has a choice collection of plants, which she 
grows well, and claims to receive a large share 
of pleasure and comfort in ministering to the 
wants of her charming pets in the winter, 
without exposing herself at any time to the 
inclemency of the weather. The world would 
be brighter aud happier if this class of ama¬ 
teurs were greatly multiplied. It is a good 
field for the Rural to labor in. Fig. 317, (sec 
first page) is a photographic perspective view 
of the house, which will enable the reader to 
form an opinion of its general appearance and 
effect. 
Being limited as to space, I can only add a 
few suggestive remarks. A house of this 
kind can be adapted to almost any style of 
dwelling. If a room should not be wanted 
below it. the house would be better built upon 
the natural soil, even if it had to be entered 
from the dwelling by descending steps. This 
would also materially lessen the expense. The 
cost could be increased by hipping the roof, 
which would add to the effect without iujuring 
the house for its specific purpose. The cost 
could be lessened by using plainer moldings, 
and omitting some altogether. So, too, the 
cost could be much lessened by moving tbe 
ventilating sashes separately by hand; but I 
doubt the wisdom of such economy. In other 
ways the cost could he increased or lessened to 
meet the requirements of each case, which an 
expert would readily point out; and without 
the advice of an expert nobody should attempt 
to build a plant house. 
Another style of house, detached from the 
dwelling, and adapted to the wauls of ama¬ 
teurs of tbe sterner sex of moderate means, I 
propose to describe aud illustrate on a future 
occasion ; aud perhaps something for men of 
meaus who employ gardeners, and do not need 
to count the cost of every penny spent on a 
structure which ornaments their grounds, en¬ 
hances the value of their property, gratifies 
their pride, and in many instances, I should 
hope, their esthetic tastes. 
' -- 
A SCIENTIFIC SUMMER-HOUSE. 
“Ha! ha! ha!” I hear some one say, “here’s 
a fellow gone daft upon science; let's read him 
anyway.” My summer-house has eight sides, 
an octagonal pyramid roof, seven seats, a door¬ 
way and a center table. It is of ample dimen¬ 
sions for seven friends, and is practically con¬ 
venient as well as scientifically delicious—if 
anything can be delicious which one can neither 
eat nor drink. To prevent the wood-work 
from rotting in winter. I dispense entiiely 
with hardy vines around it, which greatly in¬ 
jure all such structures. I employ, instead, 
the " wild cucumber,” an annual piaut native 
to Nebraska, with beautiful, serrated, palmate 
leaves, remarkably clean, totally free from all 
kinds of worms or insects, of extremely rapid 
growth, bearing in tbe latter part of Summer 
clusters of small white fiowera, and later seed 
vessels as large as a walnut and of the same 
shape, having a number ol curiously-shaped 
seeds, a little like watormelou seeds. By June 
the vine covers the whole house with its beau¬ 
tiful foliage which, overlapping, haugs down, 
very much resembling some styles of fancy- 
shaped slates on house roofs. Now, my friends, 
enter aud be seated: I will take tbe seat on the 
north side—the doorway is on the south. 
“ I wonder what time of day it is ?" some one 
asks. Well! you will notice that the sun is at 
the west of the door and shines upon the octa¬ 
gonal table, casting the shadow ol one post di¬ 
rectly across it, cutting the center at 45 de¬ 
grees to a north-and-sonth line. It is there¬ 
fore afternoon, and just about the middle of it. 
“Which way is the wind?” asks another. 
What perfume do you notice? “Why, that's 
plain enough, it's mignonette. Well, the mig¬ 
nonette bed i6 just southwest of the summer¬ 
house. 
If you come here at nine in the morning the 
shadow of another post (there are just eight in 
all) would fall upon the table in an opposite 
direction, and if the wind was northwest we 
should be perfumed with roses, as the rose-bed 
is in that direction ; heliotrope to the south ; 
four-o’clock to the west; carnation to the 
north; cleome to the southeast; jassamine to 
the east, ally6sum to the northeast. 
“How remarkably cool and pleasant!” says 
another. Yes, quite so. You see our screen 
of broad leaves nearly shuts out the heat of 
the sun, and laying over each other shingle¬ 
like, but loosely, entices the air from the sur¬ 
face upward aud directly into the interior 
where we sit, creating a constant draft, pausing 
out through a ventilator in the center of tbe 
roof. In this arbor we are never troubled with 
insects, dead blossoms or horticultural rubbish 
of any kind. We sit and read, write or medi¬ 
tate as our fancy dictates; we never eat or 
drink here, hence no flies 
Beds of gayJy-colored flowers surround the 
house, which contrast finely with the dark 
green of the encumber leaves. The scientific 
name of this vine is “Eebinocystis lobata," 
that of the house itself, “Octagonalli eDjoy- 
yonrselfsi6 ”—the first of Greeo-Latin origin, 
the second pure Nebraska vernacular. Now 
where's the man who laughed at me before he 
heard my story? S. Rofus Mason. 
Jflorirutetal. 
ORCHIDS. 
Bridge of Allan N. B., 1 
May 19.1880. f 
I beg to inclose you a list of the orchids in 
flower in my father’s collection (Alexander 
Paterson. Fernfleld, N. B., with short de¬ 
scriptions of the other interesting plants; 
also notice Of the progress ot the fine plant of 
the Anthurium Scherzcrlannm (Flamingo 
plant) copied with illustrations from the Lou¬ 
don Garden by you in your number for Novem¬ 
ber, 21. 1874. In addition to this there is a no¬ 
tice of idv father’s plant of the white variety 
of the Flamingo plant—Anthurium Sebcrzer- 
ianum album Williamsii—purchased by him 
about five years ago from Mr. II. 8. Wil¬ 
liams, Paradi6a Nurseries, London, and said to 
be tbe finest variety of it. Yours faithfully, 
W. D. Paterson, L. R. C. P. and L. R. C. S., 
Edinburgh, Scotland. 
Anguloa Clowesll. 
A3 rides roseum. 
“ vlrens. 
*• suaveolens. 
“ odoratum. 
“ Fleldlngtl has five fine spikes of bloom, 
two ot which are branching and more than four 
feet across. 
Brassla verrucosa. 
Cyprlpodlum Domlnlanum. 
“ barbatum. 
“ Hookeno. 
“ hlrsutlsslmum. 
“ llarrlslanum. 
Cbysls Llmmlnglill. 
Cymbldlum Lovvll. 
Cattleya Mendelll-a new, rare, white variety. 
“ Sklnnerll superba, 
“ Mosslm. 
Dendroblum chrysotoxum. 
“ suavlsslmum. 
“ luteolura. 
“ noblle. 
“ Bensonlie. 
“ Devonlanum. 
“ Falconerll. 
Epldendrum curruauum. 
“ prlsmatocarpum. 
“ exaltum. 
Lycaste Sklnnerll. 
Mesosplnldlum sanguineum. 
Masdevallia chimera. 
“ amabllls. 
“ Veltchlana. 
“ Llndenl. 
“ lgnea. 
“ liarryana coorulescens. 
Oncldlum aureurn. 
“ pubes. 
“ uarrlsonlanum. 
“ crlsputn. 
“ hastatum. 
“ obryzatum. 
“ altisslmum. 
“ flexuosum—a fine, new variety. 
Odontoglossum Alexandras. 
“ Pescatorel. 
“ glorlosum. 
“ IlaUll. 
“ Klobo.'liorum. 
“ clrrhosum. 
“ Uro-Sklnnerll. 
« membranaceum. 
“ vexlllarlum—with 16 spikes and 
“ til expanding blooms. 
Pbalicnopsls graudltlora. 
“ Schlllerlana. 
“ Luddemannlana. 
“ Parlshil. 
Vanda suavls (Veltchll var.) 
“ “ (Dublin var.) 
“ tricolor Pattersonll. 
“ “ (Dalkeith var.) 
“ “ (Kew var.) 
“ “ cmrulescens. 
rtrlcularla montana. 
Platycerium grande (the Elk’s Horn fern 
from Queensland)—the two barren fronds 
measure five aud one-half feet across, and the 
fertile frond droops from the center, present¬ 
ing a most grotesque and singular form. It is 
exceedingly rare for this fern to develop its 
fruiting frond in this country, and this plant is 
declared to be the finest in Europe. 
Platycerium biforme (a form of the Elk’s 
Horn from Borneo), an exceedingly rare aud 
most interesting species. 
Mantisia sanatoria—'“ the Opera Dancer’’— 
a most carious and rare plant belonging to the 
order Zingiberacene (the Ginger order). The 
bracts, as is common in this order, are bril¬ 
liantly colored, those of this plant beiDg a deli¬ 
cate lilac from the sides of which spring the 
flowers, lilac aud yellow, aud shaped like the 
figure of a dancing girl. It is culled Mantisia 
from its great likeness to the “Mantis, or 
Praying FJy of India. 
The Flamingo plant, since its illustration in 
the Rural New-Yorker, has increased to fully 
double the size it was then, and is now iu 
great beauty, having nearly 100 fully-expanded 
flowers on it and more to come. A few years 
after this plant was iu the collection, Mr. 
Thomson, gardener to Ills Grace the Duke of 
Buceleuch, at Daleith Park, bad a small piece 
of it in exchange tor another variety. This 
plant is now at Drumlanrig Gardens, Dum¬ 
friesshire, another of His Grace’s fine places, 
the gardener there being Mr. Thomson’s 
brother. This plant is noticed in “The Gar¬ 
den” for this month, May 15. 1880, as follows: 
“Anthurium Scherzeriauura—a splendid speci¬ 
men of this at Drumlanrig has 00 blooms on it 
in various stages of development. Those fully 
open measure quite five inches loug and three 
inches broad. It ia tbe kind known as Dr. Patr 
erson's variety.” 
Anthurium Scherzerianum album Williamsii 
(White Flamingo plant) was hrougbt out by 
Mr. B. S. Williams, Paradise Nurseries, Upper 
Holloway, London, about five years ago when 
this plant was purchased, and is said by Mr. 
Williams to be one of the best plants he knows. 
It haB exactly the habit of the red variety, the 
spath being a fine ivory-white, with canary- 
yellow-colored spadix. This and the red are 
said to be the two finest varieties in cultiva¬ 
tion. 
$ottinttetal. 
KOHLRABI AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR CAB¬ 
BAGE. 
Since the ravages of the Cabbage worm have 
become so severe I have been almost discour¬ 
aged about trying to grow any cabbages for 
family use; but I have found in the kohlrabi 
what I cousider a good substitute for it, and I 
will endeavor in this article to show readers 
of the Rural how easily they can grow this 
desirable, vegetable. 
Duriug the past two or three years, or since 
I have been raising the kohlrabi, I bave re¬ 
commended its culture to a great many people 
and I think I can safely say that one-half ot 
those to whom I have recommended it, did 
not know what it was or how it grew. If 
any such read this article, I will say to them, 
by way of explanation, that it is a vegetable 
intermediate between the cabbage and turnip, 
the edible part being the bulb which grows 
just above the surface of the ground. 
Right here I would say a word in regard to 
cooking it. In the first place it is necessary 
to be very careful and peel it thickly enough 
to remove all the woody fiber which some¬ 
times grows to a considerable depth ou the sur¬ 
face of the bulb. Theu our favorite mode of 
cooking it is to slice it very thiu aud boil until 
tender, which will take anywhere from two to 
four hours, according to the time of the year 
and the growth of the bulbs ; that which is 
quickly grown being more tender and requir¬ 
ing less time. The later iu the season it is 
kept the longer boiling it requires ; but. at any 
rate, it must be boiled uutil quite tender ; for 
else it is notfitto eat. When tender, chop with a 
knife and season the same as sliced ooiled 
cabbage, and I have never found any one who 
was fond of the latter who did not think the 
kohlrabi an excellent substitute for it. It is 
also very good boiled the same as turnips, 
having something of the flavor of both the 
cabbage and turnip. 
Ab to its culture, this is a very simple mat¬ 
ter, as it is grown In much the same way as 
turnips. For early use I commonly sow it in 
a seed-bed, and transplant to about eighteen 
inches apart; aud for later use, sow itiu drills 
in the garden, and thin the same as lor Ruta¬ 
bagas. For winter use it may be sown as late 
as ihe latter part of June, or even from the 
first to the tenth of July, so it is not yet too 
late to try it for this year, if any one wishes 
to do so. E. J. B. 
Croton, N. Y. 
----* I 
^rbiirtt literal, 
EVERY-DAY NOTES, 
The Preservation of Freshly-planted Trees mid 
Shrubs during Drought. 
Ordinarily, people exercise the greatest 
care and solicitude for freshly planted trees 
and shrubs that have not enjoyed the benefit 
of rain within a space of le68 than a week 
after transplanting, especially if tbe season be 
late and the sun hot. The effort put forth is 
often even great in proportion to the really 
considerable value of the end desired. It is 
irue that a large quantity of water adminis¬ 
tered duriug the eool of the day is highly bene¬ 
ficial to the plant, provided the quantity be 
sufficient to penetrate to tbe very Ups, or lips, 
as it were, of the smaller roots. To supply 
such quantities of water iu ordinarj practice 
is almost impossible. The labor required 
would be arduous in tbe extreme. This may 
be readily understood when we consider the 
fact that really copious waterings seldom pen¬ 
etrate more than a couple of inches. The sim¬ 
plest aud shortest methods of preserving the 
freshly planted shrub or tree employed by 
horticulture as developed at tbe present time, 
consists of a combined system of puddling aud 
mulching. By pnddling is meant a thorough 
encasing of the roots with thick mud by im¬ 
mersing them in an artificial puddle made 
close-by the spot where the tree or shrub is to 
be set out. If still farther precautions are de¬ 
sired. and the tree or shrub is of considerable 
size, water may be poured about the plant in 
the partiaUy filled hole. Dry earth must be 
immediately thrown in, and the surface kept 
stirred from time to time in order to open the 
pores for the reception of dew and rain. It 
is important to avoid as much as possible any 
baking of the ground adjoining the tree. The 
value of mulching is in such cases great. By 
applying a covering of short hay, straw, tan- 
bark or dry leaves immediately around the 
tree, not only is the grouud retained in a mel¬ 
low condition, but a large portion of the 
moisture is prevented from evaporating. If it 
be considered desirable to give more water at 
any time, tbe mulcb can be removed and then 
replaced when the watering is finished. What¬ 
ever water oue may choose to give the plant 
in this way afterwards, will, of course, help, 
but without puddling and mulching the ap¬ 
plication of any reasonable amount of water 
to a bush or tree will be like a drop in the 
bucket. 
Disbudding Rhododendrons. 
The value of the principle of obtaining 
quality at the sacrifice of quantity is well un¬ 
derstood as an abstract statement. And, iu 
many eases, even in horticulture, the value ot 
its application is more or less comprehended 
The preseut popular methods of cultivating 
strawberries and grapes, are notable instances 
of this comprehension, but hardly any one 
thinks of employing like nu thods of improv¬ 
ing tbe blooms of hardy, flowering shrubs. 
Take, for instance, tbe rhododendron. Every 
one wants a plant loaded with buds, that is, 
flowers. One of the greatest charms of the 
rhododendron in the eyes of most people, is 
the very fact that the flowers may be enjoyed 
at once after planting. It is hard, indeed, 
therefore to persuade people to select rhodo- 
deudrons without buds, by telling them that the 
plant will grow much better the first season if 
it does not have the additional strain of flower¬ 
ing. They feel the sacrifice too great to war¬ 
rant their waiting a whole year for flowers 
which might be enjoyed atouce, notwithstand¬ 
ing their belief in your assertion, that if it has 
flowers now, the plant will scarcely bear any 
the following year. But there is for the truly 
wise lawn-planter a still more intelligent man¬ 
agement of such plants, whereby the blooms 
will not only be reserved for the second year, 
but will even then be half taken off by thumb 
and linger in their partly developed state as 
buds. By ibis plan the flowers may he dis¬ 
tributed equally and effectively among the 
green leaves, may bo greatly developed in size, 
and, above all, insured iu moderate abundunce 
for another year, whereas ordinarily there 
would he, the following year, few or no flowers 
whatever. Thus, by sacrificing quantity of 
flowers to quality, we gaiu iu every way, gain 
even where at first we seem to lose; for the 
larger size aud superior beauty of these rhodo¬ 
dendron flowers scattered among the rich ever¬ 
green leavc‘6 are very evident when compared 
with tbe mass of solid bloom on the same 
plant as usually grown. We may, moreover, 
give the widest scope to (his principle of 
quality versus quantity, as just illustrated by 
tbe rhododendron, for everywhere, alike iu 
fruit, flower, and foliage, the practice of a 
striet economy aud concen!ration of choice 
qualities will develop increasingly valuable 
results. S. Parsons, Jr. 
JjitlD (taps. 
DOES BUCKWHEAT DETERIORATE THE 
SOIL 1 
There has been considerable discussion 
among farmers in thiB locality recently on the 
above question, some maintaining that buck, 
wheat is one of the most injurious crops which 
can he put on a piece of land, v'hile others 
claim it to be one of the least exhaustive. I 
remember iu conversation with an uncle of 
mine, some years since, on this subject, ho re¬ 
ferred to the fact that it was generally con¬ 
ceded to he the best crop to mellow and subdue 
a tough piece of land, and he made the remark 
that in his opinion It subdued it on the same 
principle on which a pugilist subdued his op¬ 
ponent—by knocking him down, and then 
beating him uutil he waB conquered ; or, iu 
other words, by taking the virtue all out of 
the soil. 
But my own observation and experience do 
not go to prove this theory correct, and 1 am 
inclined to the bolief that, at least, it is not 
more exhaustive to the soil than most other 
crops. I will give the result of one experi¬ 
ment I have made in growing successive crops 
of buckwheat on the same piece of laud. 
In the spring of 187C, I broke up a piece of 
sod, something over an acre in all, and with¬ 
out any manure sowed it to buckwheat, aud 
harvested from it 20 bushels of grain. The 
next year from the same field and without any 
fertilizer, I harvested 28 bushels. The follow¬ 
ing year, with the same treatment, the same 
field gave a yield of 33 bushels, aud last year I 
estimated the yield to be about the same as the 
