$*tt,3ies' 3ff*tonobt 6a£iaet xm3 ^Pictorial Home iKomjmriioiL 
NEW YORK, MAY, 1879. 
ILLUSTRATIONS OP THE MONTH. 
Upon page 1 are several illustrations of window 
and parlor decorations. Figs. 1 and 3 are shell 
rests, used to hold ornamented shells, which often 
contain a little moist moss or earth, in which are 
planted some slips of flowers ; and thus a miniature 
garden is formed upon the mantel-piece. 
Fig. 2 is a combined aquarium and plant-stand, 
three feet six inches in height, the bowl twelve to six¬ 
teen inches in diameter, and the little cups are large 
enough to receive a six-inch flower-pot. 
Upon page 4 is a sketch of a plant of the Eryngium 
Leavenworthii, grown by W. C. Wilson, florist of 
Astoria, Long Island. This is a remarkably showy 
annual, with stems from one to three feet high and 
very branching. The heads are of a beautiful 
purple. Branches cut after the flowers and leaves 
have matured will last two or three months, making 
it a valuable addition for winter bouquets. 
Upon page 5 are sketches of some exceedingly 
ornamental rustic terra-cotta garden vases. The 
oblong rustic vase is made in imitation of rustic wood- 
bark, and is eighteen inches high and sixteen inches 
long. The rustic terrace vase is thirty inches high, 
twelve inches in diameter across the base, and seven¬ 
teen inches in diameter across the handles. 
The rustic garden vase is made of willow wood, 
trimmed often with grape-vine. The whole is forty- 
eight inches high; lower vase, twenty by twenty- 
eight inches; middle vase, eighteen by twenty-one 
inches; top vase, ten by thirteen inches. 
Upon page 9 are given sketches of aquaria orna¬ 
ments. The granite castle is capable of a double use, 
either as a fine ornament for a large aquarium, ad¬ 
mitting of a variety of water-plants all around the 
castle, or it can be used as a flower-pot for small 
ferns and plants. 
The shell ornament represents a shell with figure 
and surrounding plants. There are three openings 
to receive water-plants. 
The fairy castle is to be attached to some source 
of water giving a steady supply, and the flow will 
be as shown in the illustration. This figure is twelve 
inches high and eleven inches long. 
The little window-garden with its wire railing and 
shelf is four and a half inches high, three feet long, 
and eight inches wide. 
The little fernery is twelve inches in diameter, 
with glass fifteen inches high. 
All the above articles are made by G-. Hennecke & 
Co., of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who make many very 
tasteful window and floral ornaments. 
Upon page 12 are sketches of ladies’ needle-work. 
The shopping hag is in canvas-work. It will be 
found most useful, and satchels for shopping were 
never in more universal favor. 
The materials are: canvas, No. 14 gray Berlin 
wool, coarse floss silks of a bright emerald green and 
gold color, gold thread, small pearl and garnet beads, 
white and gold tassels, cord, rings, half a yard of 
colored silk. Work in any block pattern, and make 
up with silk lining, finishing with cord. The same 
work may be made up at an upholsterer’s with a 
strong steel clasp, and will be more serviceable. 
The shawl or wrap case is of Holland. It is 
bound all round with worsted braid. The border in 
embroidery may be in Andalusian wool or purse silk. 
The roses and foliage are cut out of cretonne, and 
fastened upon the holland with cording-stitch. The 
outlines of the pattern are in chain-stitch, or machine 
embroidery may be substituted. The straps are of 
holland, lined and embroidered with a simple design. 
The lamp-mat is a mat upon net canvas, in feather 
embroidery. The ends of the feathers are slipped 
through the meshes of the net to the wrong side, and 
securely fastened. The edge consists of three rows 
pf feathers, two rows of quilled ribbon, and the centre 
of the mat grounded in a dark color, or, if preferred, 
a pattern can be embroidered in silk or Berlin wool 
upon the net. 
WINDOW GARDENING. 
In growing plants for winter use it is best to take 
slips early in the summer, and grow them in pots in 
a sheltered situation out of doors until the third week 
[ in August, then repot into larger pots and bring into 
! the house at once. I find that my plants are less 
apt to wither and lose their leaves if I bring them 
into the house early. I have a great many plants 
to care for, and I begin to pot them for the house 
about the second week in August, and keep working 
at them until all are finished. 
If you wish your Calla to bloom early, pot it in 
rich earth in August and water sparingly until it 
begins to grow; then keep it very wet, letting it 
stand for at least an hour in a saucer of warm water 
every day. It will grow rapidly and will soon throw 
up a flower-stalk; and it will bloom at intervals all 
winter. When it shows that it is in need of rest, 
which will be in the following May, withhold water 
gradually, and as soon as the weather admits of it 
put the pot out of doors under a tree or shrub, turn¬ 
ing it upon its side that it may receive no water. It 
will soon become dry and the earth appear to be 
baked; do not meddle with it until you are ready 
to repot it for winter blooming, when proceed as 
before. 
A beautiful plant for the house is Lilium Candi- 
dum; one year ago last fall I bought a bulb for 
twenty-five cents and planted it in a four-inch pot. 
It soon began to grow and sent up a stalk of delicate 
foliage ; in March it bloomed, having three white 
blossoms out at one time ; it remained in bloom for 
three weeks. After it was done flowering the foliage 
showed signs of decay, so I put the plant away for a 
rest. When all danger of frost was past I set the 
plant out of doors on the south side of the house and 
left it until fall; during that time it received no 
water except what rain fell upon it. In September 
I took the pot into the house; it soon threw up a 
second flower-stalk with seven buds, and for weeks 
it was the pride of my window. A few weeks ago I 
brought it from the cellar, where it has been resting 
since the autumn, and now two flower-stalks have 
made their appearance. They are already more 
than a foot high. 
Some time ago one of your correspondents enquir¬ 
ed if the Aloe is a member of the cactus family. I 
believe that the question has not yet been answered, 
so I will insert one here. The Aloe is not a cactus. 
It belongs to an entirely different order—the Liliacere, 
sub-order Aloinese. The Aloe is a native of Africa, 
and it is found there in great profusion ; there are a 
number of species, all having true stems, but varying 
in height from a few inches to many feet. The 
Aloe-wood of commerce is not obtained from the 
Aloe-tree, but is an entirely different substance. 
The Aloe plants that are sold by florists are some of 
them of great beauty, the leaves being marked or 
striped. One of the newest varieties is the Partridge 
Aloe, so called because the markings resemble those 
on the wing of a partridge. 
We often hear the Century-plant spoken of as the 
American Aloe. This is a misnomer, as the Cen¬ 
tury-plant is not an Aloe but an Agave. It is a 
member of the great family of Amaryllids that in¬ 
cludes a number of well-known species ; among these 
may be mentioned the Narcissus, Tuberose, Jacobean 
Lily, Snowdrop, and Star-grass. There are a number 
of Agaves native to America, of which the best known 
is the Century-plant. The especial difference be¬ 
tween the Agaves and the Aloes is that the former 
have no stem, the leaves rising directly from the 
ground. The Agave Americanus sends up a flower- 
stalk of from fifteen to twenty-five feet high, bearing 
a panicle of yellow flowers. The story that it blooms 
only at the age of one hundred years is now known 
to be false. In its native home it blooms when it is 
from ten to twenty years old, but in a green-house it 
requires a longer time. In California and Mexico, 
where these plants grow wild, they bloom often at 
the age of fifteen. After the Agave blooms the plant 
dies to the ground, but new shoots grow from the roots, 
which perpetuate the species. Ida I. Law. 
Glencoe, Cook Co., III. 
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