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THE SONG OF THE PANSY. 
My name is Forget-me-not; under the leaves 
O’er which old King Winter his ice-carpet weaves, 
For many long months I’ve heen shut from the light. 
And in vain have I longed for a sound, or a sight. 
What though I had struggled and murmured—’twere vain 
All effort to hasten the spring-time again, . 
Though my heart often beat for my dear summer inends, 
As I thought of the joy which my presence attends. 
But I’m coming, though now you can see only snow 
Where beautiful flowers of summer shall grow ; 
I am coming, and soon shall I rise from the sod 
To teach you once more to trust in Our Hod. 
Then you’ll pick the dead leaves, and help me expand, 
Or give me fresh drink if too dry is the sand; 
Then I’ll tell you again, as I’m telling you now, 
Don’t worry or fret at the frost or the snow. 
There are always cold seasons in every year, 
When hearts seem too hard and there’s sorrow and lear t 
But wait, wait with patience, for kind friends are near; 
And unnumbered blessings your pathway shall cheer. 
CULTIVATION OF FLOWERS. 
As nearly all ladies are more or less interested in 
the cultivation of flowers, so we are all in search of 
knowledge that will enable us to overcome the many 
obstacles to which we attribute our failure in raising the 
beautiful flowers that make our homes attractive and 
pleasing to the eye. Every item contributed to the 
Cabinet will give information to some of its many 
readers. To insure success in the cultivation of flow¬ 
ers the soil must be in good condition to furnish plants 
with nourishment. It will he impossible to succeed if 
the soil is clayey. Give the soil a good dressing of 
sand and manure, mixed well with the soil. Leaf 
mold is the finest dressing that can he put on the 
soil; hut as this is not always easy to get, we have to 
do without it; hut there are many things thrown 
from the garden that, if saved, would enrich the soil. 
By a little attention and labor during the spring and 
summer months we can collect abundance of food for 
plants. Take some hoards and make a frame, say 
five feet square, and three feet high, and into this 
throw all the weeds, sods and grass that you would 
otherwise throw over the fence; throw the suds on 
wash days on this, which will help to rot it, and by 
the next spring you will have something that the 
flowers will delight to grow in. In order to have a 
good display of flowers we must select seeds adapted 
to the climate in which we live, and also those that 
give a constant bloom. This we are enabled to do 
from the seed catalogues, as they are so explicit in 
their descriptions of the different flowers that we can 
make a selection with nearly the same satisfaction 
that we could from blooming plants. I am not much 
in favor of buying plants from florists where you have 
to send any great distance, as they are all more or 
less injured in sending; better buy seeds and raise your 
own plants. I prefer Annuals, as we can get the 
quickest display from these, though we cannot well 
get along without Perennials. These we can sow in 
some place and allow them to remain till the following 
spring, when we can transplant them into permanent 
beds and borders. 
Some plants do not transplant well, though most of 
them are much improved by the removal. I have 
found, by adopting the following plan, that I can 
have my garden look better than I can by sowing- 
seeds where I wish them to bloom : I have a seed bed 
about six feet square, raised a little, and situated in 
the warmest part, of the garden; into this I sow the 
seeds in drills about four inches apart, placing at each 
end of the drill a label with name of flower, color and 
bight upon it. By this means I can sow thirty-six 
different kinds of seeds in this small bed, six feet 
square. Three feet of a drill will give a person all 
the plants they want, of any one variety, and by having 
them in drills with a label dividing each variety, -with 
name, color and hight, they can be transplanted into 
the garden and arranged to suit our taste, as much as 
if they were in bloom, and we were arranging the 
colors to show to the best effect. By adopting this 
plan we are not hiding some beautiful dwarf-plant by 
taller varieties. 
I usually transplant from the seed bed when the plants 
attain two or three inches in hight. I always leave a 
few plants of each variety in the seed bed, to replace 
any plant that may die from transplanting, or he 
destroyed by insects. Have all your plants labelled 
after you have transplanted, and if any of them die 
you can select the same variety from the seed bed to 
replace it. A great many fail to get seeds to grow, 
and I think the greatest cause is allowing the seed 
bed to become too dry. If the ground is allowed to 
become dry deeper than the seeds are covered, about 
the time they are ready to sprout, they null he very 
apt to he all destroyed. Keep the seed bed moist and 
you will have plenty of plants. A good plau is to 
cover the seed bed with green houghs; these will pro¬ 
tect it from the hot sun and cold drying winds, and 
the seed will come up much better; the houghs should 
he removed as soon as the plants appear. 
Never try to have too many flowers in a small 
garden; give them plenty of room. It is better to have 
a half dozen thrifty plants than to have them crowded 
so none do well. Keep the ground well hoed and free 
from weeds; but do not hoe it when it is too wet. 
Keep the seed pods cut off, and the plants will have 
nicer flowers. If the insects trouble the plants make 
a light suds of carbolic acid soap and sprinkle; it will 
kill all the insects it touches without injury to plants. 
Sprinkle whenever you see the insects working on the 
plants and you will not long he annoyed by them. 
Mrs. Clara S. Lockwood. 
Canyon City, Oregon. 
MY BAY WINDOW. 
I have heen a subscriber since your first number, 
and hope to he for years to come, and during all the 
time since have read of the sisters’ plants, until I can 
contain myself no longer, hut must tell about mine. 
John proved himself a gentleman, and helped me in 
my arrangements all he was able. In my sitting 
room I have a hay window which, instead of rounding, 
runs to a point. In said point, upon the floor, sits a 
pot containing a Nasturtium of the small scarlet 
variety. At present it is about a foot tall. But in 
imagination I behold it festooning the top of my 
window, and making my room brilliant with its vivid 
bird-like blossoms. At the entrance of my window I 
have brackets on either side, supporting pots of 
German Ivy, which it is ever so faintly hoped 
will intertwine with the Nasturtium at the top. 
Upon my stand I have three varieties of Wax Bego¬ 
nia. The rose-colored is the most beautiful, and is 
| full of blossoms. The white does very well, hut the 
scarlet drops its buds when they are about, two- 
thirds grown. Can any one tell me how to remedy 
it? Pinks I have. My white one, clove scented, 
has given me numbers of blossoms since I took it in. 
My Geraniums are doing well; two are budded. A 
Daphne Vanata, Calla, Oxalis, a few loliage plants, 
&c., complete my collection here. In the cellar I 
have Boses, and some bulbs, from which I am expect¬ 
ing much, as they are starting well. I have one plant 
about which I would like the Cabinet to enlighten 
me a hit. It is a Cactus, and was given me for a 
Night Blooming Cereus. But, after cherishing it 
fondly for three years, without, hud or blossom as a 
reward, I find it is no night bloomer, hut the same 
bird of another color. It is eight-sided, does not 
branch, has shoots come from the bottom. Each 
year’s growth forms a joint. It has at each angle of 
its eight sides, all the way up, little tufts of spirus, 
nearly as sharp as those of the prickly-pear. Can 
any one tell me if I ever may expect a blossom, and 
of what color ? I like the idea of exchanging plants 
very, much. I would like to obtain two slips of Wax 
plant, a Pancratium Mexicana, and an African Lily. 
The two latter are mentioned in the July No. of this 
year. Quite a variety of plants are included in my 
“ &c.” If any one would like to exchange with me, I 
should he most happy to oblige them. If they will 
signify as much through the Cabinet I will communi¬ 
cate with them. My hay window is carpeted with 
oilcloth, and my remedy for green lice is sprinkle, 
sprinkle, sprinkle! I have not seen one in my plants 
this season. I enjoy the Cabinet more and more 
each month. Hope it will he more successful than 
ever next year. A. G. D. 
MY YARD. 
“ How exquisitely sweet, 
This rich display of flowers. 
This airy wild of fragrance, 
So lovely to the eye, and to the sense so sweet.” 
I have often thought what a dreary place this earth of 
ours would he were there no lovely flowers to cheer it. 
As I sit in my rustic chair, pencilling these lines to the 
readers of the Cabinet, flowers of every hue surround 
me. The air is laden with delightful perfume, and the 
birds are flitting and singing their sweetest songs in the 
spreading houghs of stately old apple trees, with which 
my yard is shaded. I have several designs of rustic 
work. Headers, go to the woods and get an armful of 
grapevines, and see how many beautiful articles you can 
make of them. Here were the delicate tendrils of the 
Maurandia begging support. Very soon 1 had twisted 
a handful of grapevines into a neat rustic work, and 
to-day the modest purple, pink and white blossoms 
nod in grateful acknowledgment. See if you cannot 
fashion some tasteful rustic chair, arbor, stand or 
hanging basket. I will tell you of something else 
which I have in my yard. I visited the Louisville 
Exposition last year, and beheld the immense cave 
which had heen cunningly constructed of roots, earth 
and rocks. This year I made me a cave or grotto of 
the same material, finishing it off with old pieces of 
glass and dross found at the glass works, and a keg, 
carefully concealed, filled with water, throws a stream 
down its rocky side. Near the mouth stands a large 
Caladium Esculentum, while Geraniums, Petunias, 
Tropeolums, Ipomeas, and numerous other plants flour¬ 
ish on its top and sides. This has been greatly admired. 
How much I enjoy my flowers; nothing else affords 
me half the pleasure. How true I find these lines: 
“ Make your home beautiful, bring to it flowers. 
Plant them around you, to bud and to bloom 
They will give light to your loneliest hours, 
They will bring light to enliven your gloom.” 
M. A. Line. 
Flowers in New Mexico.— Many plants highly 
prized in the east are here common weeds, such 
as the Portulacca, Phlox, Ipomea, common Morn¬ 
ing Glory, and the Eschscholtzia. Others which are 
considered common garden herbs east, are here prized 
as house plants. Rosemary here is higher prized 
than the finest Geranium or Bose, and the common 
Summer Savory ranks before the handsomest Carna¬ 
tion. I have known small plants of both sell at two 
dollars each. R. H. Blake. 
Las Cruces, New Mexico. 
