fjtuiii 
iphLTURXtftE 
EXCELSIOR 
(83.00 PER YEAR. 
TERIUS . i §i„ g |„ is 0m Eight Cent*, 
VOL XXIV. NO. 17. 
NEW YORK CITY AND ROCHESTER, N. Y. 
FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28,1871. 
[Entered according to Act of Congress, In the year 1871 , by D. I). T. JIoobb, In the office of the librarian of Congress, at Washington.] 
loricnllnrjc. 
ELEGANT GARDEN VASE. 
Tim vase (sec illustration) i9 made entire- i 
]y of wrought iron and may be used for flow¬ 
er gardens, conservatories or hall decoration. > 
It may he lined with zinc or sphagnum. Its < 
foundation may be rustic, as shown, or of i 
any device to suit the fancy and circum¬ 
stances. Nothing is prettier in lawn or gar¬ 
den, and in winter in the living room or hall. 
J&e need not suggest to our readers what to 
•plant in such a vase; those who love and 
cultivate flowers will have their own especial 
favorites. 
—-4-V4--- 
TREATMENT OF CAMELLIAS. 
W hat is the proper treatment for a Ca¬ 
mellia when transferred from a greenhouse 
in the city to the sitting room of a country 
home? The plant purchased was covered 
with buds which blasted, not one of them 
ever opening. Mow can I make it blossom 
this second year ? —E. m. t. w. 
Camellias thrive best in a cool, moist at¬ 
mosphere—one quite different from that 
usually found in an ordinary sitting-room. 
Any considerable chauge in the temperature 
of iuc- v ir or in Lite amount of water applied 
is very likely to make camellias cast their 
buds; still, we know of many ladies who 
have excellent success in growing and bloom¬ 
ing them as parlor plants. We do not think 
the camellia is a difficult plant to cultivate, 
but it requires a peculiar treatment, and one 
quite different from roses aud geraniums. 
Wc would advise keepiug your plants in 
an atmosphere not above 60 nor below 45° ; 
keep the soil moist by giving plants plenty 
of water once or twice a week, hut do not 
apply a little every day as is the too com- 
mou practice with amateurs in window 
gardening. If the plants cast their buds 
again this season, take them out of the pots 
and soak the ball of earth for a few hours in 
water until it is wet through. If any of the 
roots are rotten, cut them away. Remove a 
portion of the soil, or all, if it parts readily 
from the roots. Now take good fresh loam 
from a hedge row or near an old fence—that 
which is full of rich vegetable mold—and 
add to tills some old, rotten cow manure, 
say one fourth the whole quantity of the 
latter, Break up and thoroughly mix this 
compost, and it is ready for use. Put the 
plants again in this material, being careful 
to put in plenty of drainage in the bottom, 
and see that every root is surrounded with 
soil. Press the soil in firmly, give water to 
settle it, and put the plants iu a situation to 
grow again. Next summer sot the plants 
out doors in a half shady position and water 
them as required. Apply water frequently 
overhead in order to keep the leaves clean 
and free from dust. In autumn remove the 
plants to the house, and if you do not water 
too freely, give too much heat, or make 
some other grave mistake, the plants will 
not fail to do well. 
-- 
FLORICULTURAL NOTES. 
Hay LilieN. 
What is the botanical name for what is 
usually called the ‘‘Day Lily,” which is in 
blossom at this time? It has several stalks 
"pon which, at the extremity of each, are a 
multitude of buds, one on each of them open¬ 
ing each day; are very sweet scented and 
Pure white.— Mrs. E. M. T. W. 
The name of the plaut is Funkia subcor- 
(hta; also called Funkiagrandifloru, Chinese 
Day Lily, etc., etc. The word Funkia is 
from the German botanist Funk. Formerly 
all the day lilies were included among the 
HenerocalUs; hut latterly our botanists have 
separated the genus. The old yellow and 
copper - colored day lilies are retained as 
j HemerocaUis, while the white, blue, and sev¬ 
eral other Chinese ami Japan species are 
called Funkias. The old name of the genus, 
i. e., Hemerocallis , is derived from two Greek 
words meaning “Beauty of 
Day,” and we think far more 
appropriate for the beautiful 
while and blue species of Fun- 
Idas than for the old copper- 
colored day lilies, so common iu 
neglected old gardens. 
your Dioontra* in the shade of some large 
trees where the sun will not reach them 
during the entire day, and then mulch the 
soil about them, and see if they do not sue- 
Mm 
/ * 
*. r 
Trl-Colovert Geraniums. ft* 
Can you inform me if there is 
icallysuch a plant as the Tri- 
colored leaved Zonule Geraui- 
um ? I had one sent me by a 
florist, and the half-withered 
leaves were truly gorgeous; but 
when the new ones appeared Jrfiitl 
there was no trace of this bill- 
Haney left. I asked n young •' 
New Orleans florist the cuuse of ? 
the change, and he said that, the 
colors were produced by pack- 
ing the plants and by acids in ^ 
the leaves. — Mrs. B. R. H., 
Bayou Qoula, La. 
There are true tri-colored 
geraniums, and under proper 
cultivation the leaves remain 
peifect in c^lor. But. if ex- 
prtjed to very ?.ot Bun, or even 
in too much shade, the leaves 
often lose their distinct mark¬ 
ings, or, as the florists term it, ^ (SHE 
“ run ’’—that is, all the different JHB1 
colors run together, and the tri¬ 
color becomes unicolor. If your 
young New Orleans florist will 
take a trip North, and visit, any 
of our florists, he will become 
convinced that tri-colored gera¬ 
niums are fir from being a myth, and that 
they are not produced by packing or acids. 
Diceuiru anti Lilies. 
What must I do with the plant Dielytra 
spectabilis, or “ Bleeding Heart,” when it dies 
down? I left it in the open ground last 
year aud it rotted. I have it in boxes this 
season. It did not bloom so well, but died 
down later. Shall I keep the earth moist or 
let it remain dry ? What soil suits it best? 
My Japan Lilies and Lilium aiimtum also 
rotted after blooming. Would it be right to 
Sayitiarica, or Arrow-Heads, and Arums, 
and other water and bog plants may be in¬ 
troduced, and these handsome flowers and 
leaves will repay for the little trouble aud 
care required in their culture. 
PropnKUthur Geranium from 
Leaves. 
A CORRESPONDENT of the 
Floral World says:—“Possess¬ 
ing a plant of the ivy-leaved 
geranium L’Eleganle, I was de¬ 
sirous of increasing the slock. 
I accordingly struck a number 
of cuttings. AmoDg these 1 
placed in the cutting pot, as an 
experiment, a single leaf, with 
no portion of the main Btalk or 
a hud attached. This loaf has 
struck, and has uow become a 
good-sized plant. But the foli¬ 
age is totally different from that 
of the parent plant, which has 
leaves of a glossy green color, 
with a narrow white margin. 
In the plant raised from the 
leaf, there is no edging to the 
leaves, and they are entirely 
green, with the exertion of a 
dark bronze blotch in llnweeu- 
ter of the oldest leaves. The 
plant lias not yet flowered, and 
I shall be curious to see whether 
the blossom will differ from that 
of the original plant.” 
______ I 5 RctUtman 81., New York, 
OrrivEuiJ g2 Uullalo Si., Rochester. 
WHOLE NO. 1135. 
No. 2, Oralis violacea, or violet - colored 
Wood Sorrel—a common plant South, but 
rare at the North. 
Double Hlue Myrtle. 
Last spring, when our myrtle was in 
bloom, I noticed some very beautiful and 
perfect double flowers — one cup set in 
another like double Mimulus. Has any one 
else a double variety, or is ours “something 
new in the world ?”—Rose Geranium. 
Sural ^nrlutcrtnre. 
YASE. 
ceed better. Perhaps the same treatment 
will answer for the lilies. 
Plants for Aquariums. 
What small plant will thrive entirely in 
water ? I wish for something to grow in a 
glass globe filled with water and hanging in 
a sunny window ?—E. M. t. w. 
There are many small delicate species of 
plants suitable for fresh water aquariums. 
The common Mermaid weed (Proserptnaca 
palustris) grows in shallow, stagnant pools, 
merely the upper leaves emerging above the 
A Group of Alpitte Plants. 
3§j|pF A few days since we saw in 
the window of James Flem¬ 
ing’s seed store in New York 
city a neatly arranged basket 
of good old Alpine plants. 
Among the .number we no¬ 
ticed Echeverm metal im, E. glauca , Bedim 
pittino'rsum, S. enrneum variegatum , 8. album , 
Sernpervivum hirtinn , 8. arveuse. We are glad 
to see that this excellent class of plants is 
coming again into use for decorative pur¬ 
poses, for there are many places about every 
dwelling where they may be employed to 
great advantage, and it is to be hoped tlmt 
our florists will endeavor to collect the best 
species and keep them on sale. 
Oxnlin nod House leek. 
Will the Rural New-Yorker please 
i zu 
1 
zj j 
F 
3 
IGX30 
FjuAJSr 
JUiVElM; BUILDINGS. 
take them up and pack in dry earth?—M bs. | surface. The Water Milfoil (MyriophyUum 
B. R. H., Bayou Qoula , La. 
We presume that your climate is too 
warm for the Dicentra and Lilies. We put 
such plants into the ground and take no 
further care, except to take them up every 
two or three years and divide them. Plant 
spicaUm ) is a very common species to be 
found in ponds. The leaves are arranged in 
whorls. The place to find plants suitable 
for the glass globe is in the ponds, where you 
can make a selection of the most beautiful. 
When the aquarium is large enough the 
give a correct name to the inclosed plants, 
Nos. 1 and 2, through its columns, and oblige 
—Mrs. C. N. St. Clair, Orleans Co., JY Y. 
No. 1 is one of the many varieties and 
species of Houseleeks, {Semperviunns,) but we 
cannot name the species from so small a 
piece of the plaut. 
PLAN OF FARM BUILDINGS. 
I want to give you a plan of a barn and 
out-buildings, with my mode of steaming 
feed. 1 would like to see a fuller and better 
explanation of the kinds of machinery used 
in steaming and the way of doing it; and 
would like to know if it makes any differ¬ 
ence whether the steam is used direct from 
the boiler or from the exhaust of the piston. 
I have been told that it makes a difference, 
but I cannot see the point. 
The following is the explanation of the 
plan of the buildings, yard, &c. In the plan 
1 is Hie main barn; 2, shed with stalls; 3, 
yard for sheep and cattle; 4, corn and grain 
house; 5, storehouse; 6 and 7, hog-hoUSC; 
8 and 9, horse and carriage house; 10, shed ; 
11, barn-yard ; 12, engine house; 13, hen- 
yard; 14, smoke bouse; 15, boiler and en¬ 
gine; 17, windows; 18, stanchions; 19, 
stalls; 20, box stalls; 21, bridgeway. 
The main barn is two stories (24 feet) high, 
and is built on level ground, with a bridge- 
way to drive into the second story at the 
ends, the floors running lengthwise and bays 
on either side. The lower floor, 18 by 80, is 
paved and then grouted. It has nn iron 
track the whole length for cars, which are 
filled from the cutting machine on the upper 
floor; then one is backed to the engine- 
room, near enough to be reached by a pipe 
from the exhaust, and the contents steamed, 
while, with a belt attached to the cutter, a 
second car is filling. When the contents of 
one car are steamed enough, it can be opened 
on either’ side and cooled for feeding, and it 
can be run the whole length of the barn and 
fed into the mangers direct, from either side. 
Each car holds four hundred bushels, 
which will feed about thirty-five head of 
cat tle aud horses three and a-half days. In 
December the feed is straw and stalks. By 
this process l can winter more than I can 
summer by the old method of letting stock 
run in the fields. 
The arrangement of stalls is for milk 
stock. On one side are stanchions (5) and 
on the other stalls (19) and box stalls (20), so 
that cows us they approach calving are 
moved around on the opposite side of the 
stable, where they can get up easier than in 
stanchions; and when within a few days of 
calving they are put into box stalls and left 
loose. John II. O’Hara. 
We should be glad to receive Mr. 
O’Hara’s statement of his mode of manag¬ 
ing stock under the system he has adopted 
with profits and comparative figures. 
NOTES FOR BUILDERS. 
RoiiiUri'iui: Walls Wntei’-Tlirht. 
It is proposed by Mr. F. Runsome, of 
London, to render stone and brick walls 
water-proof by coating them to saturation 
with a solution of silicate of soda, which is 
superficially decomposed by the further ap¬ 
plication of chloride of calcium. The sur¬ 
face thus obtained consists of silicate of 
lime, which is perfectly insoluble, while it 
dose not alter the appearance of the wall. 
We are always glad to receive plans, 
sketches of elevations, suggestions, experien¬ 
ces aud inquiries for this Department. 
