among them, and from pure white they are 
now varied to many fancy colors, spotted 
and striped gorgeously, yet lovely and beau¬ 
tiful. But perhaps enough has been said. 
Got you, reader, some of the bulb-growers’ 
catalogues and then, if you can’t afford but 
one of a kind, get that, and in five years, in 
good soil, it will give you at least fifty. E. 
case the wall of the cistern and house are 
one. 
Now, Mr. Editor, I would “give you my 
love and sign my name,” both for yourself 
and on accouut of the thousand years’ guar¬ 
anty, but my last bungling article on the 
Phaseolis Agrrstts, or “cowpoa,” brought 
me such an avalanche of letters as to induce 
utter demoralization, and but for the fact 
that it caught the eye of an old friend of the 
old army of editors, whose “exchange” 
brought tender recollections of the days that 
are dead, I could never have answered an¬ 
other personal—no, not even under the new 
christening of Quidnunc. 
Itslelgb, N. G\, Aug. 10,187i- 
A WORD UPON LILIES 
CISTERN WITH A FILTER 
Just now, ns Lilies are in bloom, perhaps 
it may not be out of place to say just one 
word relative to them. When the writer 
began his study of Landscaping and the daily 
record of floral life ; when he first laid him¬ 
self down on the green turf to watch the 
shades of green in the foliage of trees, to 
mark out on paper the form of each distinct 
variety of maple or of elm ; when by the 
ditch side in an old farmer’s grounds he 
Mb. Editor I have received much valu¬ 
able information from your journal, and 
believe we should not refuse information to 
those who ask it on special subjects through 
its columns. “Nutmeg,” in your issue of 
Aug. 15, seeks information upon the subject 
of this article, and but for the words, 
“Economy is an object of importance,” it 
might be said you had truly “filled the 
bill but if you have not missed it by at | 
least $100, then my experience goes 
for nothing. In 1869 I introduced the 
French style of architecture in this 
my adopted city, building two brick 
houses. The architects, Messrs. Nich¬ 
ols & Hai-cott, No. <18 State street, 
Albany, N. Y., w ere requested to fur¬ 
nish the best designs for filters then 
in use, for the two cisterns, they 
sent me two ten or twelve-gallon 
jugs, perforated with numberless holes 
about the size of a knitting needle und 
tlic sides covered with two thicknesses 
of flannel, sewed on tight. Directions 
arc to fasten the jug at the desired fn 
point in the bottom of the cistern, |l| 
build a brick wall around at a distance n|L 
CURRANT8 FROM CUTTINGS 
It is now time that currant cuttings were 
made and* planted. The sooner it is 
done after the leaves are ripe on the 
buslie3 the better, to insure a good 
growth next season. If made now 
and planted in well prepared soil, new 
roots will be produced before cold 
weather commences, at which time 
the cutting bud should be covered 
from three to six inches deep with 
some straw, leaves or similar material, 
to prevent the frequent freezing and 
thawing of the ground during winter 
and early spring. No matter how 
x hard the ground freezes, if it remains 
\ in this condition until spring, or the 
\ \ time for growth to commence, but the 
changes in temperature, which usually 
occur during the late fall and winter, 
are what injure the cuttings and not 
the severe cold. The cuttings should 
bo made of the present season’s 
s growth, and about six inches long, 
then planted their whole length in the 
ground, or leaving not more than an 
PI inch above the surface. Pack the soil 
firmly about them, and then cover 
i 7 when the ground freezes. In spring 
V uncover, leaving a portion of the rua- 
I teriuls used for winter protection be¬ 
tween the rows as a mulch if there are 
any fears in regard to want of moist- 
tj\ ure in the soil. This is the usual mode 
I of propagation practiced by our nur- 
serymeu, and when planted in rich 
soil vigorous, large plants are pro¬ 
duced the first season. If any of our 
readers have failed to obtain large, 
strong plants from cuttings taken oil 
in the spring, we would advise them 
to try full planting as a far preferable 
season. 
eighth of an inch between me orica ////, 
of the second layer, free from the lit A/ 
cement, for passage of water, and lill Witf/ 
in the space between the brick und m/ 
the jug with broken, screened hard X\ 
wood charcoal, packed iu hard and a 
tight; insert the-pipe, perforated ut Mj, 
bottom, iu the mouth of the jug to am 
the bottom ; cement It fast, and arch 
over the Bpace from the filter wall to F, 
mi- mouth of the jug. 1 did so. For HI 
a h-w days the pump brought, me f 
black wat er, the dust washing of t,lie mw I 
charcoal, but in less than a week the \«jj/ /, 
water was clear and soft as a moun¬ 
tain spring ; und although 1 am undei 
the baneful influence of the black \ 
smoke and cinders of the City Gas 
House, run with rosin, that filthiest of 
all filth-produCing institutions, when, 
as here, run by incompetent persons, 
it. is still as clear us crystal, and soft 
and sweet as raiu water, lhe jugs 
cost $2 each, require no division walls 
in the cistern, and the entire appalatus 
displaces but about llvo.^cubie feet of 
water. 
A word about the cistern. Put no 
wood u nder the floor or walls. If you 
can get stone, use no brick. Wood is 
perishable, and when it rots the bot¬ 
tom must fall. Brick ore porous. 
Make a concrete of brown stone, about 
egg size; saturate them thoroughly 
vrith liquid cement, then pour them in 
and spread out for floor of cistern and 
foundation to walls about eight to ten inches 
thick; beat down hard with a wooden 
stamper until the liquid cement rises to the 
surface, showing the interstices to be com¬ 
pletely filled and the concrete a solid mass. 
If pounding does not bring it to the surface, 
pour on more liquid cement after the con¬ 
crete is evenly spread. "When the liquid 
comes to the surface let it stand one day, 
then put on a coat of prepared cement and 
commence your walls. Use fresh Kosendale 
cement throughout. Roman and Portland 
arc costly luxuries. If you want to make 
assurance doubly sure, mix the last thin 
coat of cement in linseed oil; and il your 
cistern isn’t good for a thousand years, 
bring your action for damages against me 
on the last century. 
A cistern ten by ten feet to water-mark 
will hold more water than you can ever use, 
unless you go into the irrigation business be¬ 
tween storms or live iu a climate similar to 
California. If you have a basement ill which 
cooking, washing or other household work 
is done, don’t be wheedled into putting your 
cistern out. doors, with a wall separate from 
the exterior wall of the house. That is a 
folly our waves, cooks and washerwomen 
ought never to forgive. If it must of neces¬ 
sity go out of doors, build the exterior wall 
of the cistern in the wall of the basement, 
even if you have to sacrifice the geometrical 
figure by a straight line. A faucet from the 
kitchen carried through the wall into the 
cistern will fill tub or pail in a moment with¬ 
out carrying. No consideration would in¬ 
duce me to be without this simple labor- 
saving fixture at the base of the cistern, and 
it will be seen that it may be added whether 
the cistern is within or without the exterior 
wall of the house, provided iu the latter 
SUPPLYING PLANTS WITH 
WATER. 
given a liberal supply or w ater, 
by this means life is saved if strong 
growth is not insured. But we are 
all inclined to let our enthusiasm cool 
down or dry out as the summer wanes, 
and then some of our pets may sutler for 
want of care. A dry August and Septem¬ 
ber are frequently quite as injurious to 
newly planted trees as April or May, and 
a lack of moisture iu the soil hastens the fail 
of leaves before the completion of healthy 
growth. There can be no general rule given 
that will lu* applicable to every case, still w r e 
may safely advise watering and covering the 
surface of the earth about trees which show a 
tendency to ripen their wood and foliage 
before those of the forests in the same local¬ 
ity. Forced ripening in the fall is usually 
followed bv feeble growth the ensuing 
sketched and admired the Cardinal flower, 
with its brilliant spikes prominent among 
the weeds along the ditches all unnoticed by 
the farmer; and then, when going into his 
garden had him and his show up the old 
Tiger Lily as one of the rare flowers upon 
earth, the thought impressed itself that there 
was yet something to come in the floral king¬ 
dom not yet known. This was, please re¬ 
member, of near forty years ago, when the 
tomato was grown as the Love apple, but 
the Crocus, Hyacinth and Tulip were then 
known. I even knew there was a Narcissus 
and Daffy-do wn-dilly, and shortly afterward 
knew the pure white lily, now common and 
known by variety as Candidum, and knew 
also something of the old Iris (Flower de 
Luce) with its strong stems aud roots and 
purple, flowers. How many wheelbarrow 
loads were trundled into the street in those 
days! 
What then was is nothiug to what we now 
have, and if you doubt, just make a trip to 
some florist’s grounds, as a party of us did to 
some of the nurseries near New York, and 
saw 5,000 blooms of one of the rarest and 
most beautiful flowers ever grown, known 
as the Golden-banded Lily or Lilium Aura - 
turn, of which an engraving is here shown. 
This is one of the sports of the Japan Lily, 
of which there are some twelve or more va¬ 
rieties, and which can be easily grown from 
seed. But the amateur should rarely attempt 
growing the seedling; it is better to buy the 
bulbs and plant them in autumn. The deeper 
and richer the ground in which you plant 
the better will be your blooms. We saw 
some stems of these Japan lilies (Auralum 
and Roseum) with over twenty-four blooms 
upon each. 
Every year as it passes gives us novelties 
Cleaning Brass .—A correspondent of the 
London Arbizan gives the following :—Make 
a mixture of one part common nitric acid 
and one-half part sulphuric acid in a stone 
jar ; then place ready a pail of fresh water 
and a box of sawdust. Dip the articles to be 
cleaned in the acid, then remove them into 
the water, after which rub them with saw¬ 
dust. This Immediately changes them to a 
brilliant color. If the brass is greasy, it 
must be first dipped in a strong solution of 
potash and soda in warm water. This cuts 
the grease so that the acid lias the power to 
act. This is a Government recipe used i u the 
arsenals. We will add to the above recipe 
that first washing iu clean water after dip¬ 
ping, and second in water in which aqua 
ammonia lias been placed to neutralize ail 
trace of the remaining ucid upon the surface 
of the brass, is an improvement upon the 
above process, which is, in all other respects 
a good one. After dipping iu the ammonia 
water and cleaning in the sawdust, if a good 
quality of lacquer be applied, the effect is 
very fine. This process is excellent in pre¬ 
paring brass labels stamped from tliin sheets. 
Looking Glasses spoiled by ,Sunsh ine .—We 
clip the following from the Industrial 
Moi i tlily. It is worthy the attention of every 
one It does not seem to be generally under¬ 
stood that the amalgam of tin-foil with mer¬ 
cury, which is spread on glass plates to make 
looking glasses, is very readily crystalled 
by actinic solar rays. A mirror hung where 
the sun can shine on it is usually spoiled ; it 
takes a granulated appearance familiar to 
housekeepers, though they may not be ac¬ 
quainted vrith the cause of the change. In 
such a state the article is nearly worthless, 
the continuity of the surface is destroyed 
and it will not reflect outlines with any 
approach to precision. 
YELLOWS IN THE PEACH TREE. 
The Gardener’s Monthly says there is no 
mystery whatever as to the cause of the 
“ yellows ” iu the peach tree. “If you dig 
around a tree with the yellows you will be 
first struck with a ‘ mtishroomy ’ smell. 
Picking out the roots, and examining them 
with a lens, you will see millions of thread¬ 
like fibers, which are the mycelia of fungi. 
These eat the young fibers, and leave only 
the main roots, through which all the nutn- 
meut of the plant has to be gathered ; and as 
an old root is unable to do mncli more than 
draw in water, the tree becomes in a meas¬ 
ure starved, and the leaves become yellow, 
just as they would be if growing in poor soil, 
which, though the plant might have plenty 
of roots, furnished nothing for the roots to 
eat. To have plenty of roots and noi food, is 
equivalent to having plenty of food and no 
roots. The remedies which look to the de¬ 
struction of this root parasite are employed. 
Hot water has done it; so has a weak solu¬ 
tion of salt : others have found a weak solu¬ 
tion of potash succeed.” Sufferers by this 
disease will take the hint. 
