( . 
V 
after iu that direction. Cyclamens like warmish 
quarters and a place close to the glass, Cras- 
sulas are very pretty and effective window plants, 
and they last a long time iu bloom, and submit 
with impunity to any amount of “ kicking 
about." C. lactea, quadrilida and rosularis are 
now at thek best. Nierombergiaa are budding 
thickly. Artillery plants are multiplying their 
guns, and zonal Pelargoniums are promising a 
famous display. Among other window plants 
now in full beauty are Libonia floribunda, Chi¬ 
nese Primroses, Cotyledons (Echeverias), Cape 
Heaths, Epaorieoe, Roiuwardtia trygina, Mig¬ 
nonette, Peperomia, Sweet Daphne, Catalonian 
Jessamine, Fuchsia arboroBcens, Polygala gran- 
diflura, Manettia micans, ltoudeletia anomale, 
etc. India-rubber plants and Dracanas look 
ready escape of water, then repotting may be 
advisable, and if it should, use the smallest pos¬ 
sible pots—that is just uo larger than can hold 
the roots—and poor rather than rich soil. Iu 
stoves and warm green-houses, gardoners can 
repot and grow on young and soft-wooded plants 
during whiter as well as summer, but amateurs 
do those things with risk. 
Botanic Gardens, Mass. 
BULBS FOR THE FLOWER GARDEN 
COLCHICUM. 
One of the bulbous plants interesting to the 
young amateur, is the ourious and attractive 
flower botanically called Golchicnm, and com¬ 
monly known as Autumn Crocus. 
This plant has the singular habit of producing 
its several parts at intervals of about some six 
mouths. The leaves appear in the early spring 
sponged oyer now and again. 
THE CELLAR. 
Leave Fuchsias and Lemon-scented Verbenas 
undisturbed. Look over Dahlia and Oaladinm 
in these flat, treeless prairies, are as necessary 
as bread aud meat to enable us to Bustain life. A 
dead calm day iu July or August, with a clear 
sky, w'ould drive every man aud beast to shel¬ 
ter, while our winter winds, with the snows as 
fine as flour sifting through every pin hole, and 
filling houses and especially stables to suffoca¬ 
tion, are a wonder to all new settlers. A warm, 
tight stable is a sine-qua-noa. One made of 
boards is as open as a sieve, aud about as warm, 
as the summer boat shrinks the stuff, aud the 
extreme cold of wintor keeps it there. 
So the inventive genius is brought into 
play. We set a row of posts in the 
ground so as to inclose the space re¬ 
quired ; set another row four feet out¬ 
side of them, nail on, inside and out, s* 
some narrow boards, just so as to bold / -• 
in the straw, and after putting on for a / 
roof a lot of straight willows, fill in the 
crib-work with straw packed down close, 
aud cap the whole with a straw roof, 
say eight foet high at the peak. If this 
is well done, and windows made on the 
south side, we have a very warm stable. 
Not the highest wind ever known here 
can get in, aud it is perfectly warm and 
from the nature of the straw, not close 
nor confined like a wooden building. 
LATE PIGS. 
Pigs coming after the 1st of July un¬ 
less particularly oared for, are stuuted jf 
by the cold of winter. By having the jr% 
shelter very warm, as oold weather comes 
on, by the most succulent food, especial ''"fjp 
care in cleanliness, and some little pet- r 
ting, late pigs may be made, as I am now / 
demonstrating daily, equally as forward f 
as thoBe born in April or May. Iu fact I ( 
oan Bee no difference considering the re¬ 
spective ages, between those of March j 
and those of September, but it is due to ) 
both breed and care. 
I have a long bodied breed of black 
hogs, which, under my mode of feeding 
aud shelter, do great credit to themselves as well 
as to me. 
havo Crocuses, Squills, Hyacinths, or other 
spring-blooming bulbs potted and bedded iu 
oarth, sawdust, sand, or asheB, take out a few of 
the more advanced and best rooted, and pro¬ 
mote them to the window or groon-house, grad¬ 
ually inuring them to the light, and in this way 
keep up a succession. Rhododendrons, Euony- 
rnnBea, Laurels, CamclliaB, Oleanders, etc., 
leave undisturbed, beyond giviDg them all the 
light available. The earliest blootniug Azaleas 
may be taken into the house if wanted to flower 
Each of the bulbs, which iu flowering speci¬ 
mens are large, produces from six to a dozen 
•blossoms. It will flower very freely in any situa¬ 
tion, so that it may be taken up in the autumn 
before flowering, and planted in a pot or other 
convenient receptacle, so as to flower in the 
house; and so persistent is it iu its intent to 
flower, that even the moat indifferent amateur 
may have no fear of staying its bloom by such a 
removal. The bulbs itco, I believe, hardy iu all 
sections of the Union, so no amateur should be 
WINDOW PLANTS. 
WILLIAM FALCONER. 
You cauuot give window plants too much light 
or sun during this month. Early iu the morn¬ 
ing they enjoy a sprinkling overhes,d so that 
they may dry before the sun gets hot, or they 
may he sprinkled about two or three in the after¬ 
noon, when the sun’s heat is on the deoliue and 
so that they may be dry boforo night. Don’t 
sprinkle water on blossoms else they will spot, 
rot, and quickly vanish. Give lots of water to 
Carnations, growing Roses, Calla Lilies, Bou 
vardias, Smilax and other fast growing plants 
that are in bloom, and if the pots have become 
well-filled with roots and the soil seems ex¬ 
hausted apply a mulohiDg of thoroughly decayed 
manure. Weak manure-water is an excellent 
stimulant, but must be applied cautiously as too 
much or too strong is ruinous. Guano-water is 
flrut-elass if judiciously applied, but I would ad¬ 
vise amateurs not to trifle with artificial manures 
uuloss they know what they are doing. Calceo¬ 
larias and Cinerarias require the coolest treat¬ 
ment, and are Letter kept in pits or frames that 
are well-covered up at night than in the house, 
so long as frost does not reach them. They 
like good feeding, and daily syringing, and as 
they are liable to green-fly, should be looked 
HYURANGKASTELLA 
soon, and a few Deutzias or Lilacs if established 
in pots can be hastened into bloom if transposed 
to warmer quarters and sprinkled over head 
twice a day. 
FRAMES. 
These should be uncovered every fine day, and 
in the event of snowy or rainy weather the 
sashes or shutters instead of being removed had 
better be tilted up. Over the almost hardy her¬ 
baceous plants we winter iu frames, wo scatter 
thinly, some rough salt hay, or leaves, so that 
if the ground in the frames does get frozen, the 
plants will be protected from a hasty thaw. It 
is better to uncover early in the morning and 
shut up early in the afternoon, than let the 
sun shine on the shutters aud set on the plants. 
Violent thaws and much wet are destructive to 
frame-plants. 
INSECTS. 
Wage war on these pests aud they will be less 
troublesome in coming months. Fumigating, 
dipping in tobacco water, or spriukliug with to¬ 
bacco powder are destructive to green-fly and 
young thrips ; hut If there be only a few plants 
to oleau, wash them with soap and water and a 
sponge ; it is the safest plan. With a spoDge and 
small hail- brush erase mealy bugs. The plants 
infested with red spider should be sponged twice 
a week till the insects are assuredly eradicated. 
Kill every wood-louse found about the pots, and 
show no mercy to worms. 
POTTING PLANTS. 
UnlesB you hav9 exceptional quarters for your 
plants, as a warm, close green-house, don’t re¬ 
pot during January. If any accident like pot¬ 
breaking occurs, or the roots he washed bare of 
soil, or the soiliu the pots has become so sodden 
u.wl /Intitule res mi nlnn'ro^rl fua t.n nruvfvnf. t.lifl 
STELLATA PROL1FERA. 
established deterred on this account from trying a few, at 
transposed least, of these curious bulbs, 
over head In the United States there are only two varie¬ 
ties in general cultivation—C. autumnale, also 
known as C. maximum, which bears blossoms of 
ne day, and a delicate pink color, and C. Agrippina', of a 
veather the deep rose-color, checked with a lighter shade. 
3 moved had There are, however, four other equally good va- 
; hardy her- rieties, viz.,—C. autumnale album, a pure white: 
, wo scatter C. autumnale plenum, a variegated variety; C. 
ves, so that autumnale purpureum striatum, wbioh I have 
frozen, the utjvvr seen, hat judging from the name, would 
•y thaw. It say was a handsome purple, variegated with 
mining and some other color ; and C. veratrifolium, another 
han let the variety I kuow but little about. The Colchicum 
l the plants, will grow in any light loam, 
istructive to FI Dorado, Cal. 
DAPHNE INDICA. 
i rasher ana are neaiimer ror navintr meir leaves m n« nh «nm and mm. 
roots to cut out any decaying pieoes, aud rub over 
the wounds with powdered charcoal to check 
further rotting. t Keep Century plants, Opun- 
tias and other cactuses in the driest and lightest 
part; keep them oool and dry, hut never admit 
froBt. Immediately on appearance out out de¬ 
caying spots for they spread alarmingly. If you 
with those of the Tulip and Snowdrop, and iu 
the following autumn we have the Crocus-like 
flowers in full perfection, but not until the next 
mid-summer do we find the seed-pods. This pe¬ 
culiar freak makeB the plant one of the most 
singular aud attractive to the amateur, profes¬ 
sional florist, or botanist. 
At Bennett’s Nurseries at Flatbush, Long 
Island, one of the most noticeable features at 
present is the many large and flourishing shrubs 
of Daphne Indica now loaded with the most de¬ 
liciously fragrant flowers. These shrubs are 
planted out in the bed of the camellia house, 
and grow most robustly. They remain in bloom 
for many weeks, and there are varieties with 
reddish purple aud white flowers. These shrubs 
have thick, shining, evergreen leaves, and are of 
the easiest possible culture, merely requiring 
protection from frost in winter, and a very lit¬ 
tle shade in summer, a porous soil, and plenty 
of water at all seasons. They certainly thrive 
best when planted in a conservatory border, but 
are, nevertheless, very applicable as pot-grown 
plants, as hundreds of little fellows on a side- 
bench at the above nurseries oan testify. Every 
little plant—from three inches high and up¬ 
wards, and from those in thumb-pots onwards— 
have as tnauy flower-heads as they have 
branches aud hranchlets, and when there is only 
one shoot, as iu the case of the smallest speci- | 
mens, that is terminated by a flower-heal. 
These Daphnes blooming in winter, —at a season 
when flowers are doubly valuable, aud lasting in 
beauty so long—commend themselves to more 
general cultivation. 
---- 
CATALOGUES, &c., RECEIVED. 
Among novelties in Mr. Peter Henderson’s 
Catalogue, not yet published, will be Hydrangea 
Btellata prolifera, of whiob a fine engraving will 
be found upon this page. Of the new white 
Hydrangea “ Thomas Hogg,’ 1 to which we have 
often referred, Mr. H. will furnish a colored 
plate, though a white flower is not the easiest to 
portray in colors. H stellata prolifera has flow¬ 
ers (bracts) of a deep pink color. Though of 
the Japonica class, Mr. Henderson says it is 
hardy and quite distinct. 
Garden Manual. J. B. Root, Rockford, HI. 
This is made up of original articles from the pen 
of Mr. Root, and many gardeners testify to their 
practical value. Such topics as Storing Winter 
Vegetables—Drought and How to Meet it—Mel¬ 
ons, &o., are treated. The Manual is free to 
applicants. 
Catalogue No. 3. The Lawson Co.’s List of 
Seedling Forest Trees, deciduous and evergreen. 
London, Eng. 
Report. Thirty-sixth Annual of the Trans¬ 
actions of the Queen’s County Ag. Society, Mine- 
ola, Long Island, N. Y. 
Circular, The Mapes’ Formula and Peruvian 
Guano Co., 158 Front St., N. Y. City. 
Pamphlet. Benton Center Nurseries, Yates 
Co., N. Y. Apple treeB four otB. each, at whole¬ 
sale. 
Circular. Eleventh Annual Meeting of the 
Northern Illinois Hort. Society, at Franklin 
Grove, Lee Co., Ill., Jan. 23-25. 
L. Paillet, Chatenay-lez-Sceanx, near Paris, 
France, Fruit tree stookB, seedling forest and 
coniferous trees, seedliDg Bbrubs. climbing 
plants, Roses, Rhododendrons, Magnolias, Clem¬ 
atis, &o., Ac. 
M. Paillet remarks " Apples worked upon 
Doucin stock grow much more vigorously than 
on Paradise, but do not give fruit so soon. It 
(Doucin) is a very good stock for middling or 
bad soil, where it grows and fructifies as well as 
Paradise.” Again, he remarks: — “ The time 
Saint Jolien Plum, from layer, is the best stock 
to make fine,, straight, standard trees. 
Vick’s Illustrated Catalogue and Floral Guide 
for 1878, James Vick, Rochester, N. Y. If an 
inexperienced person wishes to order flower or 
vegetable seeds intelligently, we know of no 
move trustworthy guide than the above. Nearly 
every, plant is elegantly and fairly shown in the 
300 engravings presented and the cultural de¬ 
tails are all that is needed. 
Garden Guide, R. H. Shumway, Rockford, 
Ills,, Illustrated list of vegetable and flower 
seeds for free distribution. Mr. S. says he will 
guarantee hiH seeds to be equal to any in Amer¬ 
ica. 
Botanical Index, L. C. Case, Richmond, 
Ind. New, rare, aud beautiful plants. 
We see Mr. Case offers Dracrena Goldieana, 
to which plant we called especial attention 
a few weeks ago. 
We are indebted to Prof. Cyrus Thomas for a 
copy of his first Biennial Report as State Ento¬ 
mologist of Illinois, whioh seems to us to he of 
much practical value, as well to the ordinary 
fanner and horticulturist as to those who have 
made a study of entomology as a science. 
Scientific men, as a rule, set-m to think very 
l little of adapting their writings to the compre- 
l hension of the ordinary reader. The present 
r work is an exception. Part Second begins: “ As 
x it is my desire to make this report a ‘ Manual of 
Economic Entomology for Illinois, and through 
it to familiarize the farmers and horticulturists 
of our State.as far as possible, with insects which 
destroy their crops, injure their fruit and.orna¬ 
mental trees, aud infest their gardens, it is pro- 
Z per that I should first explain the terms used, 
t and give in as plain and simple language as pos- 
s aible the character of the inseot class of its 
i- larger sub-division.” 
t Uptistiuiu. 
NATIVE ENGLISH SETTER. 
(See Illlustration on opposite page.) 
Many of our readers are interested in high¬ 
bred hunting dogs as well as in high-bred 
cattle. 
We have always thought that,aside from hunt¬ 
ing purposes, farmers might just as well sup¬ 
port beautiful and intelligent dogs as the ill-bred, 
troublesome, and ofttimes worthless animals so 
often seen. It costs no more to feed them and 
they are capable, through kindly discipline, of 
being made companions to the members of the 
household, faithful, loving ‘discriminating, and 
intelligent. In our issue of Aug. 18 were pre¬ 
sented portraits of “ Jerry” and - Tapper” with 
some account of their pedigree. We now present 
an excellent sketch of the uative English Setter, 
«* Lark," who was bred in November 1874 by Mr. 
Brooks’Phil, out of Mr. Raymond's '‘Dido,” 
both ancestors being fine field performers. He 
is orange and white with black nose and eyes. 
He won first prize at the New York Bench show 
in a class of over sixty of the finest English set¬ 
ters in the country. The-Forest and Stream 
says ‘"Lark,” though not coming in direct com¬ 
petition has beaten the best imported dogs in the 
country, as he beat both "Nip" and “ Tuck” 
who beat “ Paris” and “ Leicester." At Phila¬ 
delphia, he won the first prize in the champion 
class and a special prize offered for the best set¬ 
ter iu the show, thus being pitted against some 
forty prize winners both native aud imported, 
Irish, Gordons &e. As a "ire he has never 
failed to stamp his progeny with many of his 
best points. Our engraving is from an oil paint¬ 
ing. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
