oral BuEinet tx*i3 3PLeiorix*i jHEame Samjmriiim. 
ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE MONTH. 
On page 129 is an elegant design for a Parlor Bird¬ 
cage and Stand of Plants ; on page 133 several designs 
of cottages and villas, of which the cost of construc¬ 
tion at the present time will be for the upper design 
about $8,000, and the lower design about $12,000. 
Upon page 137 is a sketch of a pretty white temple on 
the shores of a lake in a German park, which indi¬ 
cates beauty of scenery and rustic quietness. On 
page 141 is a sketch of the wild, rugged mountain 
scenery of the Sierra Nevadas in California, near the 
Pacific Coast. 
LETTER EROM A SUBSCRIBER. 
I am delighted with the Florat. Cabinet. Think 
it the most charming paper I have ever taken, and 
like it much better than any other of its kind. I 
have tried some of the experiments on my flowers 
that have been recommended by it, and have been 
delighted with my success. Our plants look lovely. 
We have a Tea-rose in bud, a Bouvardia, Lantanas, 
Geraniums, Abutilons, Begonias, and Fuchsias, all 
in bloom. Besides, we have about a dozen Coleuses 
and Begonias on a shelf in the dining-room, where 
they do not get a ray of sunshine, and they do splen¬ 
didly. We have a very pretty bracket in the din¬ 
ing-room that my brother constructed of three cedar 
boxes, one inside of the other; the top box is six 
inches square and six inches deep, the others larger, 
all nailed on a piece of board the size of the largest 
box, and has supports under it the same as any other 
bracket, and, having a filigree back, I filled all the 
boxes with soil and planted vines in them—Trades- 
cantia and other vines. They grow well, and form a 
pretty object to relieve the plain wall. I have also a 
very pretty hanging-basket that I read of in the 
Agriculturist. Make a pan five inches deep, paint 
inside and out, then make three holes near the top' 
(for the handle to go through) ; put the holes at equal 
distances apart, and make two holes in the bottom 
for drainage; then cover the pan with putty, being 
careful not to cover the holes ; then take peach-pits, 
split them in two, clean them, and press them evenly 
into the putty until you have completely covered the 
pan on the outside; let them dry ; give three coats of 
asphaltum varnish. The effect is very good. Just 
before Christmas my father brought home from the 
woods a remarkably handsome circular piece of 
moss. I determined it must be preserved, so we 
hunted up an bid cracked basin, mended and paint¬ 
ed, filled it with rich leaf-mould, and set the moss 
well upon it so as to completely cover the soil. I 
then planted it here and there with roots of delicate 
vines, making small cuts through the moss to plant 
them, and placed a Coleus in the centre. They 
flourished well, and in the summer the whole made a 
lovely ornament for the sitting-room, with cut flowers 
inserted in the moss. H. II. 
EFFECTS OF THE PERFUME OF 
FLOWERS ON HEALTH. 
“ Contrary to a popular belief,” says a writer in 
Cassell's Magazine, “ it has been found by an Ital¬ 
ian professor that fine vegetable perfumes exercise 
a positively beneficial influence on the atmosphere 
by converting the oxygen of the air into that power¬ 
ful oxidizing and, therefore, purifying agent, ozone. 
The essences found by him to produce the most 
ozone are precisely those which usage has selected 
as the most invigorating, such as cherry, laurel, 
cloves, lavender, juniper, mint, lemon, fennel, and 
bergamot, several ot which are ingredients in the 
refreshing eau de cologne. Anise, nutmeg, thyme, 
narcissus and hyacinth flowers, mignonette, helio¬ 
trope, and lilies of the valley, also develop ozone; 
in fact, all flowers possessing a perfume appear to 
do so, whereas those having none do not. This in¬ 
teresting intelligence null be gratifying to all lovers 
of flowers, and the cultivation of these lovely disin¬ 
fectants of nature should be promoted in all marshy 
or foul places.” 
Every one who has a garden of flowers should en¬ 
deavor to avail themselves even through the winter 
months of the benefits mentioned above as well as 
the luxury of their perfume. All who have not yet 
done so should be careful now.to preserve the petals 
of the lingering roses as soon as they have passed 
their perfect maturity. Having done this, have 
ready a wide-mouthed stone china jar with a close 
cover. Cover the bottom of the jar thickly with 
rose-petals, and sprinkle with a layer of fine salt and 
the addition of a few drops of alcohol: Continue to 
add fresh layers of salt and rose-leaves alternately 
until the jar is very tightly packed; lay a circle of 
writing-paper over the mouth, and press down the 
cover quite tightly and tie over it a piece of pre¬ 
pared bladder; set it away in a cool place until the 
snows have buried the rose-bushes out of sight. If 
you open it then some winter evening when 
storm is beating fiercely outside, ye 
prised beside your glowing grate with an idyl of 
June. 
Other flowers may be added, but it must be the 
blossoms only; the calyx should be carefully separat¬ 
ed. The French mix all kinds of perfumes and add 
spices, but we think the scent of single flowers the 
most pleasant. 
Heliotrope or mignonette blossoms should be 
thrown in jo melted lard, which should be kept milk- 
warm and closely covered for some weeks. It will 
then be found impregnated with the odor of the 
flowers, and can be strained through fine lawn into 
a small jar or bottle, a little proof alcohol added, and 
corked tightly. This process will be found worth 
the trouble. 
IVY IN FERNERIES. 
An English journal remarks : “ It is a common 
thing to see in the houses of persons who do not give 
their minds to the matter fern-cases .without ferns, or 
with a few deplorable bits .that, we are assured, will 
be very fine some day, but which too evidently will 
become smaller and soon disappear. That the 
planting and managing of fern-cases is a very simple 
matter need not now be insisted on. It is a fact that 
thousands of persons start fern-cases and aquariums, 
only to fail in some way or other ; and it is more of a 
moral than a scientific question as to why and how it all 
happens. I wish to point out to all who possess fern- 
cases, and can make nothing of them, that they make 
capital ivy-gardens, and ivies will generally live iri 
them without any management at all, provided they 
have light always and water occasionally. As a mat¬ 
ter of course, the smallest-leaved ivies should be 
planted, and they should be nicely trained on wires. 
When a case filled with small-leaved ivies is doing 
well it is a charming object, and much to be pre¬ 
ferred to one occupied by two or three dying ferns.” 
Worms on Honeysuckle Vines.—Try dust¬ 
ing with fresh lime or hellebore powder; otherwise 
hand-picking is the only remedy. 
PUBLISHER’S ANNOUNCEMENTS. 
The Robbins Family Washer and Bleacher, 
advertised in this issue, is an article of genuine 
merit, and should be in every household in the land. 
The Bissell Manufacturing Co., 50 Barclay Street, 
New York, are the srle manufacturers. They are 
well known, and our readers can rely upon fair and 
honest treatment from them. 
The Saturday Evening Post of Philadelphia is 
the oldest literary paper in the United States, now 
in its fifty-ninth year, and they are making beauti¬ 
ful gifts to the ladies in order to increase their cir¬ 
culation. 
See page 2 of cover for Premiums to Subscribers 
and for Clubs. These premiums are the finest of 
any ever made. You will receive by them not only 
your paper, but in addition the full worth of the 
paper in flower-seeds also. Evert' one should accept 
the offers. 
