246 
APBIL 24 
uudor the Readings of 50 different genera, spe¬ 
cimens of a few only could possibly be collected 
here. Some of these tower aloft to the hight ol i 
250 feet, while others are like the cane palui, 
which, though often 300 feet long, is so weak 
and slender that, like a vine, it creeps up trees 
and is unable to grow upright unsupported. The 
betel-nut palm, Anca catechu, a nativolof the 
Molucca Isles, is another tree too lofty to be 
sheltered under glass. The cabbage palm of the 
West Indies, the terminal bud of which is nsed 
as an esculent, is also a noble tree, 100 feet in 
hight, which might be sheltered In the tropical 
department of tbo Crystal Palace, Bydenliam, 
London, but not In an ordinary green-bouso. 
Although the East Indian genus Caryota in¬ 
cludes many beautiful trees, their hight would 
prevent their finding a homo here. These are 
valuable trees; palm-wine and sugar are ob¬ 
tained from the tlowor spikes, a good quality of 
sago from the trunks, and the loaves furnish a 
strong liber used for making ropes and mats. 
The palm from which the sago of commerce is 
obtained might possibly here find a congenial 
abode. Of this there are two species, Sagut 
Iwvis and S. Suinphii, tbo former smooth- 
skiimed, and tho latter having its loaf-stalk and 
the sheath to the (lower-cluster armed with 
sharp prickles. Both are natives of tho Indian 
Archipelago, where tho former grows from 25 to 
50 feet, and the latter never more than 30 feet 
high. Among tho feathery specimens hero de¬ 
picted are Calamus ct liar is, an exceedingly beau¬ 
tiful, slender - growing species ; stem erect; 
leaves plume-like, so small as to bo suitod for a 
charmiug table decoration; Cocos Wed<ietiana , 
with slender stem and long loaves, beautifully 
arched; Thyrinax elegant, with large, fan-like 
leaves upon slendor petioles. This is of strong, 
robust constitution, and will flourish out-of- 
doors in summer. Want of space alone pre¬ 
vents us from continuing the attractive list. 
■ . -- 
A WOMAN’S ACRE. 
BY MBS. ANNIE Ij. JACK. 
THYME AND SAQE. 
While some may bIuk in tuneful rhyme 
Of j'oho ami lily, fair to sec, 
The fragrance of the homely thyme, 
And sturdy sago, for me. 
When, in my dreamy girlhood. I studied bot¬ 
any and learned the family, qualities and uses 
of those garden herbs, no thought came to toy 
mind that at some future time 1 should watch 
with interest tho growth of those plants, for an 
addition to my pin-money, and glory in the 
thrift of the thyme's dull-green loaves, and the 
peculiar odor of tho sage. Nor would any one 
think, who has only seen it as a neglected shrub 
in old gardens, that this plant is capable of such 
vigorous growth and fresh shoots as are sceu iu 
the present methods of culture. And while poets 
have sung of “banka of wild, sweet thyme," 
and praised its homely perfume, its useful rela¬ 
tive ( Thymus vulgaris) is valuable to cooks as a 
flavoring used in many ways, and useful also in 
medicine as an embrocation for sprains. 
No chapter in my guide-book was more allur¬ 
ing than the ono on “ sweet herbs,” and I stud¬ 
ied it until thiB charmed sentence was imprinted 
on my mind:—“An acre of thyme, treated by 
this process, in the fall of 18C4, sold tor 5*2,000. 
Although this was mentioned as an exceptional 
case, I was fully persuaded that it would he safe 
to experiment with a ridge of ground planted in 
these herbs, and included them in my new pur¬ 
chases the following spring. Tho season opened 
very early, as 1 find entered in my journal, 
“ Sowed half an ounce each ol thyme and sage, 
with celery, cabbage und cauliflower, in a seed¬ 
bed out of doors," under date April Mth,—three 
weeks earlier than our usual season's sowing. 
For such hardy seeds I have always found the 
open ground, in rich, mellow soil, better than a 
hot-bed in this climate, where the severe weather 
in April often obliges us to resort to a system of 
blanketing that keeps the young plants weak and 
spindling for want of light and air. I did not 
venture to grow herbs as a second crop, hut 
sowed thinly, as an experiment, two rows of 
radishes, which were sold or used by the family 
long before tho young plants were ready to set 
out. The transplanting was dono late in Juno j 
and tho plaids though small, wore strong and 
stocky, showing no sigu of having been removed. 
But their growth was slow, and I had little hopes 
of realizing much profit from my now venture, 
although tho crop was one of easy culture, either 
with hoe or cultivator. 
The “guidmon,” who is wise in plants and grains, 
as becometli a farmer, was ignorant of thyme 
sales and sage knowledge, and generally passed 
the ridge in discreet silenco during our many 
tours of inspection as tho summer advanced, 
while tho children, not dreaming of a market 
for such a crop, boldly speculated bow long it 
would last as a savory additiou to their favorite 
dish of goose or chicken. When the garden was 
having its regular clearing iu autumn, wo pulled 
up onr herbs by tho roots, tied several bunches i 
together with twine, hung them all in tho loft 3 
of the granary, with the roots npward, and left i 
them to fate and tho future. By a little inquiry 3 
among city friends, I found thoso herbs were t 
scarce and dear when bought in small quantities, t 
and had no trouble in disposing of my reserve 1 
stock, which, when the roots were cut and the 
plants properly bunched, looked green and well 1 
grown, having Leon so carefully dried. Although 
realizing only thirty dollars, I felt quito satisfied i 
and able to boliovc what miglU be done with an 1 
aero closely planted. Since then I have found 1 
no trouble in the sale of well-dried herbs, and 
my method of curing often causes compliment¬ 
ary remarks to ho made upon the bright, fresh 
appearance of tho leaves. Lately, a novel and 
rather amusing demand has sprung up for sage, 
which, in n simple decoction, has proved a rival 
to Ma’am Ai.i.kn’k hair restorer ; and it is noth¬ 
ing unusual for an order or entreaty to be sent 
to mo for this herb, by persons who are suffer¬ 
ing from this diseased state of tbe follicles of 
the hair. I do not know how the idea originated, 
having had no part in it but simply to supply 
tbo demand. 
That sweet herbs can be grown as a second 
crop after early peas, even in this latitude, 1 am 
now convinced by experience, and the bunching 
and tying for market are not a diflicult task, hut 
one oasily performed, in a busy home like Ours, 
by the merry hoys and girls, who bring bright 
eyes and willing hands to the work, and share in 
the labor of love that bids ns toil for each other, 
as we dig or hoe, or search for insects in summer, 
or spend some pleasant hours, when the snow 
lies deep and heavy, in living over our past sun¬ 
shine while wo are tying tho aromatic herbs. 
___ 
THE RESURRECTION FLOWER. 
The time was when school books and many 
others written for tbe instruction of both young 
and old were filled with marvelous stories of the 
earth's productions. The naked truth was not 
good enough, but every traveler scorned to try 
his best how for beyond it lie could go, and still 
not overreach the credulity of his readers. Who 
among tho middle-aged of tho present day has 
not read of the mythical Upas, or Poison Tree 
of Java, and tho Fountain Tree of the Canary 
Islands, aud haB not heartily wished that the 
authors of Buch nonsense had confined them¬ 
selves moro closely to tho truth, in writing of 
wliat they saw in foreign lands ? 
Wo are reminded of these old tales by an ar¬ 
ticle in tho California Horticultmist on the 
Resurrection Flower," which wo copy for the 
purpose of showing its Untruth fulness, although 
it is a pretty story, pleasantly told : 
“ Dr. Isaiah Deck, the celebrated geologist, 
chemist, and mineralogist, of New York, re¬ 
ceived an invitation from the Egyptian Govern¬ 
ment to visit tbo bead waters of tbo Nile, to 
make an inspection of some copper mines in tbe 
vicinity of the cataract of that river. Tho re¬ 
sult of his examination proved highly satis fac¬ 
tory to tho Government; but while Dr. Deck 
was making his researches, one of tho Arabs in 
his employ fell ill of tho intermittent fever. Tho 
doctor treated him with tbo usual remedies of 
tho European pliarmacopa'ia, aud the disease 
readily yielded. The Arab, in t.he plenitude of 
bis gratefulness, gave the doctor ono of those 
strange flowers denominated tho Resurrection 
Plant, and committed tho solecism of saying 
that so loug as tho doctor kept it in his posses¬ 
sion ho would retain health (having just had tho 
ague himself). 
“ The history of the flower tho Arab gave was 
that it had boon found bonoatb the folds of the 
shroud upon tho breast of an Egyptian princess, 
in the Catacombs. The doctor was somewhat 
skeptical about tho identity of her royal Coptic 
highness, but tbo flower he recognized as being 
of tho tribe of a few rare plants possessed by 
several European savans, and of which flowers 
Baron Humboldt had some two or three speci¬ 
mens. 
“ The ono owned by Dr. Deck is, in appearance, 
a flat, round, brown substance, resembling a 
large, wooden button, or tho cup of a great burr 
acorn, with a dry stem of three or four inches iu 
length. Upon being moistened and placed up¬ 
right in a wine-glass, this marvelous flower will 
gradually expand, until, in tbe course of fifteen 
minutes’ it will exhibit a graceful fringe of 
corolla, of the richest and most delicate purple 
color, forming by its expansion a beautiful, 
Dahlia-liko blosBom, smooth as a Camellia or a 
sea-shell. After gradually expanding, it will ro- 
tain its unfolded state for a period of about half 
an hour, when, closing tho purple enrtains of its 
1 regal couch, it lies down iu its beauty to dream¬ 
less sleep. 
•‘This rare aud lovely plant has bloomed, 
since it has been in the possession of Dr. Deck, 
; over nine hundred times." 
Will our readers just read the laBt tliree linos 
. of the above over again? “Nine bundled 
j times,” Dr. Deck, are a good many, and in this 
1 instance just nine bundl ed times too many, for, 
in truth, the plant never bloomed once while in 
your possession, and there is just where the ig¬ 
norance and misrepresentation come iu. Had 
yon inquired of any botanist, or even of a sec¬ 
ond-rate gardener, you might have learned that 
the plant was as dead us .Tillius Cies&r, when 
picked up in the desert by that wily Arab who 
told the story of its having been plucked from 
the bosom of that mythical Egyptian princess. 
This Rose of Jericho, or Resurrection Want, 
is about as common on tbe Egyptian deserts as 
cabbages in New Jersey—in fact, it belongs to 
tbe Cabbage family of plants, and is known to 
botanists as Anastatica Hicrochuntina. It is an 
annual, and when mature, rolls up like a cab¬ 
bage, and after breaking loose from tho oaith, 
it is sent hither and yon by the winds, rolling 
about, on the sand like a ball. If ono of these 
dried plants is placed in water, it absorbs enough 
to make the leaves expand and look as though 
they were alive and fresh, and that is what some 
person b call “blooming ; 1 but it is about as far 
from it, in fact, as the soaking of ft wisp of bay 
would bo from making the grass of which it was 
made bloom. 
The Editor of the California Horticulturist 
adds a note to the article, in wlfloh he says. 
“ This same plant is found in Mexico.” 
This is another error, for the American Resur¬ 
rection Want is in no way related to the Egyp¬ 
tian, but belongs to the Ciub-moBS family, and is 
well-known by tho common name of Birds’-neat 
Moss, its botanical name being Sdagndla lejiido- 
phylla. It possesses the same properties as the 
foreign species, and the leaves expand when it 
is soaked in water. They are often exposed for 
sale in tho streets of New York at about 23 cents 
each. 
Truth is far better than fiction in such mat¬ 
ters, and certainly ought to be moro attractive 
to intelligent persons. 
— -- 
MATCHING COLORS IN THE GARDEN. 
There are few persons with an oyo so well . 
trained that they can match or arrange colors so 
well as to give a pleasing and highly artistic 
effect. This is especially tho ease when tho at¬ 
tempt is made in the flower garden, whore the 
various shades of leaf and blossom are brought 
out to their fullest extent. While it would be 
difficult to give cxt>lioit directions for grouping 
and massing plants to suit every locality, still tho 
following brief rules and remarks on tho subject, 
from the London Garden, may be of Borne assist¬ 
ance to our readers. 
Many who can grow flower garden plants to 
perfection signally fail in making a display in 
accordance with good taste. For this many rea¬ 
sons exist, notably an unacquaintance with the 
laws relating to color, and sometimes a want of 
acuteness in distinguishing between the different 
colors. Wb&t aro called primary colors consist of 
red, yellow, and blue, and of these all others are 
simply combinations. Thus yellow aud red make 
orange, yollow and bine make green, and blue 
and red make purple, and so on. Now, as tho pri¬ 
mary aud secondary colors should be arranged 
alternately, a secondary should always bo opposod 
to a primary. For lustauco, green should be 
exactly opposite red, and purple opposite yellow. 
Now, green is the compliment of ml, and purple 
is that of yellow. This may bo proved iu another 
way. Take a sheet of clean white paper aud 
make a blotch of red in tho center of it the size 
of a penny. Gaze steadily at the red blotch for 
a few seconds, and then suddenly shift your gaze 
to a clean Bhoot with nothing on it, and a disc of 
green will appear. That is why we call green 
the compliment of red, and green and rod al¬ 
ways look well in juxtaposition, whether iu a 
flower garden or elsewhere. This Is ono reason 
why the old Tom Thumb Pelargonium held favor 
so long. Its leaves were a beautiful green, and 
one fault in many of our Bear let bedding plants 
is that their leaves are not a beautiful green, but 
often spoiled by dark zouo 6 . 
I have little doubt that tho rising popularity of 
bedding Violas, iu one sense at least, is owing to 
tho fact that one class consists ol' purples and 
the other of yellows—purple being just the com¬ 
pliment of yellow. 1 have a narrow border which 
was planted hud year with ono row of Golden 
Gem Viola next the gravel; and behind that one 
of The Tory, and this simple arrangement was 
admired by overy one who saw it. The colors 
were complimentary and true to Nature; it was, 
therefore, consistent that they should please. 
Blue and white, either in linos or mixed, always 
look well. White, however, is not a color, and 
will bear placing anywhere. Tho same may bo 
said of black, though it cannot be so appro¬ 
priately planted anywhere. However, wo have 
no real blacks either iu flowers or in foliage. 
The nearest approach to black which I have Been 
is in Pansy Bismarck, and that is not suited for 
bedding. Tbo Ferilia and Dell's Beet aro bronzes, 
and have to he complimented according to the 
shade which they present. In the planting of 
single beds, people who understand the laws re¬ 
lating to color often plant, say, tliree oolors, a 
central mass, a belt round that, and an edging. 
I have frequently seen the mistake committed of 
placing a strong color in the centre; the band a 
complimentary color, and the edging in harmony 
with the band. 
New, it may seem that nothing can well bo 
urged against such an arrangement, as such a 
bed is planted in accordance with the laws of 
color. This is to some exteut true, but such a 
bed will always be inferior to one planted on 
exactly opposite principles. In such an arrange¬ 
ment tbe center and the hand encircling it mon¬ 
opolize tbe vision, and the bed seems much less 
than it really is; tbe edging or boundary line is 
vague and indistinct, and it requires an effort to 
comprehend tho whole. Planted tho other way, 
the effect is exactly tho reverse. When the 
center beds of a design are arranged in harmony 
with each other, and the outer beds consist of 
complimentary colors, tho central effect is agree¬ 
ably subdued, while tbe outlines of tho design 
stand out in bold relief, and with a distinctness 
not otherwise attainable. In tbe case of a single 
bed the effoct is similar. Many, however, plant 
yearly with only one end in view—the filling of 
tho beds, and no matter how groat the medley, 
if the plants grow well, they are content. 
-- * -- 
HORTICULTURE IN COLORADO. 
The Greeley Tribune givos a very dark picture 
of fruit aud timber growing in that region, but 
it is scarcely possible to paint it in colors too 
black and gloomy, if our own personal observa¬ 
tions of tho country have enabled us to be a 
judge of thc^elimate and tho possibilities of its 
dry and almost barren soil. 
The great variety of forest trees which grow 
in the States witbont any trouble, many of them 
as spontaneously as weeds, cau boro scarcely bo 
made to live when brought hither with tbo 
greatest care and cultivated with tho utmost 
skill. Thousands upon thousands of evergreens 
and larches have been set in this town and 
vicinity; and now we know of one larch that is 
alive, and which perhaps grows an inch in a 
year, and there aro not moro than a dozen ever¬ 
greens. Perhaps twenty barrels of black walnut, 
butternut, and hickory nuts have been sown, 
and there can bo found a fow black walnut trees 
two and tbroo feet high, which during some 
winters freeze to tho ground. Chestnuts live 
about as well as bananas would. Of the vast 
number of applo trees obtainod the fivst year, it 
iB doubtful whether twenty aro alive, and pears, 
cherries, and plums have gone the same way. 
Peach troos, wonderful to state, aro moro hardy 
, than almost anything elso, certainly more so 
than oak or hickory, and though the wood win¬ 
ter-kills badly, the roots aro vigorous, and abun¬ 
dance of new shoots come forth in spring. 
The hardest sorts of apples, usually iron-clad 
elsewhere, have been carefully nursed and 
watched, and they have grown into nice trees, 
hut the fierce, cold winds, or other causes, have 
struck them to the heart, aud if not dead, they 
are certainly less promising than they were two 
or three years ago. 
I In grapes the outlook is reported more favor- 
I able, but not at all consolatory. Iu relation to 
grasshoppers in connection with vines, it says, 
“ It seems to ho that ivhat wo can save from tho 
winter (and wo can do a good deal in this way) 
the grasshoppers seize ; they oat out buds aud 
blossoms, cut off leaves, even gnaw bark, and do 
disgusting work.” Cottonwood, box-eldor, and 
“perhaps soft maples” aro reported “ to make 
a grand show of foliage in summer —in fact, 
better than in many places iu the Htates." 
MAKING GARDEN8. 
I know of nothing in which people aro so lia¬ 
ble to make a mistake as in planting their gar¬ 
dens too early. A few warm days occur in April, 
and forthwith they proceed to make their gar¬ 
dens ; and in many cases tender vegetables are 
planted, and iu -IS hours, perhaps, these people 
are shivering around in overcoats, iu a storm of 
sleet or snow. My advice is, if the weather ho 
warm in April, do you keep cool. Plant peas, 
beets, onions and lettuce as soon as the ground 
is dry enough, even if tho weather be cold; but 
keep your potatoes, sweet corn, mc-lons, cucum¬ 
bers, squashes, and beans out of the ground till 
May. Peas will Btand a hard freeze after they 
are’up, aud tbe quicker they are planted the bet¬ 
ter. The Daniel O’Rourke is a good early varie¬ 
ty, aud the Champion of Euglanda very fine late 
sort. Don’t attempt to grow vegetables on poor 
soil, but apply the manure liberally, as that is 
the only way to have a good garden. Farmers 
make a great mistake in neglecting their gardens, 
as a well-managed half-acre garden will produce 
what iB actually worth from 8100 to 8150 to 1 
family 1 It comes in a score of ways in the sup¬ 
ply of yonr table—a succession of green peas for 
months, potatoes all the seasnu, Hweet corn from 
early in August to November, berries, grapes, 
and a score of other things that go to sustain life. 
A cheap way to make a garden is to select half 
an acre, or less, of land in a field that is never 
pastured, near the house. Tut no fenoe around 
