340 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[November, 
Glass Mosaic Flower Pots. 
It is rather a matter of surprise that so few im¬ 
provements have been made in the style of flow¬ 
er pots for use in the house. The old red earth¬ 
enware article so commonly seen, is very un¬ 
sightly, and greatly diminishes the otherwise at¬ 
tractive appearance of the flower stand. Paint¬ 
ed wooden boxes are objectionable from their 
.speedy decay, and the broken and disfigured 
■china-ware, pitchers, etc., which are pressed into 
service, are in worse taste than the red crocks. 
There were shown at the recent International 
;al Exhibition in 
London, very 
beautiful articles 
for this purpose, 
made of colored 
.glass set in a light 
iron frame work, 
.as shown in .out 
engravings. The 
glass used was of 
different Colors, 
and arranged in 
regular 
patterns, giving 
very beautiful eff 
feet. They were 
of different forms, 
square, rectangu- 
lar„ octagonal, 
ete„ and of nu- 
anerous styles 
mosaic. The more 
.expensive sorts were very, elaborately finished, 
iforming objects every way worthy a place 
iin the most richly furnished drawing room. 
We present these as a hint to some, of our 
•.manufacturers. The only objection will be the 
.cost, but perhaps that may be reduced to come 
within the means of the masses. Even if the 
above described, styles are not adopted, we look 
for some improvement over the present rude 
.manufactures, which are entirely out of keeping 
with the other articles that make up the furni- 
r ture of .the sitting room. 
Origin of the Words Nosegay and Bou¬ 
quet. —A'Writer in the Gardener’s Monthly 
records thatciOleland, in his Celtic Vocabulary, 
says: • “ gay, applied to nosegay, comes from the 
1 Erse tonguefjjD which tjeacli signifies a bough or 
bunch of flowers which might be held to the 
nose. From the old word boughet, or little bough, 
comes the French word bouquet, for nosegay. 
-—. ---- 
Beautiful Floral Ornaments. 
Hyacinths, as ordinarily grown in glasses and 
pots, are deservedly favorites. Few flowers 
give better reward for the little pains required 
to raise them successfully. A very tasteful ar¬ 
rangement of these with other bulbs is common 
in Germany, which we do not remember to 
have seen practised here. Single hyacinths, to¬ 
gether with Scillas, Snowdrops, Crocuses, and 
other small bulbs, are placed in shallow dishes— 
soup-plates answer a common purpose—and ar¬ 
ranged in any form to suit the fancy. The roots 
spread out and intertwine until the flowers rest 
on a network that keeps them in their place. 
Having selected the bulbs, place a founda¬ 
tion of charcoal, and on this a 
layer of damp white sand. Set 
the bulbs a little distance apart, 
and remove the dish to a dark 
room where they may remain 
for about three weeks. This 
treatment encourages the roots 
to form plentifully before the 
buds appear. At the end of 
that time a little water may be 
given (being poured down the 
sides of the dish), and if the 
roots are pushing the bulbs up 
out of place, pour dry sand 
over them, so as to surround 
them at least half way to their 
crowns. When the blossom 
buds and leaves have made a 
little growth, they should be 
brought to the full light of a 
window, and in all respects 
treated like those in glasses. 
Dwarf hyacinths are best for 
this use. They are raised from 
well ripened bulbs of the same 
kind as the large ones, but not much exceeding 
a largo walnut in size. They may be obtained at 
most seed stores, and will yield a large amount 
of enjoyment for the money invested. 
A very pretty experiment with hyacinths is^ 
thus described in the “ Parlor Gardener ”: 
Having made your choice among the brightest 
shades of blue, red, and yellow, you must give 
your greatest care to a charming experiment 
which will be the source of a very agreeable 
amusement for you all the Winter. You can 
procure, at a small expense, two vases of plain, 
clear, uncolored glass; both of the same form, 
except that one has no bottom, and is a little 
smaller than the other. They are to be used as 
follows: Put into the one open at both ends, one 
of the finest of your hyacinth roots; suppose 
you take one of a fine red—a Sultan Soliman, for 
instance; place this bulb in a position inverse to 
its natural position, that is, with the bottom up, 
and the top, from which the leaves and flowers 
are to come downward even with the orifice at 
the bottom of the vase. Then you must crum¬ 
ble a mixture of good garden earth and leaf 
mould over the bulb until the vase is- three- 
quarters full. A second bulb with a flower in 
strong contrast to the first, say a blue, if the 
flower of the first is red, and vice versa, must be 
next placed in the vase, so that the top shall be 
even with the upper orifice. You have nothing 
more to do than to place the vase thus prepared 
upon the first vase, after filling it with water. 
Two similar couples look very well, placed 
upon two ends of the mantle-piece of a room in 
which people habitually sit, and where, conse¬ 
quently, fire is constantly made while the cold 
season lasts. The earth in the upper vase should 
be moderately watered as soon as the bulbs are 
placed in it, and then kept constantly moist, 
avoiding excess, by renewed watering whenever 
you perceive that the earth is getting dry. 
At the end of two days, the crowns of the two 
bulbs will both send out straight, white roots * 
those of the reversed bulb turn down in curves, 
but do not fulfil their functions , worse for that. 
Very soon the two bulbs placed in a contrary po¬ 
sition to each other put forth leaves—the one 
into the air, the other into the water; then you 
will see appear in the midst of the transparent 
liquid the buds on the floral stalk, and finally 
the flowers, as beautiful, as well formed, of as 
rich a color, surrounded by leaves of as fine a 
green as the .corresponding parts possess, of the 
other flower planted in the ordinary manner, 
and vegetating and developing in the air—its 
ntitural element. It is true that time is neces¬ 
sary for all this to be accomplished; bulbs 
planted in October will flower fully in February 
or March; but is it not a pleasure to watch day 
by day the phases of development, above all 
that of the hyacinth which ends by blooming in 
the water head downward ? 
Hints on Vases, Statues, etc., for Gardens. 
In works of art, like the vases we pictured in 
a former number of the Agriculturist (March, 
1861), the vase itself is the principal thing. The 
base and pedestal are subordinate; they are 
simply the means of raising it from the ground, 
and supporting it where it can easily be seen. 
Hence, they should be of coarser material than 
the vase; coarser because they are designed to 
come in contact with the rough earth, because 
they are to serve as foundations, and because 
they will thereby set off to better advantage the 
costliness and delicate beauty and fine work¬ 
manship of the vase. And the same difference 
should appear between the statue, or other 
figure, and the pedestal on which it stands. 
If, then, this principle is a correct one, it 
would seem that our manufacturers of iron, and 
terra-cotta vases, etc., err, on the score of pro¬ 
priety and taste, in sending out their wares 
painted all of one color from top to bottom. To 
our view, a perfect arrangement requires that 
the base, rising from three to six inches above 
ground, should be of granite or limestone, rest¬ 
ing on a solid pier reaching below frost. The 
pedestal, if of iron, should be painted and sand¬ 
ed so as to represent some corresponding mate¬ 
rial, such, for instance, as red or brown sand¬ 
stone, indicating, perhaps, a little refinement 
upon the rough base. Then, the vase itself 
should be of the purest white, to represent mar¬ 
ble. We question the propriety of sanding the 
vase, at least unless it is quite a plain one, for 
the sand fills up the’finely wrought lines, and 
defaces and blurs over what ought to stand out 
in clear relief. It also gives the vase a rough¬ 
ness inconsistent with the idea of polished mar¬ 
ble. It is a debatable point whether a vase or 
other figure should be painted a dead white or 
with a gloss. The first gives a more marble¬ 
like look; the latter protects the iron best. 
Many persons no sooner get a vase into their 
grounds, than they fill it with soil and set out 
plants in it. Small and very plain vases may be 
so used as flower-pots, but large and finely 
wrought specimens should be regarded rather 
.as pieces of sculpture, and be kept inviolate and 
