368 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
December, 
In-Door Gardening. 
At this bleak season, out-door gardening is of 
course out of the question. Where but recently 
a bloom of beauty greeted the eye, we now look 
only upon frozen ground, covered perhaps with a 
sheet of snow, and there are only dried broken 
stems, with here and there a few evergreen 
shrubs. But the “ gude housewife ”—to whose 
care the flower garden and borders generally owe 
their chief attractions in Summer—has, we trust, 
foreseen the present season, and provided for it. 
Her floral pets have not all been left to die at the 
first approach of the frosts of Autumn. We have 
visited many a dwelling, where, neatly arranged 
upon shelves or stands—an economical and conve¬ 
nient form of which is a quarter circle in the 
corner—were rows of pots containing choice ver¬ 
benas, petunias, salvias, pelargoniums, begonias, 
cinerarias, fuchsias, callas, carnations, cactuses, 
abutilons, camellias, tender roses, pots and glas¬ 
ses of flowering bulbs, while near them were tubs 
containing the orange, lemon and oleander, sug¬ 
gestive of the green-house itself. These have 
already commenced a vigorous growth, and flow¬ 
er buds, even, may be seen upon some of them. 
Our present purpose is to give a few directions 
for their management, while the “frost-king” 
is holding external vegetation in check, and even 
disputing the possession in the house itself. 
It must be kept in mind that to flourish well, 
all kinds of plants need air, moisture, warmth and 
light. The living room contains an atmosphere 
combining these four requisites, and in which 
plants will thrive. A little extra attention should 
be given to ventilation, when plants are kept in 
a room, for these consume a portion of the oxy¬ 
gen, as well as human lungs, fires and lights. 
Where a close stove is used, the upper sash of 
the windows should be frequently lowered, to ad¬ 
mit fresh air as well for vegetable, as human 
health and life; but a chilling draft, when surround¬ 
ed with heat, is alike injurious to both. The ordi¬ 
nary temperature of the room will suit the grow¬ 
ing plants, providing only that this warmth is 
kept up during cold nights. The windows will 
afford sufficient light, although the tendency of 
growing plants to incline towards the strongest 
light is such that the pots may need an occasion¬ 
al turning to keep the shoots in an upright posi¬ 
tion. Almost every one has observed this incli¬ 
nation in plants to lean towards a window, and if 
not frequently turned, the stems will be quite 
crooked. 
The pots should have a saucer appendage to 
stand iri, that no water escape upon the floor. 
The water—which should be of the temperature 
of the room —may be poured into the saucers, and 
will be “sponged” up through the hole in the bot¬ 
tom of the pot. Beginners in this kind of garden¬ 
ing are a pi to use too much water. Bear in mind 
that the earth is not kept soaked with rain, the 
flower borders of the garden often appearing quite 
dry, although the plants thrive well. To imitate 
the out-door dews, sprinkle upon the foliage oc¬ 
casionally through a fine rose (water pot sprink¬ 
ler), or syringe. The common practice of throw¬ 
ing upon plants a little water, every now and 
then, as may happen, packs the surface earth, 
keeps out the air, and is every way injurious. 
Every thing should be kept neat and clean, 
dusting the foliage, removing decayed leaves, 
moss and weeds, and pinching the leading shoots 
so as to form a compact, bushy head. The sur¬ 
face of the soil should not be allowed to bake or 
crust. Pick it over with a sharp stick or a knife. 
If any plant lags, give an occasional watering with 
one pound of guano to five or eight gallons of 
water. If guano is not at hand, some of the 
liquid running from the manure heap, may be 
used. If it is not quite weak, add water enough 
to render it so ; it should be only of a brownish 
tinge—not very dark colored. If this does not 
have the desired effect, cut back to a mere stub, 
and let it come out anew. A wet soft cloth is 
the best thing to remove dust from the foliage. 
Besides leaving a lively gloss upon them, it im¬ 
parts a grateful moisture quite beneficial to the 
plant. 
Convenient Appendage to a Wash Stand. 
While recently stopping with one of our read¬ 
ers for a night, we noticed in the room allotted 
to us, two very simple appendages to a wash stand, 
which may be common for aught we know, 
but they were new to us, and will probably be 
so to at least some others. While waiting for 
breakfast we made a pencil sketch which is pre¬ 
sented herewith. The stand itself is of a com¬ 
mon form, closed by doors in front, with marble 
top, and a small marble shelf, ilf, at the back, (for 
soap dish, brushes, etc.,) which is elevated 3 or 4 
inches by marble brackets. A mirror is support¬ 
ed in an ornamental frame at the back. But the 
appendages specially referred to are : 1st, a sliding 
towel rod, B, projecting from the left front upper 
corner, which when not in use slips into a 
groove under the top of the stand ; and 2d on the 
right side a sliding shelf, S, is arranged to be 
drawn out from under the rear part of the mar¬ 
ble top. When not in use both the shelf and the 
towel rod are shoved in entirely out of sight, 
except the small knob upon the outer end of each. 
It occurred to us that these appendages, or es¬ 
pecially the towel rod, might be added to every 
variety of wash stand, of however cheap and rude 
construction. A rod, thus drawn out horizontal¬ 
ly, is more convenient and neat than the side 
arms in common use, which are seldomdornament 
al or convenient for hanging the towel upon, be¬ 
sides the disadvantage of having a wet towel 
hanging down against the side of the stand. 
Half a dozen such rods might be shoved under 
the cover of a single stand. They may be 
made round, or square, or of | inch stuff one 
to two inches wide. The sliding shelf refer¬ 
red to is convenient for setting a lamp upon, at a 
little distance from the wash basin. 
-»■ 
Hand Lamp for Coal Oil. 
The various “ carbon ” and “ coal oils ” re¬ 
cently thrown into market, are, almost without 
exception, an improvement upon the old fashion¬ 
ed whale oil, and burning fluids. The common 
burning fluid, which is simply a mixture of alco¬ 
hol and camphene (oil of turpentine), is danger¬ 
ous, not so much from its explosiveness as from 
its inflammability when a lamp chances to be 
broken or upset. It also gives a poor light, and 
is dear at any price. During two years past we 
have used for stationary lamps the well-known 
“ Carbon Oil ” which is obtained from Petroleum 
wells, and which we consider purer and yielding 
less offensive odors than the manufactured coal 
oils including “kerosene” and others. But for 
small portable hand lamps to be carried around 
the house, we have until recently been compelled 
to retain the fluid. We are glad to say that we 
have now found a portable hand lamp which burns 
the carbon oil well without a glass chimney.— 
The same lamp also burns other coal oils, or the 
better kinds of them. After a month’s trial of the 
new lamp, our fluid lamps have gone to the 
store-room for “old metal,” at least those to 
which we could not add the oil burning top. 
The accompanying engraving we have prepared 
to illustrate the operation of our new lamp. The 
main body of the lamp may be of any desired 
form. The cap consists of two parts : a is the 
inner part having the screw to fit into the body 
of the lamp, and the two wick tubes. Over this 
is fitted the hollow brass cap, b. This cap soon 
heats and produces an upward flow of air which 
passes up betiveen and around the tops of the 
wick tubes, and is sufficient to burn the fluid and 
prevent smoke. The draft is similar to that ob¬ 
tained by the common glass chimney. By sliding 
the cap up or down, the wick tubes are brought 
nearer together, or spread apart, and the flame is 
thus regulated. After a little experience in reg¬ 
ulating the wicks, a clear bright light is obtained, 
with no smoke. We have been experimenting 
somewhat, and find that one gallon of carbon oil 
lasts in one of these lamps at least 400 hours, with 
a much better light than can be obtained from a 
whale oil or fluid lamp of two round wicks, or the 
best candle. The only difficulty is, that as with 
all wicks not charred in burning, the flame is 
rather easily extinguished by brisk currents of 
air, but one soon becomes careful enough to avoid 
this inconvenience. We shall use no other hand 
lamp—at least not until something belter is in¬ 
vented. The apparatus is simple—the lamps 
costing little if any more than the old forms ; and 
these now caps can be fitted to any old lamps. 
Messrs. Dietz & Co., are the patentees, and we 
presume the lamps will soon be on sale through¬ 
out the country. 
