1879.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
229 
common in the far West, and well worth having. 
Those who like oddities in the way of plants will 
admire the 
Asarums or Wild Gingers. 
One species, known as Canada Snake Root, is 
common in all the Northern woods. These, with 
two Southern species, another from Oregon, and 
one from Europe, make up a group which, while 
not showy, will interest the botanist. When we 
come to showy plants in the wild garden we find 
Aubrietia deltoidea spreading a sheet of delicate 
purple upon the rock-work. In a corner there is 
the Winter Aconite, one of the earliest of all, and a 
little later, Adonis Vernalis, with flowers of a bright¬ 
er yellow, and foliage so dark-green and beautifully 
cut that it would be worth growing for that alone. 
Close after Adonis comes the slender-leaved Pseony, 
Pceonia tenuifolia, double and single, so beautiful 
with their rich crimson flowers, fine foliage, and 
withal so rare. The Grape Hyacinth, Mnscari 
botryoides, naturalizes well in the wild garden, and 
both the dark-blue and the white kinds seem to be 
quite at home. Among other native plants worthy 
of special notice are Dutchman’s Breeches (Dicentra 
Cucullaria), three-leaved Geum (Geum trijlorum) 
from the far West, and more showy in fruit than in 
flower; the American Pasque Elower (Anemone 
patens var. Nuttalliana'), its enormous flower mak¬ 
ing it noticeable.—But it would make too long a list 
to name everything, my object being to commend 
The Wild Garden 
to every lover of wild plants. Our natives can grow 
there, and a large number of foreigners may be 
naturalized and made wild. It can be a source of 
great pleasure to those who can have no other gar¬ 
den, while to those who have the most formal bor¬ 
ders, it will be a pleasing change to have a nook or 
corner where their favorites can be at home. Much 
credit is due to Mr. W. Robinson, editor of “ The 
Garden ” (Eng.), for his advocacy of the Wild Gar¬ 
den. He has done much to cheek the mania for 
“bedding out,”—well enough in its place, but not 
the only style of gardening worthy of consideration. 
Garden Reels, Once More. 
In the Notes about Garden Work for April, the 
genera 1 lack of stability in the Garden Reels now 
sold, was mentioned. This brought out, as we in¬ 
tended it should, several correspondents, one of 
whom, R. Foster, of Ohio, gave a drawing of his 
reel, which was engraved last month on page 176. 
Later came our friend “ J. E.,” of Egg Harbor City, 
N. J., with an ac- 
Jjx> _ count of a most 
It _ excellent reel, per- 
1 haps easier to make 
than Mr. Foster’s, 
and will carry a 
longer line than 
that. This reel was 
made by “J. E.” 
over 15 years ago, 
and he has had it in 
use ever since. He 
learned how to 
make it from an en¬ 
graving given in the 
American Agricul¬ 
turist ! Turning 
back to the volume 
and page — 1864, 
page 113, there, 
sure enough, was 
our old reel ! The 
writer had a gap of 
three or four years 
in his gardening 
operations; in com¬ 
mencing anew, 
such iron reels as 
could be bought were used, and used up, while 
tne excellent home-made one of the former gar¬ 
dening period was quite forgotten. It was witli an 
indistinct idea that he had known of something 
better that the “Notes'” in April were written, but 
the fact that we had already published something 
GARDEN REEL. 
better had quite escaped him. Thanking J. E. for 
reminding us of it, we here reproduce the engrav¬ 
ing of 1864; another generation of gardeners hav¬ 
ing sprung up since, it will be new to the great ma¬ 
jority. The cut needs but little explanation ; the 
reel should be made of hard-wood ; the center pin 
or stake, <7, is 2 to 21 feet long, an inch in diame¬ 
ter where it passes through the cross-pieces; there 
is a shoulder upon which the lower piece rests, and 
from there the stake is worked down to a point. 
The cross-pieces, B, B, are 1 foot long, 2 inches 
wide, and i or i inch thick; the curved side-pieces, 
A, A, are made from branches, with a slight natu¬ 
ral curve, or worked out of straight stuff; these 
THE IMtUSEMM). 
1ST For other Household Items see “ Basket ” pages. 
Decorative Art.* 
BY M. G. E. 
Though fret-sawing cannot be compared with 
wood-carving, in an artistic point of view, the two 
may be very advantageously combined to produce 
some exceedingly pretty effects, by using fine 
chisels and the veining tool after carefully sawing 
out the pattern. The design (fig. 1), for the cover 
of a photograph album is made of white wood, and 
DESIGN FOR BACK OF PHOTOGRAPH ALBUM. 
are 12 to 15 inches long, and pinned to the cross¬ 
pieces, where they pass through them. A pin 
through the upper end of the center stake holds all 
together, and a handle, D, with another stake, E, 
completes the affair. The side-pieces should pro¬ 
ject below the cross-pieces rather farther than in 
the engraving, to make corners around which to 
hitch the line when enough has runout. J. E. says 
that to make this reel last, house it every night. 
Cactuses In Summer. —We are glad to receive 
questions concerning the proper treatment of plants 
of the Cactus Family, as it shows that the interest 
in these old favorites in window gardening is return¬ 
ing. The majority of the most showy and largest 
flowered species and varieties bloom in summer, 
they make their growth at that time, and need wa¬ 
tering the same as other growing plants. In autumn, 
when their new growth is made aud mature, dry off 
gradually, and keep them dry, or nearly so, for 
three or four months, and of course away from 
frost. The Epiphyllums or Crab’s-Claw Cactuses 
bloom in fall or early winter ; with these, the time 
of dryness is reversed ; they are kept dry during 
summer, are given water in early fall, and are kept 
supplied until llie new shoots are full grown and 
ripe, when it is to be withheld aud the soil dried. 
when finished should be lined with crimson velvet. 
The shield in the center may have an additionai 
layer glued on to add to the richness of effect, 
though it is desirable to use glue as little as possible 
in making up your work. A glue-pot is, however, 
often needed while carving. Even under experi¬ 
enced hands a chisel will slip and the fruit of much 
patient labor be carried away in an instant, but with 
glue the piece is restored to its proper place, and 
when dry a few touches of knife or chisel makes all 
right again. Designs for both sides of an album 
cover may be cut at once, as the wood used will 
be only about 1 inch in thickness, and the two 
pieces can be pasted together with thin paper be¬ 
tween, so that they can be easily separated after¬ 
wards. The stems should be delicately and care¬ 
fully rounded, and the veinings of the leaves 
marked with the dividing tool. This, if neatly exe¬ 
cuted, will be found very pretty, quite artistic in 
its way, and can be made up at small expense. 
Fret-sawing is more tedious than difficult, owing to 
the necessity of constantly loosening one end of 
the saw, in order to slip it in a new hole made by a 
small gimlet, where the pattern becomes discon¬ 
nected. Hand-saws of various sizes are' sold for 
this work at a trifling cost, but for those who are 
♦Continued from page 146, April American Agriculturist , 
