EXCELSIOR 
41 Park Katv, New York. 
82 IlulTnlo St., Rochester* 
NEW YORK CITY AND ROCHESTER, N. Y 
$3.00 PER YEAR. 
Single No., Eight Cents 
1870 , by I>. D. T. Moore, In the Clerk’s Office of the I'Strict Court of the United Sta tes for the Southern District of Now York.] 
[Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 
for his customers — in short a miniature 
green-house on the hot water plan reduced to 
practical use for the benefit of the amateur. 
“ The public are indebted to Captain Beebe 
for this new apparatus. The box is made of 
pine plank, and measures inside twelve 
inches deep, fifteen wide, and ten feet long. 
Through the center lengthwise there is a 
parting four inches high, one side oi which 
the time of sowing, the strong, healthy 
plants will show a profusion, of flower buds, 
and abundantly reward the care bestowed 
on them. After blossoming through the 
summer, the leaves and stems die clowu, 
and the plants go to rest for the winter. 
They ought to he kept dry and warm till they 
form sufficient for my use. The result more 
than met my expectations. They continued 
in bloom much longer, the blossoms were 
larger and more abundant, and what seed I 
did allow to grow was plumper than any I 
had ever raised before. 
To those purchasing seeds, I would earn- 
for massing and ribbon planting are eneci- 
ive and striking. In a mixed border, in | 
isolated beds, they give satisfaction; and 
the tall-growing varieties scattered in shrub¬ 
bery borders produce a charming effect. 
The length of time they remain in flower 
depends largely upon the nature of the soil, 
and whether the weather be wet or dry. 
When grown in beds, a space of twelve or 
more inches each way should be allowed 
between the plants, thus affording them 
opportunity for full development; and yet 
they will be close enough together to form a 
dense mass of bloom. In England, in bor¬ 
der planting, it is recommended to plant in 
dumps of throe together, thus, ***, allow¬ 
ing niue inches from plant to plant. In a 
short time these clumps average two feet in 
diameter and are loaded with noble spikes 
of flowers, quite unlike the puny little spikes 
met with when thick planting is practiced. 
Larkspurs will grow in almost any soil, but 
they do best in nice mellow loam, well en¬ 
riched with manure or compost. 
The varieties found in American cata¬ 
logues are: — Dwarf Rocket, Tall Rocket, 
Hyacinthe-flowered, Dwarf Stock-flowered, 
Tall Stock-flowered, Pyramidal, Tricolor 
Elegans, German Branching, &c. We have 
not seen the new Candelcbra-sbaped Stock- 
flowered variety, an illustration of which we 
herewith give, mentioned in our catalogues. 
It was introduced in England, the present 
season, by Messrs. Dick Radclyffe & Co., 
and is in six different colors, viz., dark blue, 
violet, rose, light blue, tricolor and white, 
and is regarded as a great acquisition. 
inches in diameter. A pipe near the top 
sends out the hot water, and one at the bot¬ 
tom receives the return flow. No heat is 
lost by evaporation beyond wliat is absorbed 
by the box, air being excluded. A common 
kerosene lamp is attached to the boiler, and 
the wick adjusted to give the proper degree 
of heat. The lamp is trimmed and tilled 
twice a day, morning and night, and requires 
no further attention. The consumption of 
oil is one quart a day. The temperature is 
thus kept just at the point that you choose, 
and is not subject to the carelessness of the 
maid-of-all-work. TUe apparatus can be 
modified to suit a window—a room exposed 
to the south, or projected from the building 
in the form of a lean-to. 
“To grow plants in a room with coal 
stoves or gas is out of the question, but with 
such an apparatus they may be had in abun¬ 
dance. Instead of wood, the whole box 
might be made of zinc or galvanized iron, 
which would last an age. 
“ The apparatus is not patented, nor is any 
one interested in its sale, this being the first 
one made that fully meets the captain’s ex¬ 
pectations ; the cost is about $15. For mar¬ 
ket gardeners it would be valuable for start¬ 
ing plants, to be pricked out in to cold frame. 
The surface of the box is twelve and a half 
square feet, and equal to the cutting box of 
a common green house, and this is heated at 
a daily cost of less than ten cents. Will not 
some clever mechanic put this apparatus 
on the market?” 
EXPERIENCE WITH FLOWERS 
Perhaps a short sketch of some of ray 
failures, as well as successes, in cultivating 
flowers, may be of some slight benefit to 
It takes time and experience to 
show signs of growth, when they are re¬ 
potted. To have them in perfection they 
require bottom-heat till they show flower. 
The common practice is to start them in 
small pots and to re-pot them two or three 
limes during the spring; but I think the 
better way is to plant them at once in the 
pots in which they are to flower. I have 
had Gloxinias raised from seed according to 
the above directions, whose flowers, in size 
and brilliancy of colors, were equal to the 
best raised by our professional florists.” 
estly advise them to purchase of some re¬ 
sponsible seedsman. Don’t, get those that 
are put up and left at stores through the 
country for sale, just because they are cheap. 
With flower seeds, as with many other 
things, the cheapest are the dearest in the 
end. I have known a number of dozen of 
these papers to be planted, and I cannot 
recollect of a single plant being raised from 
them. It is just as much trouble to cultivate 
poor flow era as nice ones. I think it better 
to spend a small sum for good seeds than to 
raise some worthless, weedy thing. 
I always save seed from the flowers I raise, 
and do not see but I have just as good luck 
with them as those I send off for, though 
some of my acquaintances think they must 
purchase every year. I have learned from 
some sorry fail urea not to sow seeds too early. 
Unless I know they are hardy, I do not plant 
them until the 15th or 20th of May, and the 
ground is so warm then they will grow fast 
enough to pay for wailing. 
Loretta E. Knapp. 
No. Fairfield, 0., May, I8"0. 
others. 
learn the habits of different plants, and what 
situations they are best adapted to. One 
year I spoiled the whole effect of my flower 
garden by sowing everlasting flowers in my 
most conspicuous bed. They are very nice 
in the house after they are dried, but of no 
beauty in the garden, and should be placed 
in the least sightly place possible. 
I think shrubs and herbaceous plants are 
less trouble than flowers raised from the 
seed, but they usually blossom but a short 
time, and many of them are very ill-looking 
the remainder of the season. I have a va¬ 
riety of Roses, Pinks, Peonies, and all those 
good old-fashioned things ; Dicentra, varie¬ 
ties of Spireas, Winter Phloxes, Artemisias, 
Lilies, Aquilagias, &c., &e., but I always 
derive the most pleasure from my Annuals. 
There arc many that blossom continually 
from June until frost. In selecting seeds, I 
guard against getting those that bloom but 
a short time. 
I find I am very apt to sow the seeds too 
thick and dislike to thin them out; but since 
I have once or twice had my Phlox Drum- 
mondii mildew, I am more willing to pull 
them up. I think it much better to sow 
very thinly in the first place. A bed of 
, Phlox with the plants four inches apart will 
make a much better display than those set 
' closer, and it is so with almost all flowers. 
I found when I picked roses freely, and 
did not allow the old ones to remain on the 
^ bush, that they bloomed a great deal longer, 
I*, and were much nicer. Last year I tried it 
k with my Annuals, and only allowed seed to 
A ROSE HEDGE, 
CANDELABRA - SHAPED STOCK - FLOWERED 
LARKSPUR. 
weeks the young plants will appear; when 
large enough to handle, plant them separate¬ 
ly in small pots. The usual soil for Gloxin¬ 
ias, as given in hooks, is one-half sandy peat, 
onc-quarter sandy loam, and one-quarter old 
cow-manurc. I prefer to use my own mix¬ 
ture— one-third sandy leaf-mould, one-third 
old dry cow-manure, one-third soft wood 
charcoal, in pieces the size of a pea; the 
whole thoroughly mixed but not sifted very 
fine. This compost gives better satisfaction 
than any other, though it will require an 
unusual amountof water,owing to the large 
proportion of charcoal. Keep the seedlings 
growing during the whole winter, and stimu¬ 
late occasionally with weak liquid cow- 
manure. I keep mine during the winter in 
a Wardian case, with hot water tank at¬ 
tachment, made according to the directions 
given in 1 Flowers for the Parlor and Gar¬ 
den.' The thermometer in the case stood 
60" at night and from 75° to 80 ' during 
the day. 
The following May, or about a year from 
A PLANT PROPAGATING TANK. 
“Rural,” in the Chicago Tribune de¬ 
scribes an Illinois invention which we saw 
some years ago, and which we know gives 
great satisfaction to those who use it. We 
think that reference to it has been made 
heretofore in the Rural New-\orker; 
hut if it has, it may interest many of our 
readers interested in flower propagation to 
read what follows. “ Rural ” writes from 
Galena, Ill : 
“ Among these Northern hills I made a dis- 
lover of flowers, 
kitchen garden. The hedge was originally 
a row of half-standards, of which the crim¬ 
son Boursault formed the mass; this row was 
afterwards trellised over with wire to the 
height of about four feet six inches, and four 
feet in width at the bottom. Many of the 
original trees were then removed, and some 
of the best of the old and well-known sorts 
were planted in their place. They have all 
since been grown on the * extension system.’ 
Plenty of wood is left in, and this is tied to 
the trellis, and all vacant spaces are filled by 
budding. The whole of the row is now com¬ 
pletely covered with growth, and literally 
loaded with blooms in all stages of develop¬ 
ment. As the trellising can he made to any 
height or width, the plan cannot bo too 
strongly recommended for furnishing tall or 
dwarf edgings along the walks of either 
kitchen or flower gardens, or even to form 
back rows in ribbon borders; and there is no 
doubt it would succeed equally well on the 
outskirts of shrubberies, which sometimes 
very rough appearance near the 
covery that will please any 
for it will enable those pets of the household 
to be grown in spite of gas or coal smoke. It 
is a propagating tank, a Wardian case, a 
floral pot, or a conservatory, as you choose, 
and yet its cost is but a trifle compared to the 
usual structures for this purpose. I will de¬ 
scribe it as I saw it in use, leaving the reader 
free to put it into any form he pleases, even 
to the use of a common hot-bed, for the 
starting of early vegetables, or to the small 
nurseryman for the propagation of new 
plants, grape cuttings, or bedding-out plants, 
GLOXINIAS FROM SEED, 
“ An Amateur,” in Hearth and Horae has 
been successful in raising Gloxinias from 
seed after this mode; — “ The last week in 
May fill boxes or seed-pans with sandy leaf- 
mould, and scatter the seed thinly on the 
surface; give a gentle watering through a 
fine rose; put a pane of glass over the boxes 
to prevent too rapid evaporation, and place 
them in a warm and shady place. Care 
must be taken not to fill the seed-pans or 
boxes quite up to the rim. In about two 
present a 
ground.” 
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