1874 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
383 
stationary for weeks, until the other plants had 
quite outstripped it. As it was too late to get 
a bedding plant to replace the Gnaphalium, I 
remembered something I had seen in an 
European journal, so the Gnaphalium was pull¬ 
ed up, and its place filled by a row of tops cut 
from the Sedum spectabile-, the flower clusters, 
still in very young bud, were cut with stems six 
or more inches long, and set out as if they 
were plants. They have gone on just as if 
they had not been separated from the parent 
plant, and are now in full bloom .... I won¬ 
der upon what principle the so-called 
Ornamental Grasses are selected. Seeing 
in the catalogue of a seedsman the names of 
several “ ornamental ” grasses, which I did not 
know, I procured a lot of seeds. The result is 
the greatest lot of trash I ever saw outside of a 
weed-heap. Some of the grasses, of which the 
seeds are offered for sale, are very pretty. The 
Brizas, Stipa pennata, Brizopyrum siculum, 
Agrostis nebulcea, and some others, are worth 
growing, but these “ novelties ” are enough to 
disgust any one with ornamental grasses. I 
could make a circuit of half a mile around the 
place, and load up a hay-rack with wild grasses 
more ornamental than any I have grown this 
year.When I look out upon my bed of 
Perennial Phloxes, I wish every reader 
could see them, and know how much brilliancy 
and beauty can be had at a very small expense. 
A few of the older kinds are common in gar¬ 
dens all over the country, where they are called 
French Lilac—probably for the sufficient rea¬ 
son that they are neither French nor lilacs. 
The garden varieties are from our native Phlox 
paniculata and P. maculata, which in their 
wild state vary so much, that the different 
forms have been described as distinct species. 
The European florists have by hybridizing, 
crossing, and selection, made wonderful im¬ 
provements, and we now have them from the 
purest white to fine crimson, and often with two 
colors in the same' flower, beautifully shaded, 
or in distinct markings; some are only 18 
inches high, and others 4 feet or more. They 
are perfectly hardy, and require no care what¬ 
ever—and with them the most magnificent dis¬ 
play can be made. How the butterflies and 
the bees like them! In a warm day it is an in¬ 
teresting sight to watch the great number of 
butterflies that hover over them, as if by the 
brilliancy of their colors they had a right to 
claim companionship with the gay flowers of 
the phloxes. Fifty or more named varieties 
are offered by the florists—the newest always 
the dearest, and not always the best.I 
have before mentioned my success with the true 
Heath, Heather, or Ling, Erica ( Calluna) 
vulgaris. —(Now if any Scotchman is disposed 
to pick me up, and write a long letter, saying 
this plant is not the heath, I hope he will save 
himself the trouble, for I have been all through 
that discussion once.) Every European who 
comes to my place, is surprised and delighted 
to see large clumbs of this plant; I have had it 
now these six years, and with its relative, E. 
carnea, it is hardy and satisfactory in all re¬ 
spects. The common form of the heath has be¬ 
haved so well that I this spring sent to the cele¬ 
brated Knap Hill Nursery, of Anthony Wa- 
terer, near Woking, Eng., for a set of all the 
varieties in cultivation. I received about a 
dozen, some remarkable for the beauty of their 
foliage, others for the size or color of their 
flowers, including a double one; these have 
stood the summer well, and have made a 
good growth. I shall protect them the first 
i winter, and if they fulfil their present promise, 
j the bed will be a great satisfaction. .... I last 
j year learned a very useful wrinkle about 
Gladioluses which I have put into prac- 
| tice; however fine the flowers of a Gladiolus 
j may be, the plant itself is not of elegant habit, 
, and a bed of them is just a concentration of 
floral gawkiness. This year I set the Gladio¬ 
lus bulbs among Rhododendron and other low 
growing shrubs. The spikes show brilliantly 
above the dark foliage of the Rhododendron, 
and the flag-like leaves are not noticeable. 
Preserving Flowers—Winter Bouquets. 
THIRD ARTICLE. 
In the natural sequence of these articles, we 
should publish the methods of coloring the 
everlasting flowers, grasses, etc., but as the 
seeds we sowed with the view of obtaining 
flowers for this purpose, were put in late, we 
have not yet had sufficient material for experi¬ 
menting. In all such matters we prefer to 
make a trial, before publishing the process, 
that we may see the difficulties which a novice 
will be likely to meet with. In the matter oT 
coloring flowers and grasses, it is well to make 
one job of it, therefore the delay in publishing 
the method this month is of little consequence. 
The flowers and grasses should be collected as 
long as the season lasts, and dried in small 
bunches, as heretofore directed. Some of the 
most useful wild and cultivated grasses for 
bouquets will be found this month; they should 
be collected before they are so far advanced as 
to drop their seeds, or the parts of their flowers. 
Those collected while in blossom, will of course 
let fall their anthers, which is of no conse¬ 
quence. We have had some inquiries in re¬ 
gard to preserving ferns for decorative pur¬ 
poses, as well as to bleaching them. Some of 
the ferns are of exceedingly graceful outline, 
and are used in various ways; in making up 
flower-pictures, they are indispensable. They 
are sometimes grouped and placed between 
two panes of glass, to decorate the side-lights 
to a front or vestibule door. Some of the more 
delicate ones are used to place around the broad 
white margin of an engraving, and there are 
various ways in which they may be made use¬ 
ful. For all these purposes the ferns require 
to be simply dried between papers. As a 
general thing they contain but little moisture, 
and dry quickly; old newspapers will answer 
for drying, and there should be sufficient 
weight upon top, to keep them perfectly flat. 
When dry they must be kept under pressure, 
until wanted for use, otherwise they will curl 
out of shape. An old book, such as the bound 
volume of some newspaper, that is good for 
nothing else, may be used for pressing and pre¬ 
serving them in. Those who are fortunate 
enough to be able to procure the delicate and 
graceful Climbing Fern ( Lygodium ), will find it 
necessary to coil it carefully while pressing. 
As to bleaching ferns, they are to our notion 
more pleasing in their natural state; but 
they may be bleached, after they are dry, by 
the same solution used for bleaching grasses, 
which will be given later. Some fruits, or seed- 
vessels, are used in large winter-bouquets with 
good effect, and they are useful for decorating 
frames, small brackets, and other ornamental 
work; the seed-vessels of the sweet-gum tree, 
acorns with their cups, the pods of the bladder- 
tree, the keys of the ash, the winged fruit of 
the hop-tree, and numerous others that one will 
meet with in an autumn ramble, should be col¬ 
lected, dried, and put away in a place free 
from dust and mice for future use. 
Preparing Plants for Winter. 
Those who have flowers in the open ground, 
which they wish to keep in the house during 
the winter, are very apt to delay taking them 
up until the first frosty nights show that they 
are in danger. For ourselves, we do not think 
it pays to take up geraniums and such soft- 
wooded things that are apt to grow out of shape 
during the summer, but we make cuttings and 
start with nice vigorous young plants, but those 
who have not made this provision, will take up 
the old plants. The first part of October is 
quite late enough to pot the plants that are in¬ 
tended for window culture. Any good garden 
soil will do for potting, and if it is likely to be 
too stiff and bake after watering, mix some 
sand with it; it is better to use liquid manure 
after the plant is well established, than to add 
manure to the soil. Use clean pots, and those 
without cracks, put crocks for drainage in the 
bottom, and then pot the plant, removing any 
straggling roots, and carefully press the soil 
firm around the plant. At the same time trim 
the plant into shape; tlo not be afraid to use 
the knife freely; the chances are that too much 
will be left rather than too much cut away. 
Shade for a few days, water as needed, and 
when the foliage shows that it has recovered 
from the shock of removal, more sun can lie 
given. It is important to inure the plants 
to confinement gradually; set them on a 
verauda, or where they will be well exposed to 
the air and light, and yet be protected from 
frosts at night; if an unusually cold .night oc¬ 
curs, take them in-doors. When finally taken 
in, place them in a room where the windows 
can be opened every pleasant day, and do not 
bring them where there is fire-lieat, until the 
temperature makes it necessary. More house- 
plants are injured by too high a temperature, 
and too dry an atmosphere, than by cold. 
Preparations should be made for preserving 
liaif-hardy plants in a pit or in the cellar. If 
plants are to remain dormant until spring, 
several may be put into one box, with plenty 
of earth around the roots. See that the earth 
is not wet; plants when dormant are more like¬ 
ly to suffer from too much moisture, than from 
too little. They should be looked to now and 
then during the winter, and be watered if 
they absolutely need it. Geraniums cut back, 
winter well in the cellar, but if too much 
foliage and too many succulent stems are left 
on, they will decay. Those who have never 
tried it, will be surprised to find what a 
valuable adjunct a good dry cellar is to the 
garden in preserving tender plants. 
The Egyptian Beet is among beets what 
the Trophy is among tomatoes. Last year the 
seed was scarce abroad, and some unprincipled 
dealers sent over a spurious article. This year 
we received seeds from both B. K. Bliss & 
Sons, and Peter Henderson & Co., of the real 
thing. These are so fine as early beets, and 
they are among the earliest, that we have kept 
up a succession of them. To have them in 
perfection they should grow rapidly, and be 
taken when about half grown. They then 
cook perfectly tender—in fact, are balls of 
crimson jelly—and whoever has not eaten them, 
dressed with a plenty of the sweetest butter, 
does not know of what a beet is capable. We 
always sow thickly, that there maybe an abun- 
■ dance of the thinnings to cook as spinach. 
