AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
117 
its name from some of one of the wonderful stor¬ 
ies which travelers are usually fond of relating, 
and which, we may add, their auditors are equal¬ 
ly fond of listening to. 
Nonsensical Recipes- 
There may be some “Cook Books” which are 
valuable, but we have yet to find one which we 
can recommend as reliable. There are, in all of 
these, more or less good things, but along with 
the good there is such an admixture of the worse 
than useless, that unless the reader is already 
skillful—in which case the book is not wanted— 
it is hardly safe to rely upon the printed “ direc¬ 
tions.” These statements were suggested at this 
moment by chancing to open a volume called 
“ The Skillful Housewife’s Book ” which has 
keen highly puffed, and the title page says “35th 
thousand.” The first ‘recipe’ our eye fell upon 
was for “ bleeding at the nose,” for which it is 
recommended to “tie a thread very tight around 
the little finger.” About as sensible as to recom¬ 
mend spitting three-and-a-half times on the north 
side of a fiat stone to cure the heart-burn... .On 
the same page we read : “ For corns; Melt to¬ 
gether 2 oz. of beeswax and 2 ounces of ammo¬ 
nia, and just before they are cold add $ oz. of 
verdigris. Spread on small pieces of linen, and 
apply it, after paring the corn. This has cured 
inveterate corns.” A pretty time one would have 
in “ melting ” ammonia, a very volatile liquid. 
We would not object to paring the corn, but de¬ 
liver us from the verdigris. Again, on the same 
page, for Ring Worms : “ Lay a penny in a spoon¬ 
ful of vinegar, and, after standing a few hours 
wash it frequently. This will cure.”— Will it 1 
Verdigris again, for the only substance produced 
—if any—by the penny and vinegar, is acetate of 
copper or verdigris. 
On the next page we read for Salt Rheum : 
“ One quart of vinegar and 4 oz. of litharge, boiled 
down to k pint. When settled, turn it carefully 
from the sediment. Take a stick, round at the 
end, and stir 2 oz. of sweet oil or more, until it 
forms a consistence thicker than cream. This 
has cured very bad cases.”—When and where 1 
On the same page we find : For mortification, 
“ Apply poultices of yeast, thickened, if conve¬ 
nient, with flour of slippjry elm, warm, and re¬ 
newed often, giving the patient a glass of yeast 
three or four times a day, and tonic bitters.” The 
1 patient ’ would need baking, if soft enough to 
take three or four glasses of yeast a day besides 
the * tonic hitters ’... .Turning over the leaf, we 
read : “ For Sprains and Bruises, when the skin is 
not broken, take a pint of soft soap, a handful of 
salt, a tablespoonful of powdered salt-petre, and 
apply to the part affected with a bandage.”—If the 
skin does not “break” afterapplying such a mix¬ 
ture with a “ bandage ” it must be distressingly 
tough... .Next we have “infallible,” “safe,” 
“sure” remedies for telons... .Next: “ One pint 
essence of peppermint and three of whisky gives 
perfect relief for burns, “ instantly.”... .That will 
do for this time, we have only read three pages, 
which is enough for one dose. 
--—•----. 
A Neat and Tasteful Ornament. 
At this season of the year there will be little 
difficulty in finding plenty of the cones of ever¬ 
green trees, scattered about the woods and lawns, 
which have partly opened and perhaps shed their 
seeds. Gather a few of these, sprinkle grass- 
eeed among the openings, and set the cone in a 
wine-glass or other small vessel, which will sup¬ 
port it well, partially filling the vessel with wa¬ 
ter. In a few days the burrs will close upon the 
seed, and they will germinate, sending out their 
shoots to the light, and forming a beautiful little 
pyramid of green, looking all the brighter by con¬ 
trast with the brown color of the cone. 
If a little fine mellow soil be placed in the lay¬ 
ers of a cone which are fully opened, and the cone 
set upright and partly buried in the soil, it will 
make a pretty and unique little vase or flower pot, 
in which seeds of a few delicate plants might be 
sown, producing a very pleasing effect." Several 
cones of different sizes might be selected and ar¬ 
ranged in a neat box. If so treated, care will be 
needed to give the cones sufficient water. We 
doubt not that the ingenuity and taste of our fair 
readers will devise many modifications of the idea 
here suggested. 
i — i — 
floriculture, may be useful; to which I also add 
a list of botanical names, by which to obtain seeds 
of plants best adapted for shells. The seeds may 
be found at most seed-stores. 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist: 
Allow me to contribute to that lovely and in¬ 
teresting part of your paper devoted to home 
floriculture, an idea, which has found many ad¬ 
mirers since I introduced it here several years 
ago, and which I think will come into great favor 
when generally known ; as it adds a novel and 
graceful ornament to our windows, piazzas, etc 
I mean the successful combination of two such 
favorite objects as the shells of the Ocean with the 
“ children of light ”—flowers growing in shells, 
each in itself a beautiful thing of nature, and each 
lending a charm to the other. 
Shells, bearing plants, are certainly as graceful, 
if not more so, than the hanging flower-pots (am- 
pels) of bronze, terra cotta, etc., and considering 
the high price of the latter, while so many shells 
lie buried under dust in closets and garrets as 
useless things, I quite flatter myself that this 
my little discovery will be welcome to many 
friends of flowers—especially their human sisters 
•just at this season, when we prepare with im¬ 
patience for the new offspring. 
The cuts will give a sufficiently clear idea of 
the manner in which they are to be used. The 
places where they are to be suspended, will de¬ 
pend upon individual convenience and taste. Re¬ 
gard should of course be had to proper position for 
light and heat. For attaching the cords it may be 
necessary to drill a few small holes in the shell, 
into which wires can be inserted, and the cords 
attached to them. 
Some hints to those not much acquainted with 
The impracticability of draining-holes in shells 
seems the first obstacle ; but three years’ experi¬ 
ence has proved it of no serious consequence. 
Into large shells (over 6 inches), I put first a 
handful or more, according to the size of the 
shell, of coarse clean sand, or better still, coarse 
powdered charcoal, and upon this the light soil, 
to receive the seeds or plants; it is also well to 
mix a little powdered charcoal with this soil. In 
a large shell, four or five plants of different kinds 
may be grown, and if there is among them a semi- 
aquatic plant, for example a Mimulus, the soil will 
more frequently be found too dry, than too wet. 
Small shells need hardly any sand or charcoal, as 
the moisture in the limited quantity of soil is 
quickly exhausted by the roots. Careful water¬ 
ing when dry, is of course a matter of importance 
with these, as with every pot-plant. Many per¬ 
sons think that there is not room or soil enough 
in a shell to support plants ; this is a common er¬ 
ror. In pots, plants succeed and bloom generally 
better in little soil, (ban in too much, and conse¬ 
quently more are killed by too large vessels than 
by small ones. Three years ago I planted a Lo¬ 
belia in a shell, holding not quite two table-spoon¬ 
fuls of soil, and it is still growing in it, flowering 
exuberantly every summer! 
Here is a list of plants, successfully grown in 
shells ; those marked with * are only for larger 
shells : 
‘Anagallis Monelli 
‘Campanula speculum 
Cenia turbinata 
Cochlearia or Jonopsidium 
acaulis 
Grammanthus gentian. 
Gypsophylla muralis 
Linaria cymbalaria 
Lobelia ramosa 
Mimulus moschatus 
‘Mimulus speciosus, and 
others. 
‘Manulea violncea 
Mesembrianthemum tricolor 
Nemesia floribunda 
Oxalis rosea 
Portulacca grandiflora 
Silene alpestris 
Saxifraga sarmentosa 
Sedum coeruleum 
Tradescantia caudata 
Tradescantia discolor 
Isolepis tenella, Agrojtis 
pulchella, fine grasses 
Climbing plants for large shells : 
Ipomea nil and quamoclit Orobus coccineus 
Maurandia’s Thunbergias. 
For garnishing ; Mosses (Musci and Lichens), 
and Lycopodia. C. Mbinkrtu. 
Rockingham Co., N. II, 
