1865 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
21 
this ornamentation, and a little ingenuity will 
contrive others. After all is done, cover the 
twigs with a coal of boiled linseed oil. The ped¬ 
estal should be very firm. It often happens that 
a tree must be remov¬ 
ed from the very place 
where a vase would be 
desirable. If the tree 
is sawed off at the proj)- 
er hight, a very firm ped¬ 
estal will be secured, to 
which the vase can be 
spiked. The design at 
fig. 1, was furnished by 4. 
“A Subscriber,” in Queens Co. He strengthens 
the support by the addition of brackets sawed 
out of plank. Ivy or Virginia Creeper, may be 
planted to climb upon the pedestal. When a 
stump of this kind is not available, a portion of 
the trunk of a tree can be set firmly into the 
ground. Sometimes baskets are built around 
the trunk of a living tree, and filled with flower¬ 
ing plants. This we do not consider in good 
taste. A tree is an object of beauty in itself, and 
any addition of this kind detracts from it, and 
spoils its expression. The vase may be filled 
with earth and planted with flowering plants, 
or pots may be set within it and covered with 
moss. During hot weather care should be taken 
that the plants do not suffer for lack of water. 
---- --m. - 
House Plants in Winter. 
The attempts to gi'ow ]5lants in close rooms, 
overheated by hot air furnaces, are generally 
failures. The plants become sickly and “drawn 
up,” in the parlors of our first-class houses, 
wliile in those of less pretension we frequently 
see them vigorous and flourishing. In houses 
without “ modern improvements,” the air is not 
heated until its capacity for moisture is such 
as to greedily take it from the plants, as well 
as from the persons who dwell tliere, nor are 
the windows sealed so tightly that the plants 
can not have a breath of fresh air from without. 
If people will make a climate in their houses 
like that of a desert, they must content them¬ 
selves with such plants as are naturally adapted 
to arid regions. Cactuses, Crassulas, Sedums 
and such thick-skinned plants will endure an 
amount of roasting and drying which would 
kill a Camellia or a Rose. Supposing the plants 
to be well established in good soil, the three 
points to be attended to are; air, water and clean¬ 
liness. Plants need fresh air, and every day 
when the weather is not too cold, the sash 
should be let down at the top, and on very mild 
days kept open during the warmer part of the 
day. In the first place, cleanliness is to be ob¬ 
served with the pots. If they have become cover¬ 
ed with a green film, they are to be set in a pail 
of water and soaked a while, and the green mat¬ 
ter washed off with a cloth or scrubbing brush. 
The inside of the pot should be clean down to 
the earth, and the surface of the soil free from 
moss and fallen leaves. As to the plants them¬ 
selves, the two great troubles are dust and in¬ 
sects. A paper or light muslin screen laid over 
them while the room is being swept, will keep 
off a great deal of dust, but even this will not 
obviate the necessity for washing and syringing. 
Broad and smooth-leaved plants may be washed 
with a soft sponge, or what is better, placing 
the hand over the earth, turn the plant upside 
down, and move it briskly about for a few 
■econds in a vessel of water. Then set the 
plant upright, wash each leaf between the 
finger and thumb, and afterwards give it an¬ 
other rinsing. A plant too large to be treated in 
this way, may be S}U'inged; or lay it down and 
let water fall upon it from a considerable hight 
from a watering pot. This can be done out of 
doors in mild weather, and in cold weather in 
a sink or bathing tub. If plants are frequently 
washed, they will be but little troubled by in¬ 
sects. The red spider is quite averse to mois¬ 
ture; the green fly, however, likes it, but may 
be destroyed so readily by tobacco smoke, that 
only neglected plants will suffer from this 
cause. The mealy bug is so large that it may 
be easily picked off. Watering must be proi>erly 
attended to, and while the plant must not suffer 
from lack of moisture, the roots must not be kept 
saturated with water. The sound of the pot 
when struck by the knuckles is quite different, 
when the ball of earth is wet, from what it is 
when dry. This and the lagging look of the 
plant will indicate that water is needed. A lit¬ 
tle practice will soon enable one to anticipate 
the wants of the plant, and to supply Avater at 
the proper time. When the ball of earth be¬ 
comes diy, it takes water a Icmg while to pene¬ 
trate it, and surface waterings do not accom¬ 
plish the object. In this case, set the pot in a 
pail of water, and let it so dc until the earth is 
thoroughly wetted through. If proper care in 
the respects above mentioned fail to induce a 
healthy growth, then the plant must be repotted 
with fresh eai th, and have a portion of its top 
cut back. Irregularities in shape must be cor¬ 
rected from time to time by pinching off the 
shoots which may start to grow out of place. 
TMIE ll'II)I[JgIS]BI®ILB. 
Putting Moisture in the Air Important. 
Every person should understand this scientific 
fact, viz.: that whenever air becomes warmer, it 
secretes or hides a certain amount of moisture. To 
illustrate: In a room 14 feet square and 10 feet 
higli, tlie air will hold 2^ gills of watery vapor, 
when it is just at the freezing point (32^). But 
heat the air up to the eoniloitalde warmth of 
70“, and it will then hold 8 sills of watery vapor. 
The air will obtain this extra 5}^ gills of water 
from some source if i)ossii>le. If not supplied 
artificially, it will absorb the particles of moisture 
from the furniture, drying and cracking it, and es¬ 
pecially from the skin and the lungs, causing one 
to feel a sense of husky dryness, and often faintness 
and drowsiness will be experienced. A room 10 
feet square and 10 feet high contains 1000 cubic 
feet of air. A gill of water weighs 1750 grains. 
The following table shows the number of grains of 
watery vapor required to saturate 1000 cubic feet 
of air when at the different temperatures named: 
1000 feet of air at O’, contains 180 grains of water. 
1000 feet of air at 32°, contains 23.10 erains of water. 
1000 feet of air at 40“ contains 30'fiO grains of water. 
1000 feet of air at 50“ contains 4240 grains of water. 
1000 feet of air at 60“, contains 5820 grains of water 
1000 feet of air at 70“, contains 7940 grains of water. 
1000 feet of air at 80“ contains 10730 grains of water. 
1000 feet of air at 90“. contains 143S0 grains of water. 
1000 feet of air at 100“, contains 19120 grains of water. 
The Practical Lesson to be learned from this is, 
that if we would have the atmosphere of a warm 
room pleasant and healthful, and save the furniture 
from becoming dry and cracked, we must always 
provide moisture. A wide pan of water should al¬ 
ways be placed on the stove, or in the heating fur¬ 
nace, at a point where it will be heated enough to 
send off vapor into the air, and it should be kept 
supplied with water at all times. Towels, napkins, 
or other cloths hung near the fire, and wetted as 
Sften as they become dry, will impart an agreeable 
feeling to the air of a warm room. Every lady 
must hiive noticed how pleasant the chiinge from 
the dry sitting or dining room, to the laundry or 
kitchen where damp clothes are hanging around, 
if not in so large quantity as to produce over¬ 
dampness. The objection to stoves and hot-air 
furnaces has no doubt resulted from the ahsenca 
of sufficient moisture-supplying apparatus_The 
above hints are important for school-rooms and 
churches, and if attended to will'promote health 
and comfort, and often remove dullness from the 
pupils, and drowsiness from the worshippers. 
A Short Chapter on Bonnets, etc. 
The Fashion in 1860. The Fashion in 1863. 
What Next? 
“ That’s what we have come to,” exclaimed our 
artist, as he finished the “ Fashion Plate ” below. 
He had been walking through Broadway in this 
city, noticing with more surprise than admiration 
the fantastic forms of dress, particularly of head- 
gear, exhibited by the extra fashionables. He 
may have exaggerated just a little for artistic 
effect, and, being a man, perhaps he does not know 
exactly how to view such things. He, however, de¬ 
clares that ladies do wear large, stuffed birds on 
Our “ Fashion Plate,” for 1665. 
their “ pork pie ” hats, bags of something on their 
shoulders, and we h.avc been assured privately that 
they certainly sometimes carry “ rats” behind their 
ears. The artist did not quite succeed in hiding tbo 
one in the picture; the ladies m.anage to keep 
them concealed.—Seriously, in some of the recent 
styles of dress, novelty and display are more sought 
than comfort and elegance. Fashion is a powerful 
tyrant, hut we trust that the good sense of free 
American women is stronger than any despot, and 
that they will leave absurdities of dress to those 
have no higher aim th.an “ to be seen of men.’ 
Takings Tea in the Country. 
We have undergone many trials in our life, but 
none h.ave more thoroughly tc*sted our powers of 
endurance than the attempts we have made to do 
full justice to the hospitality of our country friends 
—or rather to fulfil the expectations of our host¬ 
esses—who have invited us “ to tea.” We have 
very vividly in memory certain tables, which would 
