ite name? 4. Can you give me the name of 
the ^inclosed leaf ?— Subscriber, Aurora , 
1> Petunias are cultivated as garden an¬ 
nuals, but by striking cuttings during Sum¬ 
mer, and placing them in a warm green¬ 
house in Winter, varieties may be pre¬ 
served and the plants will be perennial. 
Petunias are in their native country, (South 
oliauchi; it is reddish at lust, but after¬ 
wards becomes intensely black. This ink 
can be used without any preparation, and 
does not injure steel pens as much as ordi¬ 
nary ink. while at the same time it is more 
enduring. 
SOWING THE SEED OF ROSES 
The rose shears will soon be in constant 
operation, cutting off every faded flower. 
May I ask that the hand may be stayed 
when about t o snip off those which are like¬ 
ly to produce seed? The endless variations 
of color and shape of the (lowers, the man¬ 
ner which those seedlings reproduce the 
traits of the parent, at one time the leaf, at 
an other time the flowei-, will in oce an in¬ 
terest in the work which will amply repay 
the annoyance of seeing a few seed-pods 
scattered about among the flowers t hrough¬ 
out the summer. The seedlings will not, I 
promise, produce all double flowers—but 
even a briar, with blossoms as large again as 
those of the dog-rose, having a color equal to 
that of < 'ount favour,'.would not, I imagine, 
be despised; then there would bo yellow 
briars and briars of every shade of color. 
But they do not all point! briars, even if the 
seed are taken from rosiis worked on that 
stook. A good proportion come roses, 
with an increased vigor, although deficient 
of tin; quality to bring them up to the stand¬ 
ard of t he parent as to form. The color will 
be found somewhat after that of the parent, 
although yellow kinds often produce seed¬ 
lings dial bear pink blooms, wit h leaves like 
those of the parent; but the blooms are lar¬ 
ger and of a deeper color than those of the 
common briar. Those who do this find they 
have plenty of stocks to work favorite va¬ 
rieties upon; besides the pleasure of having 
one’s own seedlings, and achance of raising, 
now and then, something good,— Henry 
Mills. 
Plant Case.—We tind there is an in¬ 
creasing demand for plant cases for home 
P I - .A. 1ST T 
America) perennials, but under cultivation 
are usually treated as annuals except when 
it is desirable to preserve and perpetuate 
some choice variety. A rather heavy 
sandy loam, with an intermixture of sandy 
peat thoroughly decomposed, and adding a 
little pure silver sand. If the loam used is 
Of a poor quality, a little very old cow ma¬ 
nure may be added. The compost should 
be at least six months old before used In 
order to produce the best results. 3. We 
cannot give you the specific name, but it is 
probably an Oralis, which is only the gen- 
eric name for sorrel, derived from O.rys, 
acid or sour. 4. Cmsnila lacten, a near 
relative of the common Live-for- ever, (Sc- 
dnm Tel eph turn.) 
BRACKETS FOR PLANTS, 
ornamentation. We give herewith a prett}’ 
design for one, with a sectional view show¬ 
ing internal arrangement, which needs no 
explanation in order to enable any carpen¬ 
ter to make one. There is nothing more 
ornamental in a living-room or drawing¬ 
room than one of these plant cases filled 
with carefully selected plants. We shall 
give hints as to the filling and management 
thereof from time to time. 
Some plants look so well against the wall 
of a greenhouse or conservatory that it is a 
wonder brackets are not in more general 
use. than they are. It is not necessary that 
they should be so elaborate as that which 
supports the lino-leaved Begonia in the 
accompanying engraving; this is of course 
a matter to be determined according to in¬ 
dividual taste and means. For growing 
plants in, the least ornamental form is just 
»-> good as any other. The simplest kind of 
bracket that T over saw was a flower-pot 
with one side flattened, and having a hole 
near the top of the flat side, so that it 
might hang upon a nail in the wall. Some 
years ago 1 remember seeing a collection of 
Ferns grow against the wall of a greenhouse 
in these flat-sided pots, which were hanging 
thickly all over the wall; and the effect of 
the drooping fronds, which in many instan¬ 
ces quite hid the pots, was exceedingly 
pretty. I see no reason why Mesombryau- 
thomums should not be grown in such pots, 
by which means the wall of a conservatory 
might be covered with their blooms; and 
those who would like to see ribbon beds ex¬ 
ecuted upon a wall, might bo able with this 
genus alone to produce some curious effects. 
Wall gardening, in short, is a subject to 
which, as yet, little attention has been paid; 
but if well carried out it would doubtless be 
productive of the very best results.—W. T. 
in Garden. 
Plant, for Name, — 1 inclose you for 
name the leaf of a plant growing back of a 
stone house in our town. It puts out in 
Spring and dies down in Fall. Home of the 
leaves measure two foot in diameter. We 
cannot account for its appearance here, 
neither have we been able to find out its 
uamc.-N. c;., Warrenton, da. 
We cannot name the plant from such a 
meager description; and the two very small 
SECTION OF A PLANT CASE 
FLORICULTURAL NOTES 
A Floral Ornament for the Drawing- 
Room.—Last August a lady friend of mine 
gathered a handful of the world-renowned 
flowers of forget-me-not, Myosotle palus- 
tris, and to preserve them as loug a period 
as possible they were put in a large soup- 
plate filled with rain-water. The flowers 
were placed near the window, so as to enjoy 
the advantages resulting from an abundance 
of light and air, and the water was replen¬ 
ished when needful. In a surprisingly 
short space of time—three weeks, I believe 
white thread-like roots were emitted from 
the portion of the flower-stalks in the wa¬ 
ter, and t hey ultimately formed a thick net¬ 
work over the plate. The flowers remained 
quite fresh, excepting a few of the mostad- 
vauoed when gathered, ami, as soon as the 
roots began to run in the water, the buds 
beean to expand, to take the place of those 
which faded, and up to the middle of No¬ 
vember the bouquet—if it may be so called 
was a dense mass of flowers, and a more 
beautiful or chaste ornament for the indoor 
apartment cannot be imagined .—Thomas 
U. Trusslcr , In “Gardeners' Magazine:’' 
Floricultural Queries.—1. Are Petu¬ 
nias raised from seed, perennials? 2. What 
kind of soil is best for Cactus? 3. I have a 
small plant which resembles sheep sorrel, 
With small, bulbous rcots; can you tell me 
DAILY RURAL LIFE 
FROM THE DIARY OF A GENTLEMAN NEAR NEW YORK CITY, 
BRACKET FOR PLANTS. 
leaves inclosed are not much better as an 
aid in determining a species. Send us flow¬ 
ers and leaves at the same time, and we will 
endeavor to give you its name. 
Ink Plant.—An attempt is being made 
to acclimatize in Europe the new Grenada 
Coriaria thymlfolia , or ink plant. The 
sap which flows from this plant is called 
