e $4ob3ies’ SFlonotl Satinet anil factorial BBEame SoBipanian. 
Gossijt utill| 
Wax Plant.— I am perfectly delighted with the 
Cabinet and the “Gossip with Correspondents” is 
my especial study. 1 would like very much to know 
how to treat my Wax Plant, I raised it from a leat 
about four years ago, aud it only has twenty leaves, 
and has never bloomed. It grows very slowly, and if 
the end of a branch gets knocked off, will not put out 
anywhere near that place again. It is the strangest 
vine 1 ever saw, and I would like to know how 1 
should treat it to make it sensible. What time of the 
year is supposed to be the season of rest for the Cacti? 
Allie. 
Answer .—The Wax Plant (Iloya Carnosa) requires 
very simple treatment; it grows best in an equal mix¬ 
ture of good loam, leaf mold and sand. Re-pot yours, 
shaking off all the old soil from the roots; put in a 
five-inch pot, and water liberally when it commences 
growth, which is generally about the first of January ; 
they require age before blooming. Let Cacti dry oft 
in summer, and continue dry until they commence 
growth. 
Wax Plant. —Can you tell me through the next 
paper how to make the real Wax Plant. (Hoya Camo- 
sa) bloom, and at what season ? It is a vine with 
large thick leaves. The main branch measures three 
yards and another two yards. I have had it three 
years. Mrs. Kate K. Hoi/way. 
Answer .—See answer above. 
Chinese Primrose.— Can you tell me how many 
years Chinese Primroses live ? If so, please let me 
know iu Answers to Correspondents. M. E. M. 
Answer .—Many are perennials, others biennial; the 
double white are of the former. 
Drying 1 Flowers.— Being a constant and attentive 
reader of the Cabinet, you could not think me unjust 
in asking a favor of you also. Would you be so kind 
as to give me a receipt for drying flowers so that they 
will retain the most of their natural color and form. 
You would greatly oblige a reader of the Floral 
Cabinet by complying with my request. 
Barre, Mass. Cassie Underwood. 
Answer .—The best way we know of drying flow¬ 
ers—and have been quite successful with many kinds 
—is to take fine silver sand, if from the sea it must he 
thoroughly washed to free it from salt, then bake until 
there is not the slightest degree of moisture left; take 
a wooden box of any convenient size, not over four 
inches deep, bore three or four half inch holes in the 
bottom, over the holes paste a stiff paper to keep the 
sand from running out; then put in oue inch of sand, 
on that place carefully a layer of flowers, then cover 
again to the-same depth until sand and another layer 
of flowers, alternating until the box is full; place the 
box in a warm, dry situation, leave for a week; tlieu 
carefully cut through the papers on the bottom so that 
the sand may slowly run out without injuring the 
flowers. Many kinds of single flowers eau he thus 
dried and made very useful for winter bouquets. 
Hardy Plants. —Wli at perfectly hardy plants are 
most suitable for a cemetery ? 
Mrs. A. M. Graves. 
Answer . — White Day Lily, Astilbe Japonica, An- 
thericym (St. Bernard Lily), Double White Narcissus, 
Lily of the Valley, Clematis erecta, Campanula 
percisifolia alba and Liliuin candidum. These are 
all hardy herbacous plants, and free flowering. If 
south of New York, White Chrysanthemum should he 
used lor late flowering. 
Eueharis Amazonica.—Allow me here to ask a 
question of some importance to me. For two years I 
have had a strong plant of Eueharis Amazonica, and 
thus far it refuses to give forth any blossoms. Can 
you, or any of your numerous contributors, tell me the 
treatment needed to make them bloom ? Should the 
bulb he placed under the earth or above it ? What 
will destroy angle worms in the earth of a garden? 
Ours is becoming tilled with them, causing a hard, 
sour soil, nearly destroying vegetation. 
Answer. —The Eueharis Amazonica requires a stove . 
house, with a temperature of at least 80°. It will not 
succeed at all in an ordinary greenhouse. For angle 
worms, just before a rain, scatter over the ground air- 
slacked lime until the surface is quite white. 
Date Palm.—Can any one tell me how to raise a 
Date Palm from the seed? I planted two of the seeds 
one year ago this Spring iu a small bucket, in a sunny 
situation, and kept the earth moist. During the Sum¬ 
mer one of the seeds rotted, the other one we left out 
doors all winter. This Spring, after the frost came 
out, we dug it up, and apparently it was as sound as 
ever. 1 planted it in a stove room, and it has not 
sprouted yet. E. L. H. 
Answer. —Seeds of Palm will only germinate with 
strong bottom heat, and it requires a long time even 
with the advantage of a stove house to start them. 
Caper Tree.— Cau any of the lady readers of the 
Cabinet tell of a plant that was a very common house 
plant about thirty years ago, known as Caper Tree, 
and where the seed is to he had? 
Mrs. Thomas E. Raymond. 
Answer. —The Caper tree (Cappons,) is not much 
grown as an ornamental plant, hut is commonly grown 
for the pods that are used for pickles. The seed can 
he obtained from most seedsmen. 
Peonies.—Will you please tell me iu the flower 
gossip of your next paper how to make Peonies 
bloom ? I ■ have one that has been in the ground 
three years and has never had a blossom on it. 
L. Ii. L. 
Answer. —Age and a sunny situation. 
Bouvardias.—Will you please inform me through 
the columns of your estimable paper, how to treat the 
Bouvardias and Clerodendron, what kind of earth to 
use, and treatment in other respects? I have them in 
■ one-third sand, one-third rotten cow manure and one- 
third garden soil, and treat them as I do my other 
house plants, hut they do not do well. At times they 
are luxuriant, aud then again the leaves curl up and 
dropoff. Can you tell me the cause of this? My 
Bouvardia has oue bunch of flowers on it now, and 
would bloom profusely but for this. I love flowers 
dearly and hitherto have been very successful in culti¬ 
vating them, but those above-mentioned baffle me, and 
as they arc; very beautiful I am anxious to cultivate 
them, and will be greatly obliged to you If you will 
give the desired information iu your uext issue. 
W. Clinton Byers. 
Answer .^-'The Bouvardia is cultivated as follows: 
Early in January take the roots from old plants, cut in 
pieces one inch long, put in boxes or p<>ts filled with one- 
third mold aud two-thirds sand, cover half inch deep ; 
when au inch high pot off in two-inch pots of good 
rich mold, place in a warm moist situation, about the 
middle of May plant out. in the border. When six 
inches hii>h cut hack to two indies, and grow on until 
the middle of September, then take up aud put in a 
six-iuch pot filled with soil composed of equal parts of 
loam, manure aud saud, grow iu a warm light situa¬ 
tion, they will come into flower about the first of 
J anuary, after which cut back, and they will make uew 
growth aud come into flower iu early spring. 
The Clerodendron is a rapid growing greenhouse 
plant, wants a light rich soil and much pot room, after 
a period of growth it will show signs of rest which 
should he given it, say for two mouths, then commence 
watering, and cut hack to one-half of the new growth. 
It will flower two or three times in a year. 
Seeds, Vitality.— Did M. Menkins ever see 
“ Breck’s New Book of Flowers,” the latest edition, 
he would find au answer to his question there. Hesays 
cucumbers, squash and melons are good for ten years, 
hut for some reasons might not he, as drying by the fire 
or getting damp. He says < mion seed is worthless after 
the second year, but has known it to vegetate when 
eight years old, being perfectly dry and corked up iu a 
bottle. And he had cucumber seed eighteen years old 
that vegetated freely. It was tied up iu a hag and kept 
in a tight Mu in a garret. Flower seed, like vegetable, 
vary in the length of time they may be relied upon as 
good. Balsams, six or eight years; Larkspur, Pink aud 
Aster, only two years; Hollyhock, five years; Gilly¬ 
flower about the same length of time, and it is said the 
older the better, if it will vegetate, as it will produce 
more double flowers. I think myself it should he kept 
in the pods. A. D. H. 
Reviving Drooping Plants. —Procure from any 
druggist Sulphate ot Ammonia, and dissolve it in pure 
water at the rate of one spoonful to the pail. 
W ater the plants once a day, and they will grow 
green and dark and fresh again. If this mixture is 
too strong, use but half at first, and then increase as 
they can stand it. Fine flour of bone, or bone meal, 
is splendid, also ; dust a little, say a teaspoonful, over 
the soil in each pot before watering. Apply hut once 
a month. Many plants will droop for want of root 
room. Keep transferring your plants into large pots; 
or, what is better still, into a large box, where they 
can grow iu all directions; a large plant can not grow 
in a small pot. A big Fuchsia, two to three feet high, 
needs a box fully a foot square and nine inches deep 
to itself. Then it will develop, bud and blossom most 
beautifully. 
Double White Feverfew. —I would like to state 
my experience with double White Feverfew, as it may 
save some other flower-lovers some trouble. Three 
years ago last fall J had several fine roots) the centres 
of two of which had changed to a straw color. Wish¬ 
ing to preserve oue of each color through the winter, I 
took them up, but soon found that one of the pots was 
too small for the root, and set it back again in the 
garden, although it had withered some. I then cov¬ 
ered it with dried leaves, and also all the others which 
1 had not taken up. The next spring found them all 
living, and I have treated them in the same way 
every winter since. The second summer I found a 
plant which had grown from a seed produced from 
one of the old plants, which bloomed the same sum¬ 
mer. I purchased a dozen Tulips of Vick last fall, 
and also some of the finest Hyacinths I ever saw. I 
planted them beneath our front windows, with a dozen 
or two which I have had three or four years, covering 
them slightly, to which covering was afterwards added 
some hay. On removing it this spring, I found that 
the rats had destroyed more than three-fourths of my 
bulbs, and the ground beneath the bed was thoroughly 
burrowed. We pressed the earth down aud filled the 
holes, but they open them faster than we can fill them, 
and I wish to know if we can poison the earth without 
killing the roots. M. B. 
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