, without having had any experience similar to that 
so faithfully recorded below, we would l)e glad to find 
her out ; she would doubtless be able to conti ibute to the 
Househofil Depaitrnent of ihe AgrtciUtnrtst valuable ia- 
fui mation on other "vexed questions " \\ e thinlt of. — Ed.] 
A long time ago I undertook the supervision of 
a set of shirts, including, of course, their wearer. 
It was the hight of my young ambition that the 
man should be exactly fitted by his shirts, concern- 
ing which he began to make complaiuts just One 
moon after I took him in charge " What is the 
matter with them?" I meekly inquired "There 
isn't a single one that fits mc." Totally un- 
conscious of the inherent wickedness of the article 
concerned, I flattered myself that the difficulty 
would be easily remedied. So I rii'ped here aud 
basted there, pulled up this shoulder and jjullcd 
down that, until I thought I had got it.— — Mis- 
taken mortal ! it would not fit ! 1 made another 
series of experiments with equally futile results. 
Then I consulted one or two friends, and felt sure 
I had at last discovered where the shoe — I mean 
the sAir/— pinched. I applied a cure, but the thing 
wasn't cured. Next I employed a tailor to try his 
skill. Not one whit better. The man was getting 
— and I was getting — desperate. 
As my dernier resort, I summoned a council of 
sewing-society women, and we went into a com- 
mittee of the whole. For hours we expended our 
united wits on a single shirt, often subjeelini; the 
luckless owner to successive trials of the garment. 
" Don't that now fit your neck exactly ?" a^kcd the 
head of the conspiracy, as fur the forty-lirih time 
we g.athered around our victim "Wliy, yes," 
with a charming smile of relief, and twisting his 
head about experimentally. "Really, I can't sug- 
gest any imi)rovement." "Oh! be joyful!" ex- 
claimed I, clapping my hands " Suppose," said 
one of the wise women, looking at me over her 
glasses as if some important idea had struck her, 
" suppose we cut out a new shirt on the improved 
plan, and if th.at suits, we'll take a pattern from it." 
"Agreed," cried I, quite jubilant, and ran to a 
chest for the cotton So we cut, basted, and tried 
on — sewed and tried on— starched, ironed, and tried 
on "Capital!" affirmed our representative of 
the lordly sex. " Not a thread amiss. It is the first 
time in my life that a shirt has exactly fitted me." 
As a grateful memorial, I made up six new ones 
after that identical pattern. We entei-ed on our 
triumphal epoch Woe worth the day ! Must I 
own that before forty-ei^lit hours had passed, that 
"cxaclhj ftl/cd" individual called me aside, and 
poiuled with cruel significance to his neck "I 
am t'enj sorry," with the blandest air in the world. 
"I suppose your mistake came fi'om your grtat de- 
sire not to choke me." " Mistake! choke you!" 
echoed I, convulsively, a little tempted to ti'y the 
latter " Don't be troubled. It requires only a 
slight alteration — a trifle cut out of the binding, 
that's all. Yon see its rather large." "Why 
couldn't he have found it out before?" — to myself. 
— Then aloud with great dignity : " Tell me precisely 
how much to cutout." "Well, I should say 
just about an inch." "Just .about an inch," 
muttered I sarcastically, .adding, " I believe the 
mischief is all in your neck, which dilates and con- 
tracts on pui-pose to tormeut me." He snuled 
kindly on my wrathful tears, and I — well — when 
the shirt was " rough-dry," I dutifully cut out the 
inch, basted the binding, and tried it on again. 
" That is just what I wanted. It does very nicely 
now, you sec." working his chin up and down 
"Yes, I see. I did before." "Practice makes 
perfect, and this time you hit the uail on the head." 
When the change was completed, he once more 
tried on the shirt, and unequivocally assured me 
" it fitted toaT." So I made the same alteration in 
the other five, and sat down to take a bit of comfort. 
Can you imagine what next happened? In the 
course of a fortnight, the man gave me an invita- 
tion to I'ide with him, which I was only too happy 
to accept. How extremely gracious and agreeable 
he was! I might have suspected something was 
coming. From one thing to another he led the 
conversation, until finally he approached the old 
hateful topic, (he had on one of his new shirts.)... 
" I don't mind my vexation," remarked I inuoceut- 
Ij', "now that you are at Uvst suited." Then, sup- 
posing the matter forever at rest, I turned to a 
pleasauter subject. But coming back to the shirts 
again, his face assumed such a deprecating look, 
that I exckaimcd iu alarm: "Nothing ails them 
now, I hope." "Only a very little thinu:, .and 
easily altered. In your fear of getting them too 
large, they are a trifle too small — only a trifle." 
My heart swelled but I uttered not a word. 
When we reached home I made him measure off 
on his forefinger exactly how much he wished in- 
serted. The shirt he had ou happened to be the 
identical one I had first altered. I was fortunate 
enough to discover in my woik -basket the very 
piece I had cut out. And I was malicious enough to 
exult at its i>roviug the exact measure of the addi- 
tion wanted. So I sewed it in again, repeating to 
myself all the while, " Oh the croeJietyness of man !'* 
Will you believe me when I whisper it confiden- 
tially, th.at after all this, for many years, I alter- 
n.ated between cutting out and putting in the self- 
same piece — the man's neck invariably playing me 
false. Of late, however, I have dropped the labor 
of sewing, having discovered that pinning over one 
week, and unpinning the next, answers all the pur- 
