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Plants in the Sun. —It is a mistake to suppose 
that plants will not flourish except when exposed to 
the direct rays of the sun, as I have a conservatory on 
the north side of my house, with a glass roof, in which 
I have had many varieties of plants in bloom all win¬ 
ter. My Geraniums and Camellias have done splen¬ 
didly ; my Daphne blossomed profusely, and my 
Fuchsia and Bouvardia are blooming away finely; 
besides, I have a Hydrangea and Oxalis in bud. I 
have' also a conservatory heated by pipes from the 
Same hot water apparatus that warms the one on the 
north, on the south side of iny house, but which has 
not the light overhead, in which though I have plants 
in bloom, they have not done nearly as well as in the 
one on the north side. I have a large yellow Jasmine 
vine planted outdoors on the south side, the lower part 
of which is. protected by an oilcloth covering; it had 
a flower in bloom near the top, while many of the 
buds'are ready to burst forth. 
Brooklyn, N. Y. W. L. Cochran. 
Cactu3.—I have long looked for and anxiously ex¬ 
pected some of our flower lovers to write a treatise on 
the Cactus. It is a family of plants that I have a 
great partiality for. I have many times thought if 
some scientific man, such as I he author of the Rose 
Manual, could he induced to write such a treatise on 
the Cactus, it would he hailed with great pleasure by 
many flower-loving friends. I should he willing to 
pay any price for such a treatise as I know he could 
write, his descriptions are so plain and easy to 
understand ; and as I see from a catalogue I received 
from him last spring that ho has retired from busi¬ 
ness, I have thought ho might he induced to write a 
treatise on the Cactus, its classifications and descrip¬ 
tions, with embellishments and cultivation. 
I have quite a collection of plants; some of them 
I bought of It. Buist more than ten years ago, such as 
Azaleas, Camellias, Dracaenas, Clerodendron, and 
many other plants too numerous to mention. Among 
the rest I have about thirty species of Cactus ; many 
of them I do not know to what family they belong. 
I have some of the Ccreus family, one Night 
Blooming Cereus Grandiflorus, Cereus Heptagouus, 
and others that I do not know the names. I have 
several of the Epiphyllums; one is night blooming, the 
others are scarlet, white, and pink. I have three of 
the Crab or Lobster.family, some of the Mauimillarias, 
and many others that I do. not know what family they 
belong, .except Melocaetus, three species. 
Some of the species that I have I collected some four 
years ago while in Texas; I found them on the prairie 
in the suburbs of San Antonio; they grew hero to great 
perfection. I there saw the Century plant twenty 
feet high growing in the cemetery, and it was just 
opening its bloom buds and had a majestic appearance, 
grand, but not beautiful. Does the Aloe belong to 
the Cactus family ? I cannot find that it does. Now, 
my dear floral friends, will you join me in asking Mr. 
Buist to write us another book, and let its chief topic 
be on the Cactus, and if he wishes other newly intro¬ 
duced plants, such as the Palms, Ferns, and Lycopo¬ 
dium, such a work I think would be well appreciated 
both by florists and amateurs. 
Petersburg, Ill. M, L. Fisher. 
Pot Plants. —A friend asks advice about pot 
plants, and you are very welcome to my experience. 
In the first place, I think more depends upon the earth 
than anything else. I begin in this way : As early in 
May we have warm days, but cool nights, I put my 
plants out during the day and shelter them at night; in 
this way they become gradually accustomed to the air. 
Next, I slip all that I can to start anew, cutting as 
near the roots as possible, as they have more vitality; 
and, as regards soil for slips, take salt boxes, and bore 
a few boles in the bottom for drainage, then put in 
first an inch or two of charcoal, next sand, and last a 
layer of earth. Place the box in the shade for a week, 
then give it moderate sun, and not too much water. 
My large plants I cut down considerably, and if 
they bud I snip them. You will see by this that 1 do 
not always put my Geraniums in the garden to con¬ 
tinue their bloom, for I like to retain some old plants 
to winter in my windows. The same with Fuchsias 
and Heliotropes. As early as July I prepare my soil, 
and repot and renew the earth of many of my plants; 
that is, I take out of such plants as Heliotropes and 
Fuchsias from one to two inches of old soil to replace 
with new. In that way the tender roots arc not disturbed. 
If possible I get the mold of decayed trees, as that is 
excellent; if I cannot get this, I go into the woods 
and scrape away from the trunks of trees the soil that 
clings around them. This I si t through a fine sieve, 
adding loam from the garden ; and lastly, I take it to 
kill all insects that may le in it. You may say that 
this is a great deal of work ; hut what can wc have 
without care and trouble ? I am fully repaid for my 
work, as my plants are a perpetual joy. Now that my 
earth is prepared, I repot every day, and . very early 
in September I move all my plants under cover. I 
think the earlier they arc settled for the winter, and 
commence growing, all the sooner you will have 
blooming plants. 
I like to cut hack Petunias at the same time with 
Geraniums and Heliotropes. The last two require a 
great deal of water and sun. I wish I could show' yon 
mine; hut do not feel discouraged, yours will look just 
as well, with care. Water your plants with warm 
water every morning before the sun is shining warmly 
upon them. Hanging plants require more water than 
others. I uso liquid manure twice a week, and to 
make the leaves green and the blossoms bright I use 
pounded charcoal. I also uso this in potting plants 
instead of pot shreds. Keep plants and pots clean, as 
it is a great preventative of insects. 
Perhaps you have the great desire of my heart— 
a hay-window ? But next best to that are my two 
southwestern exposures, eight feet broad, with shelves 
and brackets. I accommodate fifty plants. With mo 
this has been a splendid winter for blossoms ; one of 
my red Geraniums has eight lax-go clusters, another 
four, and so on. . Tetanias, Heliotropes, Abutilons, 
Mignonette, yellow and pink Oxalis, and even my 
Dutchman’s Pipe has blossoms. Have patience and 
do not he discouraged ; with sun and care your plants 
will look as well, if not better, than mine. 
H. C. H. 
Flower Pots.—T would like to say a few words to 
the readers of the Cabinet about flower pots. We 
are often told in horticultural hooks and papers that 
plants will not thrive so well in glazed pots as in the 
common unglazed ones. I think this is a mistake. I 
have kept house plants for nearly twenty years, using 
both kinds of pots, and my experience is that plants 
will grow and blossom ita.glazgd-pots as well ns in 
those that look moldy or discolored, even if washed 
every day. Within a short time I have learned to 
improve common pots, so that they will not grow 
moldy. First scrub them, inside and out, until per¬ 
fectly clean; then dry them perfectly. If any are 
new enough so that they are not discolored, give them 
one or two coats of shellac inside and out. It is much 
cheaper to buy the shellac dry and dissolve in alcohol; 
apply with a brush. Some pots that are discolored I give 
a coat of hlack-walunt stain, made by mixing burnt 
umber with spirits of turpentine ; when this is dry, 
apply a coat of shellac inside and out, putting the 
stain only on the outside. Sometimes I have painted 
pots with green paint, hut they need a coat of shellac 
inside and out first to prevent the moisture of. the soil 
from taking the paint off. Aunt Fanny. 
Lantana Seed.—-I see complaint is made in the 
last number about Lantana seed not growing. Please 
state that the seed must have boiling water poured 
over them, and soak a while before planting. 
C. L. F. 
LILIES. 
The Lily has for all time the first rank in Flora’s 
diadem. No other flower has been so long admired 
and universally cultivated. It has rightly been 
christened the “Queen of Flowers,” and no other, 
except the regal Bose, has ever attempted the usurp¬ 
ation of its title. Within the last half century many 
new members of this family have been introduced to 
tho floral world. Many of these new subjects have at 
once taken leading ranks among cultivators. With 
tho introduction of these new. varieties there became a 
small mania for the possession of some or all of them ; 
as a natural result, many who bought bulbs at high 
prices met with failure, their bulbs living perhaps a 
year and then dying. This at once had tho effect of 
killing the mania. The cause of these failures were 
that people, thinking they needed the same culture as 
the old sons then known, owing to belonging to tho 
same family, gave them similar treatment, and the 
consequence was—failure. Cultivators who desire to 
have success with new Lilies, should find out how they 
grew in their native places, and treat them accord¬ 
ingly. If they grew in warm, dry places, they should 
ho grown in a dry, warm place ; if they grew hi a 
moist, shaded place, they should have a similar place 
in your gardens. 
CULTURE. 
A few general remarks on I lie cultivation of Lilies 
may bo useful to some of the Cabinet readeis. 
All Lilies should he planted fr.un six to ten inches 
deip, and twelve inches would he better for the Aura- 
turn and tho California Lilies; the roots that support 
tho flowers and stem grow above the bulb; the roots 
below tho bulb only nourish tho bulb; therefore, if the 
bulb is planted shallow, there is not sufficient soil to 
allow the roots supporting the flowers to do their duty; 
and not only this, but the liot sun burns them up. 
Tho soil should be cultivated well and deep, and mod¬ 
erately rich, but not freshly manured—fresh manure 
will kill Lily bulbs—if the soil is very rich, put. a 
little sand or poorer soil around the bulb. The bulbs 
should bo planted in the fall or early spring, not later 
than April if you wish flowers. After planting it will 
not be necessary to move them; in fact it will be bet¬ 
ter not to for three or four years. In moving them bo 
very careful in lifting them not to break or bruise the 
roots at the base of the bulb; if these are injured, it 
may cause the bulb not to bloom for the next season, 
or perhaps to decay. The best time for moving is in 
September, or just as soon as the stem is ripe after 
flowering. In some future number I will tell the 
Cabinet readers how to treat the new California Lilies, 
now becoming so popular. Wm. C. L. Drew. 
