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A HILL SIDE COTTAGE. 
This cottage was designed for a situation where the 
ground descends very rapidly away from the line of 
the front, and this peculiarity was taken advantage of 
to get a kitchen and servant’s rooms below the main 
story — though entirely out of ground on one side, and 
the greater part of another side, 
making them quite as dry and 
pleasant as the upper story. 
The basement is arranged as fol¬ 
lows : Under the veranda is an 
area, the floor of which is two feet 
above the ground and paved with 
brick. This area is neatly latticed 
up so that the whole space is quite 
private, and forms a pleasant work¬ 
ing place in the summer time. The 
kitchen opening from it is 13x14 
feet, and adjoining it is a large 
pantry, containing a dumb waiter 
rising to another pantry in the floor 
above, besides a stairway up, and 
sundry shelves and cupboards. 
There is a hall opening into a ser¬ 
vant’s room, 8x14, and into two 
good cellars, both of which have 
floors laid on chestnut beams bed¬ 
ded iu grout, as in fact have all 
the other basement rooms. 
The cellar is 8| feet high in the clear, and the walls 
are of stone, with the exception of those fronts which 
are exposed — they being of brick and painted. 
The principal story has an extrance hall 10 feet 
square, and a stairs and hall of the same dimensions, 
separated from each other by a screen made of chest¬ 
nut. The stairs are 31 feet wide, and under them is a 
closet for coats. The pantry is 10 feet square 
also, and is fitted up with cupboards, and has 
a butler’s pantry, sink for washing dishes in, 
supplied with hot and cold water from the 
range. The parlor and dining room are both 
of the same size, 15x16 feet. The first has a 
large French window through which one can 
pass to the yard, and the dining room has a 
similar window opening out upon a large 
balcony. Both rooms connect with a veranda 
9 feet wide. This story is 10i feet high. 
In the second story, a small hall-way or 
passage at the head of the stairs opens into 
three chambers, two of which are 13 feet 
square, and the third about 61 feet square. 
This story is 10 feet high in the middle of the 
room, falling away to 3 feet at the extreme 
eaves, where they are furred out to make the 
finished height 6 feet in the lowest part. The 
spaces furred off may serve for closets. 
This cottage was designed to be a frame cot¬ 
tage, boarded and clapboarded, and also filled 
in with brick for greater protection against cold. 
The interior finish, of pine stained, or of chestnut 
oiled; and the floors of all the first story of South¬ 
ern pine, laid with a border of black walnut all around, 
12 inches wide. The floors of the second story of nar¬ 
row pine plank. The estimated cost given in Down¬ 
ing’s new edition of cottage residences is $3,200. 
--O--: 
Slugs.—What will destroy slugs on plants ? They 
breed rapidly on the Abutilon. 
Answer .—Try tobacco soap. 
HOLIDAY DECORATION. minature trees or the word “bough” would not be 
Of all holidays of the year, Thanksgiving, Christ- a PP^ e( l t0 if- A word about this same parasite plant, 
mas and New Years should be observed with due i|P ;el ’ sa yi n g tlaa.t “vows of tender significance” can be 
holiday spirit and decoration; it is the time for festivity : uttered under the holly as well as mistletoe; besides 
and rejoicing, and all should be bright and cheerful, we do not live in a superstitious era, nor do we 
Tliis is a pretty custom and one I hope will never die, . believe that the wishes made under the “ sacred plant 
of the Druids,” who haunted the oaks in ye olden 
times, can influence our future destiny. 
It is au erroneous idea that mistletoe grows only 
on old, dead branches of trees. I 
have seen it growing on swamp 
maples strong and thrifty in large 
quantities, and on other trees 
equally as healthy; the plant is 
more interesting than pretty; the 
leaves are rather thick and have a 
tough appearance, but when 
broken are quite brittle. The 
branches or little limbs are gnarled 
and crooked, the berries grow in 
clusters, have a very yellow look, 
and when mashed are like jelly, 
sticky and gelatinous. The ber¬ 
ries are said to bo carried by the 
birds or blown by the wind into 
crevices and cracks of other trees ; 
here they find nourishment, take 
root and grow. Notwithstanding, 
to the contrary, I have seen it grow¬ 
ing out of smooth wood. 
What lovely plants the Lyco¬ 
podiums are; the common names 
this decoration of “nave and chancel,” of “pillar and applied to them are Christmas green and club mosses; 
arch;” but not only should we decorate the church; the running pine is called “ Robin-run-away,” the 
every home (ever so humble) can have its branch of other, ground pine. What a pleasure it is, and how 
holly or wreath of cedar hung above the door and | eagerly we search for them, turning up dead leaves, 
window; how pretty, the ashen colored branches, brown pine needles, and all the fallen debris of last 
j sharp glossy green leaves, and bright crimson berries year’s growth, and at last hail its appearance with a 
of the holly look against the white wall. This is the shout of joy. The running pine is beautiful to twine 
around picture frames; the other will make 
very pretty wreaths, taking pasteboard for a 
foundation, sewing the green on it, and above 
this tacking tiny branches of the black elder, 
the scarlet berries contrasting fine against the 
feathery green pine. While wo are out we 
must not forget to get a few branches of the 
laurel of descanted glory, and a few sprays of 
mitchella repens, with its round ovate leaf, bright 
scarlet berries and charming wild-wood fresh¬ 
ness; pressed or dried autumn leaves should 
now be brought forward, tacked on bonnet 
wire, made into wreaths, etc. Christabel. 
A Side Hill Cottage. 
Plan of First Floor. 
season for holly, spruce, and running vines to be in 
their beauty and prime; they all retain their freshness 
much longer if gathered thus late in the season. The 
ancients held the mistletoe in great reverence. This, 
with the exception of the laurel, dominated over 
all other greens on festal occasions; “golden bough of 
Yirgil” it was called. I wonder if it was as difficult 
to obtain as ours; it certainly must have grown into 
Conservatory. —In Floral Cabinet for 
April J. Iv. speaks of her conservatory lead- 
ing out of her sitting-room, and how very suc¬ 
cessful it has been this winter. She does not 
say how it has been heated. Will she tell us 
more about it—how it v- - as heated, and by 
what means the sitting-room is warmed ? My 
plant room has been a failure this winter. 
M. P. G. speaks of Deutzia twigs blooming. I 
have never heard of Deutzia being forced in this 
way, but in Paris quite a trade is carried on 
by forcing White Lilac twigs in this way. 
A. S. C. A. 
Bugs on Asters.— Will some kind friend of the 
flower garden inform me through our ever -welcome 
Cabinet how to prevent the voracious black bugs 
from so effectually and hopelessly destroying the 
Aster bloom ? Don’t answer by saying kill them, for 
their name is legion. Gemine. 
