ecanes. 
MOOBE’S BJJBAL HEW-YORKEB. 
PLANTS CALLED “WILD TEA.” 
I will Rhed a littlo light upon the “ Wild 
Tea ” subject. The Ceano th us Amerlvanus 
is New Jersey tea, aud is sometimes called 
Wild Tea. It has a woody stem, somowhat 
like Ilardhark (Spirea). It has ovate, 
serrate, accumulate, three-nerved leaves, 
which ate quite pubescent beneath. It has 
an auxiliary paniole of sub-eoryraed, small 
white flowers, and blosRoim in June. 
A plant ol' another genus, Ledum latifo- 
llum —Labrador Tea, Marsh Tea—is also 
called “ Wild Tea.” This is a perennial 
plant, with oblong loaves, the leaves of 
which are somewhat folded (replicate), and 
are fej-uginous (irony) and tomeutose (hav¬ 
ing a flue down) beneath. The stock is ir¬ 
regularly branched, and hairy or wooly. In 
Juno or July it has a long terminal corymb 
of whitish or reddish flowers. I have met 
with it in Maine, Massachusetts, Connecti¬ 
cut, and Michigan, and, 1 presume, it is in¬ 
digenous to all Northern States and Cana¬ 
da, and may be found in almost any marsh 
therein. 
Both are sometimes used as a substitute 
for Thea (table tea). j. h. 
Amber, Mioh. 
-»■»+. i . . 
FLORICULTURAL NOTES. 
Flower-Basket for Vestibules.—There 
are so many charming ways of ornamenting 
country homes with flowers and plants, that 
wo are astonished more devices are not 
made by inventive housewives for this pur¬ 
pose. We should like (aud, in that respect, 
second the motion of Sally Secor, who / 
“ does xvish the ladies would send us sketch- 
es of what they are doing in the way of ^ 
home ornaments ”) those of our readers who A 
have devices which give themselves and nj 
their friends pleasure, to send us sketches fr 
of them. Quo of the prettiest ornaments 
for a vestibule is a well furnished plant- 
stand, in the form of a basket, as shown 
herewith. It is made of out wood, gat hered t 
together in the center with a light brace of t 
iron, and is furnished on the inside with a < 
double zinc basin, of which the first part is h 
perforated, so as to allow the superfluous i 
water to pass off; an iron stem occupies the 1 
center, and two branches to support three 
vases in artistic earthenware, or, better still, 
in iron wire,tastefully trellised.holdingmoss e 
in which the plants are placed. Underneath “ 
are planted Dracaenas, Caladiums, Bego- b 
nias, Ferns, Pelargoniums, young Palms, t 
Fuchsias, with a border of Lycopods. A a 
Cissus or a Tropceolvm Lohblanum climbs a 
up the iron stem. The topmost vase con- r> 
tains a Palm or a Yucca, some light Pteris b 
or Nephrotepis, some CommeUna zchrlna T 
in falling festoons, and the lateral baskets si 
are similarly decorated. The effect of ai 
this basket is very pretty, and requires but ri 
little attention* * ir 
« \ 
but do not put boiling hot water upon them 
a second time, nor place water where it w ill 
remain hot. After soaking one or two days, 
sow the seed in pots or in the garden. 
Propagating lloneysuckles.— Ida H. 
M. asks “bow to multiply Honeysuckles.” 
One of the simplest methods is to bend 
dow'n a branch in spring and cover a portion 
of it in the earth; by autumn it will be well 
rooted, and can then be separated from the 
parent plant, Cuttings made in spring or 
winter will usually grow when planted in 
the open ground in the same manner as we 
do with currants. 
liarg of n JjlttraM 
DAILY RURAL LIFE. 
FROM THE DIARY OF A GENTLEMAN NEAR NEW YORK CITY. 
Leaves for a Name. Inclosed please 
find leaves of a plant. Please give name, 
and if it blooms what kind of bloom it has. 
—John Block, West Virginia. 
We cannot undertake to name plants 
FLOWER BASKET FOR VESTIBULES. 
from leaves only. We think, however, that 
the leaves are those of Euonymus Japoni- 
ca, a small evergreen Bhrub, bearing very 
small white flowers. It is probably hardy 
in Virginia, but tender in the latitude of 
New York City. 
Plants for Names.—Please give me the 
names of the inclosed plants. My garden is 
full of them now in full bloom.—A South¬ 
ern Girl, Carrolton, Ala. 
It is always more difficult to name culti¬ 
vated varieties of plants, because there are 
of some species thousands of sorts, and all 
very near alike. True species may readily 
be determined from dried specimens; but 
garden varieties are much more difficult. 
As near as we can make them out, the 
plants you send are as follows:—No. 1. Py- 
rus Japontca r No. 2. Muscati Botryoides, 
or Grape Hyacinth; No. 3, Narcissus; No. 
4, Narcissus Orientates; No. 5. Narcissus 
calathlnus; No. 6, Narcissus incompara¬ 
ble ; No. 7, Oala nthus nivalis or early Snow 
Drop. 
Red Flowering Currant. — Inclosed 
you will find a flower which is admired by 
every one in Oregon. It grows on a shrub, 
and the common name for it iB the “Dog 
Currant.” It blooms about the 20th of 
March, and when the berrv ripens it re¬ 
sembles the wild grape of Oregou. When 
t hey get ripe will send you specimen.— Geo. 
W.’Hartz, Gambctt (Jo., Oregon. 
The flowers are those of the Red Flower¬ 
ing Currant of Oregon and California, 
known to botanists and gardeners as Rtbes 
sanguineum. We have cultivated it for 
many years as an ornamental plant, the 
fruit being of little value. 
Cannas from Seed.—Please tell me how 
to grow Caunas from seed.—N. P. C. 
Canna seed, although so very hard that 
they have long been known by the name of 
“Indian Shot," grow almost as readily as 
peas. If they have become very dry, soak¬ 
ing iu warm water will hasten their germi¬ 
nation. Put the seed in a vessel and pour 
hot water upon them aud allow it to cool; 
Soot for Rose-Bushes.—A correspond¬ 
ent of the New York Observer says: — 
“Never give up a choice but decaying rose¬ 
bush till you have tried watering it two or 
three times with soot tea. Take soot from 
u chimney or stove in which wood is burned, 
and make tea of it. When cold, water the 
rose-bush with it. When all is used, pour 
boiling water a seoond time on the soot. 
The shrub will quickly send out thrifty 
shoots, the leaves become large aud thick, 
aud the blossoms will be larger and more 
richly tinted. To keep the plants clear of 
insects, syringe them with quassia tea. 
Quassia chips can be obtained of the apoth- 
A Neat Trellis for Plants.—With a 
littlo slightly galvanized wire any one can 
TRELLIS FOR PLANTS. 
make this little iron trellis in a very neat 
manner—and it will look much neater and 
prove handier aud more graceful than the 
painted stick trellises which are so common. 
Treatment of Callas.—Will you tell me 
whether to out my Calla off this Spring aud 
Bet it iu the cellar to rest, or let it grow all 
the year!—H. E. A., Highland, Ulster Co., 
N. Y. 
Let your Callas grow continually, giving 
plenty of liquid manure, pot room and w a¬ 
ter. They require no rest if well fed. 
Goodyear Pubescens is the name of 
the plant Frank Finch sends us. It is oft- 
eu used in hanging baskets. The flowers 
are borne on a spike about six inches high. 
It succeeds best in the shade. 
About Bees .—April 22.—W. E. Ladd, 
>ri according to his note in a late number of 
‘ the Rurax New-Yorker, thinks I went 
10 beyond my depth in trying to keep bees. 
,’ r Perhaps he is right; but having handled a 
111 good many swarms with ray own hands suc- 
re cessfully, besides reading about everything 
published on the subject in the past two 
thousaud years, I feel qualified to express 
e ' an individual opinion in regard to the intel- 
s. ligence of the honey-bee, if nothing more. 
Movable frames, guidon, and a hundred oth- 
is er variations in the structure of hives an¬ 
swer very well for patents; but they add 
nothing to the instinct of the little honey- 
gathering insect, which remains always the 
same. I am not quite so iguorant as not to 
know how to make the bees “ start right” 
in the movable frames or guides; but the 
point 1 wish to make is, that the honey bee 
is no more intelligent, nor possesses any 
higher order of instinct than thousands of 
other species of insects, which are seldom 
or ever mentioned in the writings of our 
wise men. I will further assert that there 
are also scores of other insects of far more 
value to mankind; and I will not include in 
the list silkworms nor cochineal. Honey is 
not one of the necessaries of life any more 
than whisky or tobacco; but there is money 
in it, hence the excitement in regard to bee¬ 
keeping. But there is one important ques¬ 
tion connected with this subject which will 
ere long come up for discussion aud settle¬ 
rs meat in our courts of law; it is whether a 
w= man has a right to keep more bees than he 
can provide pasture for. The gentleman 
(Y referred to by Mr. Ladd who sold $7,500 
\ ' worth of honey last season, probably did 
-■ not expend one cent to furnish his bees 
• pasturage. 
It is strongly urged by some farmers that 
bees, by extracting the honey from the 
“ flowers of buckwheat, injure, or greatly 
lessen, the yield of grain; if so, who is to 
r sustain the loss ? if this be true with buck- 
’ wheat, why not with other plants t There 
are persons who do not choose to live in an 
atmosphere filled with honey-bees, and in 
some neighborhoods it is dangerous for a 
lady or gentleman to pick a flower or gather 
a luscious fruit, on account of the presence 
of bees. Apiarians, certainly, have a right 
to multiply their stocks to any extent; but 
they may yet be compelled to keep their 
bees at home, as well as their dogs aud 
fowls. Whole vineyards of lusoious grapes 
are sometimes destroyed by the honey-bees, 
notwithstanding certain wiseacres declare 
that the bee cannot break the skin of a 
grape, not being provided with the proper 
mandibles or proboscis for this kind of work. 
Perhaps t liery dig a hole with their feet; but 
that they can rood find a way to get at the 
contents is pretty certain. A neighbor of 
mine had several line peach trees last year, 
loaded with choice fruit; but as soon as the 
peaches began to ripen, the bees from a 
neighbor’s apiary came in thousands, at¬ 
tacking each specimen as soon as in a suit¬ 
able condition. I cannot see that a man 
has any better legal or moral right to keep 
bees to annoy his neighbors, by destroying 
their fruit, or by trespassing ou their prem¬ 
ises, than he would have to keep pigeons, 
ducks, goese, or any other fowl. My reason 
for thinking as I do may be owing to igno¬ 
rance of the rights of man; if so, perhaps 
Mr. Ladd will enlighten me on the subject. J 
Shepherding in Bloom.— April 23.—A ' 
pair of large Shepherd la argentea, or Buffs- , 
lo-Berry trees, in my garden, are in full j 
bloom to-day. This is one of the few edible, ] 
fruit-bearing plauts in cultivation that ] 
must be planted in company, as a single ] 
plant will never produce fruit. The pistil- i 
late (female) aud staminate (male) flowers | 
are borne on separate plants; therefore, ( 
those w-ho order Buffalo-Berry trees should i 
remember this, and always purchase a pair, i 
if no more. One staminate plant will an- i 
swer for a half dozen or more pistillates; } 
but they should always be planted near to¬ 
gether. The fruit of this species resembles i 
small red currants, is not only edible, but c 
of an agreeable acid flavor. It is a native of t 
the Northwestern territories, especially on t 
the upper Missouri and mountains of that ( 
region. This would, probably, make a most ^ 
excellent hedge plant, as the ends of the 
small twigs are terminated with sharp t 
spines. The young seedlings grow quite i 
rapidly, aud by mixing the two sexes iu a f 
hedge, a most beautiful effect would be pro- ^ 
duced in the autumn, when the pistillate t 
olants were loaded with scarlet berries. 
Effect of Cold Upon Plants .—April 24. 
—The past winter has been the severest ever 
known in this section of the country. We 
had but little snow, and, although the mer¬ 
cury did not go as low, by several degrees, 
as it often has in years past, still, plants, 
and especially evergreens, suffered terribly. 
The very hardest species, such as Hemlock. 
American and Siberian Arbor Vitae, were 
killed by the hundreds aud thousands. It 
is very singular how the cold affected indi¬ 
vidual plants. In hedges, one or more 
plants were killed, root and branch, and 
those adjoining not injured iu the least. 
The same indiscriminate slaughter of speci¬ 
mens is observed in groups of the hardiest 
species known. In a neighbor’s garden, I 
notice American Arbor Yitaes killed, and 
within twenty feet of them, peach buds 
were not injured, and the trees, to-day, are 
in bloom. One specimen is taken, aud an¬ 
other left; the cause is past finding out. 
From my experience during the past win¬ 
ter, I should be at a loss to make out a list 
of hardy evergreens; for nearly everything 
of the kind has suffered more or less. If 
trees that grow wild almost within the 
Arctic circle arc not hardy, then 1 do not 
know where we arc to look for them, unless 
it is in the South. A large deciduous cy¬ 
press (Taxodlnm dtstichum), raised from 
seed gathered from a t ree near the mouth 
of the Mississippi, passed the winter unin¬ 
jured, while species of evergreens from 
Washington Territory and Oregon, growing 
within fifty feet, were killed. 
BUILDING A CONSERVATORY. 
In reply to Mrs. J. L. M. in the Rural, I 
would say that we have a small room, open¬ 
ing from the dining room, and built out in¬ 
to the piazza, which we use for a conserva¬ 
tory. It is warmed from the stove in the 
dining room, but should be made as warm 
as possible iu building. The floors should 
be double and flllud with coarse mortar be¬ 
tween them; the sides should bo covered 
with straw board under the clapboards. 
Ours has four windows, two pn the side and 
one at each end. The room is six by nine 
feet. A room of this size will hold 75 or 100 
plants of ordinary size. We have found 
many valuable hints iu regard to plants, 
plant cases, plant stands, etc., in “ Wil¬ 
liams’ Window Gardening.” I would rec¬ 
ommend the lady spoken of to procure the 
book, and I think she will never be sorry.— 
D. G. B. 
T will give Mrs. J. L. M. my limited ex¬ 
perience about “building a conservatory.” 
The wing to my cottage had a piazza run¬ 
ning the whole length, and facing the West, 
being four feet deep. 1 enclosed ton and a 
half feet from the south end, with wain¬ 
scoting two feet high, and large sash from 
that, up to the ceiling, the satth being three 
feet wide by five feet three inches long; 
three sash in front, and one sash at each 
end. The wainscoting was made double, 
so that the sash can be dropped down to 
the floor between the wainscoating; only 
four lights of glass to each sash, 15 by 23. A 
door is made to opeu directly Into my diu- 
ing room. This door is kept opeu day and 
night, and the beat from the dining room is 
ample to keep the plants from freezing in 
the oddest weather. 1 heat from a furnace 
in the oellar, and a register iu dining room 
floor. 
A few nights, the past winter, when the 
mercury ran down to SO" below zero, we 
put papers between the sash and plants. 
The floor is made double, with an air space 
of an inch. It has an incline of about one 
inch iu two feet, aud holes bored at the 
lower edge to carry off the water when the 
plauts ure showered. On wash days we 
leave the kitchen door open, leading into 
the dining-room, from which the plants 
gather dampness, that seems to b« valuable. 
On these days we also water the plauts with 
the soap suds. The result is, we have strong, 
vigorous plauts in bloom the year round, 
and the conservatory windows attract the 
attention of every passer. 
The foundation of the piazza being laid 
up into cut stone, and the sash and wains¬ 
coting being well filled, it does not seem to 
make my dining-room perceptibly colder 
than if the conservatory door was kept 
closed. We have only two years’ experi¬ 
ence, but have met with suocess umple to 
warrant the expense, which was about $50. 
1 would advise “ Mrs. J. L. M.” not to 
build a conservatory of the size she uames; 
it would only be an agravation. Mine is 
twice as large as she proposes, aud I find It 
insignificantly small—conveniently holding 
only about sixty pots, two tubs and four 
baskets. l. 
Watertown, N. Y. 
