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Chinese Primrose, &c. — I want to return my 
hearty and sincere thanks to the lady (A. S. Darrah) 
who in the June number of the Cabinet gives her 
experience with the Chinese Primrose. Treated ac¬ 
cording to the hooks they are of all plants the most 
exasperating. I have tried and tried them for years ; i 
thrown away in disgust large plants because they j 
would not bloom. Sometimes they dwindle away to ■ 
a leaf or two, then start to grow and become fine ! 
bushy plants thickly set with buds that always blast. 
In three years’ time have had seven blossoms. Think 
of that! Gave the last potful away, and vowed I 
would never have another Primrose if there was no 
way to make them bloom. A. S. D. may be assured j 
this “ distressed sister” will try again. It is the only 
window plant with which I have failed. Perhaps 
their mission was to take the conceit out of me. 
Henceforth I shall use common sense in their treat¬ 
ment. I will make them bloom yet, see if I do not! 
Blue Verbena. —Out of a packet of mixed seed 
from Dexter Snow I had seven shades of clear, bright, j 
unmistakable blue. Mr. Dick Hopson will please take 
notice. 
Amaryllis. — i have treated my Amaryllis this sum¬ 
mer according to “ Stella’s” plan given in April num¬ 
ber of Cabinet. They have grown rapidly, blooming 
well, and formed several new bulbs. I think her bulb 
is a Vallota Superba. 
Rose. -I agree with “ Aunt Carry” in her praise of 
the Microphylla Rose. It is indeed beautiful! Far 
more worthy of cultivation than many of the new 
sorts—some differing from each other only in name. 
The pink variety is lovely, both leaf and flower; does 
not resemble any other Rose I ever saw; looking like 
the double centre of a huge Hollyhock, only very 
delicate. The white is somewhat of a climbing habit, 
looks well trained against the house, a pillar or trellis, 
growing ten feet in a summer. The leaves are a bright 
glossy green ; the Rose in its creamy richness is as per¬ 
fect as a Camellia. Both kinds are mentioned in R, 
J. Halliday’s catalogue, Baltimore, Md. Also the 
Greveille or Seven Sisters. That Rose carried me 
back to my childhood ; to the lovely home, yard and 
garden of a dear friend. The latter so beautiful I 
wondered if the flowers of Paradise could be more 
enchanting. A Greveille Rose that she had brought 
from North Carolina covered one whole side of her 
two-storied house. It bears seven Roses in a cluster, 
each one as they grow old changing from crimson to 
light rose. I enjoyed that catalogue hugely; so many 
dear old-fashioned flowers. Our Cabinet is well 
nigh perfect ] may it go on to perfection. H. S. 
Camellias.—I see in your columns a great many 
inquiries in regard to the Camellia. You do well to 
refer them to Window Gardening, for that has a 
panacea for almost every ill that flowers are heir to; 
but I don’t think you tell them not to use limestone 
land. One year ago I got from Mr. Dreer a Camellia 
with four buds on it. Feeling afraid I could not 
manage it properly I seut for the book. Following 
the directions contained therein every bud on the plant 
bloomed last winter, and now it has twelve buds on it 
for next winter. Part of my success I attribute to 
your valuable information, and part to the use of 
ground from the woods off of slate land. I also see a 
great many inquiries in regard to raising Dahlias 
from seed. I got two papers of seed from Mr. Dreer 
last spring and sowed them in boxes in the window. 
About the first of March I had some six or eight nice 
plants. Those plants commenced blooming in July, 
and have never been out of bloom since. They have 
from ten to twenty flowers on all the time, and will 
have until the frost kills them, for they are full of 
buds. I don’t think Dahlias as a general thing are 
quilled, but mine are quilled beautifully. I think 
they bloom much more constant than those raised 
from the roots. 
Would a wardian case do for Roses, Geraniums, 
Fuchsias, &c., by leaving one side open? The room 
I have my flowers in has one door opening on a 
verandah or porch, the other opening into a hall, and 
in order to have the plants at a southern window they 
have to set between these doors, which are often left 
open in the coldest weather. Now I have thought of 
a wardian case with the ends and one side kept 
closed, and the side next to the window open, would 
allow the plants the air they needed, and at the 
same time protect them from the draft. 
Answer. —The wardian case should always be 
closed. You can grow roses in it if the case is large 
enough. 
English Ivy.— Mr. F. H. Hubbard, M. D ., writes 
in June number of Cabinet, in answer to your work 
on window gardening, in regard to the English Ivy, 
that he has one set out last November that has grown 
over five feet, and says that your rule, “ two feet per 
year, may do very well for the Eastern States (he 
writes from Sacramento, Cal.) Now I am not satisfied 
with either even for the Eastern States. I have a 
common English Ivy two years old that got broken 
off and set back last year, and 1 left it out doors last 
summer. In November last I brought it into my 
sitting-room and trained it over a bay window, and 
made a mark where it then was, and since that time, 
November last, at last measurement two or three days 
ago, it had grown eleven feet seven inches, and as the 
doctor says, its beauty and growth are remarked by 
all. Some of the leaves measure 4 by 4J inches. 
Please make a note of this. In old fogy Massachusetts 
too! Mrs. J. R. G. 
Lynn, Mass. 
A Group of Wonders.— No. 1. One of your cor¬ 
respondents in the April number mentioned a some¬ 
thing of a curiosity—a Geranium leaf 23 inches in 
circumference. I had one last year a yard in cir¬ 
cumference. No. 2. Can any one tell me if they ever 
saw a Madeira Vine leaf larger than 17 inches in 
circumference. I have some that size, and think them 
really wonderful. No. 3. Another object of wonder to 
me is The Floral Cabinet. The first number I 
saw I thought must be an exception, it was so good ; 
but it grows so much better every month, with its 
entertaining articles, that my fears have not yet been 
realized. I don’t know a better paper published. 
Medora Askew. 
Exchanges.—I would like to correspond with some 
of the floral friends from the different States with 
regard to the exchanging of house plants and some 
hothouse bulbs for plants indigenous to their respective 
States ; to be delivered this fall; the Southern States 
and California particularly.—Address, 
71 Oakley street, Chicago. Mrs. W. 
Enigma. —You did not ask a solution to your floral 
enigma, but for my own diversion I sat me down to 
solve it. Did I get it right ? The author’s name 
Celia Ann Graves, Brattleboro, Pa. Her favorite 
flower the Rose ; Pceonia, flower of early culture ; Egg 
Plant, fruited plant; Cepeter, splendid variety of the 
Gladiolus; Everlasting, indispensable for winter 
bouquets ; Begonia, is remarkable for its fine foliage ; 
Abronia is a pretty creeping plant. Jessie. 
; Achimenes in Hanging Baskets. —Did you ever 
grow Achimenes in a hanging basket ? If not, try it 
once, and see what a thing of beauty you will have. 
It is such a satisfaction to have your plants thrive and 
look better than you see them in the greenhouses. 
Female vanity, I think I hear some one say. I can¬ 
not see why Dick Hopson’s Beauty of Caulderdale 
does not do better. Mine is bedded out and is 
beautiful, leaves large and beautifully marked; also 
Egyptian Queen, Perrilla, and many others. Is it 
not because that which the florists call blue you would 
call a shade of purple, that you cannot get a blue 
Verbena? I have what I call a purple Gloxinia. 
The florists call it blue. H. 
Ants—Primroses. —Can you tell me of any way to 
protect plants in pots or in the garden from ants ? 
From experience I must say I think the only way to 
succeed with Primroses is to give them sun for at least 
two hours in the morning, and not too much water. 
They will “ damp off” if kept in a very shady situa¬ 
tion. A Subscriber. 
Aster Bugs. —In the June number of the Cabinet 
there is a lady asking for something to destroy the 
black bugs that eat up the Aster when in bloom. Y«u 
can say for her benefit as well as of others that plaster 
sprinkled over the plants while wet with the dew 
it is said will put them most effectually to flight. I 
have tried it ou my roses, and find it the only thing 
that has entirely banished the troublesome Rose slag. 
You can also tell your readers of the plaster as a cure 
for the slugs. Lucia Malehorn. 
Spirits of Ammonia. — I find that to use the spirits 
of ammonia in watering flowers will destroy worms, 
and will also make them grow better. Use twelve 
drops of ammonia to one gallon of water. 
Pot Covers. —I very often see how to make pot 
covers. Now I never make them at all. I have a 
plan which I think is so much better, that lasts longer, 
and I think prettier too. First, paint the pot all over 
with common house paint, white or any other color, 
and when dry draw some pretty pattern of fruit, flowers, 
vines, &c., on it, and paint it different colors with oil 
paint. These pots wdien finished are very pretty in¬ 
deed. Will some one please send me a Japan Lily. 
I am so anxious to have one. 
Greenwood, S. C. Mrs. L. W. Jordan. 
Bugs on Asters. — I never have any trouble with 
bugs on Asters when planted near the house where I 
pass by them several times in a day, but several times 
have had all destroyed when planted some distance 
away, where, when busy with my work, I would not 
see them for two or three days. 
Is the Giant of Battles a hardy Rose, or will it live 
out of doors by being protected ? 
Richland Grove, Ills. Metta Stevens. 
Answer .—The Giant of Battles needs protection in 
your section. 
Rose Slugs. —A useful article for the destruction of 
Rose slugs, and in fact most insects which infest Roses, 
also garden plants, is found in the Persian Powder, 
sold by most druggists or florists. The powder should 
be applied three times to the Rose bushes before the 
buds appear, for after buds have grown the powder 
mars the bud and the leaves. It is also a perfect 
remedy for bed bugs, ants, or other insects which at 
times infest the rooms of even the most careful house¬ 
keepers. 
Exchange.—I would be glad to exchange an 
Amaryllis with any one in this State for a Calla Lily. 
Any private letters on the subject of exchange would 
be gladly received. Emma Carpenter. 
Monson, Hampden Co., Mass. 
