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Rooting Camellias.—Ferns.-— How are Japoni- 
cas rooted from cuttings ? I have tried and failed. 
Where can I get a good selection of Ferns ? 
Quincy Fla. Mas. T. R. Love. 
Answer. —Camellias may be propagated from leaves 
taken off with the dormant bud and rooted in sand. 
Any fforist can send you a catalogue of Ferns. 
Geraniums, etc.—1 have several Geraniums 
grown from slips. They began to bloom as soon as 
they were well rooted, but I pulled off the buds and 
now they are between eight and fifteen months old and 
will not bloom. Should I shake or change the water 
in which German Ivy is growing’? 
Summerville, Tenn. Una. 
A nswer. —Your Geraniums are probably growing 
freely and all run to growth. Check them by giving j 
less water and more air and sun, and towards spring 
they will bloom. Do not shake the water. A bit of 
charcoal will keep it sweet, and as it evaporates fill in 
fresh. 
Name of Plant. —Enclosed find flower and leaf 
of a plant blooming, in winter; the root is a bulb. 
Pittsburg, Ind. May McBeth. 
Answer. —The leaf was lost, but the flower is Oxa- 
lis eernua. 
Name of Plant. —Please tell me the name or en 
closed plant. When I bought it the leaves were mot¬ 
tled and it had a ilo.ver like a Fuchsia. I put it on 
the east side of my house ; the leaves dropped and 
then come green, and it does not bloom. E. A. C 
Amesbury. 
Answer. —Your plant is Abutilon vexillarium pic- 
tum, which has reverted to the normal form from being 
kept in too cool or dark a place. Give light and beat 
and it will give variegated foliage and flowers. 
Names of Plants. —Please give me name of 
woody vine of rapid growth with beautifully variega¬ 
ted leaves. Does it bloom? I enclose a leaf of some¬ 
thing like a Wax Plant. What is it ? Where can I 
get Spanish Moss for baskets? L. T. Hall. 
Harrisonville, Mo. 
Answer. —Your vine is Lonicera aurea reticulata, 
or variegated Japan Honeysuckle. It has a white 
fragrant flower. The leaf was so crushed as to be un¬ 
recognizable. Mrs. D. Tuttle, Canto, California, 
offers to send Spanish Moss. 
Musk Plant. —What soil does Musk Plant re¬ 
quire ? Does it need much water, and should it be 
When should it he watered ? 
Flower Lover. 
in sun or shade ? 
Deandale, Del. 
Answer .—It is very easily grown and needs no spe¬ 
cial culture although apt to rot off if kept too wet. A 
common sandy loam suits it, and it likes full sun ; 
there is no special time for watering. 
Roses Unhealthy. —The leaves of my Roses curl 
up and seem to have mildew. How can T cure it ? 
Burnt Corn, Ala. A. B. Betts. 
Ansioer .—You are right in thinking it mildew; the 
remedy is to dost flower of sulphur over the foliage; 
it is caused by damp, close atmosphere or sudden 
changes of temperature. It is a fungus. 
English Ivy. — What will make the English Ivy 
grow fast 1 Mine has not grown an inch all winter. 
Mrs. A. Quincy, Cal. 
Answer. — A good sweet soil, plenty of light and 
air and uot too dry an atmosphere. The Ivy is very 
hard to kill and will live anywhere, hut to start it 
must have attention. 
Name of Plant. —Please find enclosed a leaf ot 
what we call “ Sweet Fern ” here. It is very fragrant J 
—will perfume a whole garden, grows in the sun, or 
anywhere, very rank, and three or four leet high. 
Please tell me what you know about it. 
Stewartville, Mo. Clara P. Shelton. 
Answer. — We cannot promise to name plants from 
a single leaf. What you send is certainly not a Fern, 
nor is it the “ Sweet Fern” (Comptouia) of the East¬ 
ern States. Your plant resembles the Chamomile. 
Azaleas, etc,—Can I raise Azalea indica from 
seed, and when will it bloom ? Please give some in¬ 
formation as to Acacias and Rhododendrons. 
Do Graff, 0. A. M. S. 
Answer. —It is very tedious raising Azaleas and 
Rhododendrons from seed, and is only done to procure 
new varieties, il ungrafted, seedlings do not bloom 
until very large, say seven to ten years. The plants 
are so cheap now, seedlings are only raised by large 
growers. Acacias are best raised from seed; they 
grow rapidly and bloom as soon as they attain good 
size; the time depends wholly upon how well they 
are grown. 
Seedling Greenhouse Plants, etc. -Can Abu¬ 
tilon, Agapauthus, Begonia, Auricula, and Cycla¬ 
men, be grown from seed, and how soon will they blos¬ 
som ? 1 have a Cactus ten years old which has never 
blossomed. Mrs. H. Gilman. 
Plymouth, Wis. 
Answer. —Abutilon from seed blossoms in about a 
year; Begonias in nine months, Auricula in nine 
mouths, Cyclamen in about eighteen months. Aga¬ 
pauthus would take several years. The time of a 
plant’s blooming from seed depends so much on cul¬ 
tivation that no fixed time can be given ; for instance, 
Cyclamen seed sown in April will bloom the next win¬ 
ter if well grown, though often it takes three years to 
make a blooming tuber. Give your Cactus a good 
roasting in the summer’s sun. 
Hardy Yucca. —What, treatment must I .stive the 
Spanish Dagger (Yucca, I believe)? Will it stand 
the winter out of deors ? M. E. 
Answer. —The true Spanish Dagger, Yucca aloe- 
folia, is not hardy and must he kept in a cellar or 
greenhouse in winter. Yucca filamentosa is perfectly 
hardy as is also Y. angustifolia. Y. recurva, one of 
the finest species, is hardy south of New York. There 
are many species; all are very ornamental. They 
look well in vases on rockeries, on the lawn in masses, 
or as single plants. 
Mountain Ash.— Oxalis.— What can be done to 
increase the growth of ray Mountain Ash and make it 
bear berries ? The soil is sandy. Should Oxalis be 
dried and rest awhile ? 
Answer. —Dig well rotted manure around your 
Mountain Ash and make the soil rich. This will en¬ 
courage growth and the tree will bear berries when 
, large. Oxalis should rest all summer. Pot them 
about October; they bloom in autumn and winter, 
I going to rest in April. 
Taesonia Van Volxemi. — I have a plant from 
seed called Taesonia Van Volxemi; it is about four¬ 
teen inches high, but grows slowly. Please tell me 
how to treat it, and if I have a Taesonia at all. 
Andover, N. Y. Sarah M. Bond. 
Answer .—Taesonia Vau Volxemi is a greenhouse 
climber of very rapid growth, producing very hand¬ 
some red flowers on long drooping stalks. It re¬ 
quires good sandy loam and moderate heat. We 
doubt your being successful with it as a window plant, 
as it does not bloom until large, and in a dry atmos¬ 
phere the buds are apt to.drop; the plant, however, is 
very pretty in foliage ; give it plenty of sun. 
Day Lily Culture, etc. —Please tell me how to 
grow Day Lilies. Why do notDIeanders, when fully 
headed, mature their 
closed leaves. 
Bear Valley, Wis. 
blossoms? Please name eu- 
Mrs. S. C. Burnham. 
Answer .—The Day Lilies (Funkia and Herne- 
rocallis) are hardy garden plants. All they need is to 
be planted in good soil; they come up every spring 
and bloom freely during the summer. Your Oleander 
probably has received some chill when in bud, or the 
air of the room is too dry ; either cause would make 
the outer petals shrivel and the huds drop. We can¬ 
not name plants from leaves ; those sent were almost 
microscopic. 
Growth of Oxalis Roots. —This summer I had 
a Yellow' Oxalis bulb, about, as large as a pea, which 
I put in a three-inch thumb pot. Some time ago it 
commenced growing and grew so fast that to-day, Oct. 
29, I thought best to remove it. On taking it out of 
the pot, I found a root at the bottom of the earth, of a 
transparent white, seven-eighths of an inch in circum¬ 
ference in the largest part, coiled up, and in the shape, 
of a snake. A perfect little snake, head, tail and all, 
and connected with the bulb on the top by only one 
very small root, and at what appeared to he the head, 
was two buds. Did any of the readers of the Cabinet 
ever hear of such a thing? 
E. M. 
Answer . — This is not peculiar ; Oxalis grow in this 
way, but it is very curious and interesting. 
Plants in Rooms. —Do you consider plants in a 
living room unhealthy to persons living in the room 
and sleeping in an adjoining room ? 
New'Lebanon, A. Y. H. A. Ashby. 
Answer —Unless there are so many plants as to 
make the air damp, no possible injury can result 
from growing plants in a living or a sleeping room. 
The writer last winter slept in a room with tweuty- 
five very large plants in the windows and an immense 
banana stretched its leaves almost over the head of the 
bed. 
Names of Plants, etc. —Can you tell me the 
name of the enclosed plant ? The leaves are of many 
colors; it roots from slips. Also the wild flower 
which looks like a Snap-Dragon ? What soil should 
I plant Silver Geraniums in to keep the leaves from 
curling and turning green ? Mrs. S. E. Childs. 
Santa Barbara, Cal. 
Ansiver . — The plant is Alternanthera versicolor, a 
very good and brilliant bedding plant. The wild 
flower is a species of inimulus. You are probably 
growing your Geraniums in too rich a soil, and per¬ 
haps they are too wet. All variegated plants have a 
tendency to revert to the green state. 
