1882.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
197 
science—are at once available to us, because we use 
the same scientific terms in description. Even in 
different parts of our own country, very different 
names are given to the most common medicinal 
plants; but the educated physicians, by the use of 
fixed scientific terms, and the signs denoting quan¬ 
tities, know that any competent druggist from 
Maine to California will understand exactly what is 
to be done with a prescription. In fact it would be 
positively dangerous to do differently. Even in the 
same city, different druggists would often put up 
a different mixture, if the common, variable and 
changing names were used in prescriptions. 
But every living language, in daily use, is con¬ 
stantly undergoing changes in meaning or shades 
of meaning, and there are many words that have a 
very different significance in this country and in 
England, even in different sections of our own 
country. Suppose all the civilized nations should 
agree to make the English, or the French, or the 
German, a common language for describing things. 
There would have to be an international congress 
every few years to revise the nomenclature.—But 
the Latin and Greek languages as they were former¬ 
ly used and fixed in the older books, are different 
from any now spoken or written ; they are called 
dead languages ; but they were full, comprehensive, 
and expressive, and do not change from century 
to century. So by general consent and custom, all 
civilized nations now use the Latin or Greek words 
for all matters common to all. When we describe 
a plant or flower, and add its scientific name, every 
other nation knows to what we refer, and when 
we read of new discoveries in foreign journals we 
know just what is meant. 
The terms adopted usually imply some quality. 
Thus: “ Euonymus” is the name applied to several 
plants having some properties in common. If we 
see the words Euonymus latifolia, we know at once 
that the Latin word latus means “ broad,” and that 
folium means a leaf. So Euonymus latifolius means 
the Euonymus that has broad leaves. And the 
German, or French, or Italian reader knows the 
same thing. And so of all other names of plants, 
of diseases, etc.—It is only a matter of becoming- 
accustomed to words. Our readers will find little 
more difficulty in learning to call a plant Euonymus 
instead of “Burning Bush.” Indeed this last 
word is often applied to quite different plants that 
have red leaves or berries. 
What Kinds of Vegetables and Flowers 
to Choose. 
We have before us a list of 2,316 different 
varieties of desirable flowers, and almost as large a 
list of vegetables, etc. The inexperienced, wanting 
only a few varieties in a garden or flower bed, is 
bewildered, and puzzled what to select. To help 
such, we append a few leading kinds, which, if not 
everywhere the best, have the merit of being gen¬ 
erally good, and any one entirely unskilled, and 
having no trustworthy adviser at hand, may safe¬ 
ly select any of the following 
Garden Vegetables. 
Beans: (Bush) Valentine, Mohawk, Golden Wax; 
(Pole) Lima, Giant Wax. 
Beets : Egyptian, Bassano, Long Dark Blood ; (Man¬ 
gels) Kinver’s Globe. 
Cabbage: For early, Wakefield ; for medium, Win- 
ningstadt; for late, Flat Dutch, and Drumhead Savoy. 
Cauliflower : Early Snowball: Paris, for late. 
Celery: Golden Dwarf, Giant White. 
Corn, Sweet: For early, Crosby’s Early; medium, 
Triumph, Egyptian ; late, Stowell’s Evergreen. 
Cucumber: Early Russian ; later, White Spine. 
Egg Plant : N. Y. Improved Purple, Black Pekin. 
Lettuce: Early Simpson, Tennis Ball; and later, 
Black Simpson, Hanson. 
Melons : (Musk) Ward's Nectar, Christiana, Nutmeg, 
Cassaba, (Water) Mountain Sweet, Gipsey. 
Onions: Red Globe, White Globe, Yellow Danvers. 
Parsley : New Fern Leaf, Extra Moss Curled. 
Parsnips : Long Smooth, Short Round. 
Peas : For early, American Wonder, Alpha; later main 
-crop, Champion of Engtand. 
Pepper; Largo Bell, Cayenne. 
(Radish: French Breakfast; later, Long Scarlet. 
Squash: Early Summer Crook Neck ; later, Hubbard, 
Boston Marrow. 
Turnips: Early Dutch;' later, Red-top Strap Leaf ; 
winter, Long White French. 
Tomatoes : Acme, Trophy, Livingston's Perfection. 
Garden Flowers. 
Ageratum : Imperial Dwarf ; Album. 
Alyssum (Candy-tuft): Sweet; Wierzbeckii. 
Amaranth : Princess of Wales ; Tricolor. 
Antirrhinum (Snap-dragon): Caryophylloides. 
Asters: Giant Emperor; Washington; Victoria. 
Balsams : Solferino; White Perfection. 
Calceolaria : Hybrida. 
Calendula (Marigold): Meteor. 
Campanula (Canterbury Bells): for hardy perennial, 
the Pyramidalis; for hardy annual, the Pentagonia. 
Candytuft: White; Carter’s New Carmine. 
Carnation (Pinks): Grenadine. 
Celosia (Cockscomb): Japonica; Glasgow. 
Centaurea: Americana; Candidissima. 
Chrysanthemum: Tricolor; Japonicum. 
C'OB.'EA SCANDENS. 
Convolvulus (Morning Glory): Striped; Crimson. 
Cypress Vine: Rose; Scarlet. 
Digitalis (Foxglove): Alba ; Purpurea. 
Forget-me-Not: Mixed. 
Gilia: Nivalis; Tricolor. 
Globe Amaranth: Golden Yellow; White. 
Gourds : Bottle ; Hercules’ Club; Lemon. 
Helichrysum (“Everlasting”): mixed. 
Honesty: Purple. 
Larkspur: Bismarck; Emperor. 
Lobelia : Alba ; Bicolor. 
Mignonette : Golden Queen; Old Sweet. 
Mimulus (Monkey Flower): Cardinalis; Duplex. 
Nasturtium : Crimson; Rose. 
Pansy (Heart’s-Ease): Snow Queen; Emp.William. 
Peas (Sweet): Violet Queen ; Butterfly. 
Petunia : Countess of Ellesmere; choice mixed. 
Phlox Drummondii : Coccinca; Victoria; mixed. 
Poppy: Carnation. 
Portulaca : Aurea; SplendeDS; mixed. 
Stocks (annual): Large-flowering; Tree ; the mixed. 
Thunbergia: Alba; Aurantiaca. 
Whitlavia : Grandiflora (blue); Alba (white). 
Xeranthkmum (Everlasting): Album; Cseruleum. 
Zinnia : Coccinca; Pumila ; the mixed. 
The Tuberose and Gladiolus, 
These bulbs have been produced of late years 
in such quantities that they are now sold at prices 
which bring them within the reach of all. The 
Tuberose, so valued for its fragrance, is often in¬ 
jured by being planted too early. The first of the 
present month is soon enough to start the bulbs ; 
they may be planted in pots or boxes of soil, and 
placed in the green-house, or in a warm room, and 
they will be sufficiently advanced to be planted in 
the open ground by the last of the month or 
the early part of June. They should have a warm 
rich spot, and the flower stalk, as it developes, be 
supported by a slender stake. The Gladiolus, on 
the other hand, is almost hardy. It affords a wide 
range of colors, and a bed of them is very showy. 
Mixed, unnamed bulbs, can be bought at a much 
less price than the named kinds. They should be 
planted-a foot apart with the top of the bulb at 
least two inches below the surface. It is well to 
plant a portion of the bulbs every two weeks until 
the first half of June to insure a continuous bloom. 
It is well to stake the flower stalks to keep them 
from being broken down by the wind just as they 
are in their prime. 
Strawberries.—When to Plant. 
The above question is often asked, and its answer 
must depend upon circumstances. One fact about 
the strawberry plant should be known, and this 
will enable each one to decide for himself. The 
plants that are sent out by nurserymen are those 
that were formed last year by the runners from old 
plants taking root in the soil of the bed. If these 
are taken up in the usual way and planted in a new 
bed—it maybe after the lapse of several days—they 
require a whole season to get established and be¬ 
come sufficiently strong to bear a crop. If these 
plants are set this spring they will bear a crop next 
spring; if such plants are set next autumn, they 
will require all of next season to grow in, and while 
they may produce here and there a few berries, 
they will give no real crop until the following 
year. Growers of fruit for market set a share of 
their plants in the fall, because they then have 
leisure, and the ground is in excellent condition. 
If the plants are made to strike root in pots, these 
in early autumn may be planted in beds without 
any disturbance of their roots and will give a fair 
crop next spring. Such plants are more expensive 
than others, and if a crop of fruit is wanted next 
spring, it is better to set out the plants now. 
Making the rows two feet apart, and setting the 
plants one foot apart in the row, as a general rule, 
is best, but there may be reasons for putting them 
further apart, as where land is plenty, and the horse 
cultivator is to be used. 
Notes on the House Plans. 
No other single topic engages the attention and 
interest of so many readers as the House Plans and 
Notes upon them.—Not only those who contem¬ 
plate building soon, but almost every house-keeper 
studies the arrangements and conveniences, notes 
items in which her own is superior, and gathers 
suggestions for improvements—and the other head 
of the household is similarly interested, though 
not always to the same degree. The Editor of a 
prominent Western Journal, in a private letter, 
writes:_“Your prize house plans, and familiar 
talks and explanations, are contributing very 
greatly towards improving the homes of the coun¬ 
try, new and old_” Mrs. Woodruff’s sugges¬ 
tions on “ Conveniences in Houses,” on page 210 
of this paper, may be read with profit by all house 
owners, house builders, and by architects also. 
Any simple arrangement, or re-arrangement, of 
kitchens, closets, pantries, sinks, position of cook 
stoves, stairs, doors, or otherwise, that will save 
only a hundred steps a day—one or more of which 
maybe easily done in nine-tenths of all the ordinary 
houses in existence, and may be readily provided 
for in building new ones—will amount to a very 
great saving of time and strength in the course of 
one year even. Ten needless steps an hour, or a 
hundred a day, amounts to thirty-six thousand five 
hundred steps a year, equivalent to a useless jour¬ 
ney of over 150 miles on foot, or 1,500 miles in ten 
years, all of which may be avoided by a trifle of 
forethought in’planning. American house-keepers, 
and especially farmers and mechanics’ wives, have 
quite enough of necessary exercise, without in¬ 
curring that which reading and a litttle fore¬ 
thought would save. 
Correction. —In the first floor plan given last 
month, a mistake of the draughtsman figured the 
parlor 10 by 15 feet. A glance at the form and di¬ 
mensions of the room, as sketched, or an applica¬ 
tion of the scale, would show that it should be 
15 by 15 feet.—The contributor of the “ Mount 
Union ” plan, noted in March (p. 95), is Mr. A. F. 
Hillier (not Hilley). 
Grafts and Stocks. —We advise cutting cions 
in the fall rather than early spring. In part to in¬ 
sure their being perfectly dormant, and in part that 
they may be in a more vigorous condition. A shoot 
exposed to the very severe winter, if it remains ou 
the tree, may not show that the cold weather 
has had any perceptible effect upon it; if, how¬ 
ever, at the end of such a winter it is cut and 
used as a graft, the shoot will very likely give 
evidence that its vitality has been weakened. 
Two-year-old seedlings are not better than some 
year-old for stocks for root-grafting, and even are 
not regarded as good, they are not worked as readily 
as younger ones, and require more room in storing. 
The Children’s Bed.—In making preparations 
in the flower garden, do not forget the children’s 
bed. If they are old enough to take care of it 
themselves, all the better, but let there be a place 
filled with common and pleasing flowers, where they 
can go and pluck at will, and not be in fear of the 
injunction, “ don’t touch.” 
