OIK 
(I Pictorim Some Bo 
m \ 
'lEIUOIi. 
A Word for the Florists.—A few days since, I, 
with some lady acquaintances, was visiting a green¬ 
house. As we passed through the houses, I noticed 
one of the ladies, when any plant attracted her, would 
reach for it—frequently it would he on the highest 
it would return to its natural color? I think I will try 
it, and let you know the result, if agreeable to the 
ladies. Edna. 
New Orleans. 
Answer .—The Lilies did not produce the change of 
color, but charcoal sometimes does it. Did you have 
any near, or any copperas? 
Blue Day Lily.— Mrs. M. A. Cook asks, in August 
shelf. In doing so her clothing rested upon plants Cabinet, if Mrs. McFarland has the Blue Day Lily. 
beneath, bending the delicate buds and leaves—perhaps 
breaking. When satisfied with its looks, or dissatis¬ 
fied with its pi ice, she would place it where most con¬ 
venient to her, sometimes taking them from a bright 
sunny place to a shaded one, and vice versa. They had 
all been arranged where they would thrive, but they 
Yes, I have it. We all have it. But the poor flower 
o’erburdened with a name, is at a discount in our clique. 
When one speaks disparagingly of it, all the rest ol us 
are severely silent. The origin ot the trouble was 
this. A few of the oldest inhabitants procured this 
plant, being cheated into the belief that they were 
were displaced; some one’s time must be spent in re- buying Lily of the Valley. It came up very properly 
turning them, and if a plant loving shade should be in the spring, and, as nearly as they could remember, 
put in full glare of tl\e sun, and not noticed until next the leaves were like those ol the Convallaria Majalis. 
watering time, injury might be the result. The plants They waited, patiently or impatiently, two or three 
were all nicely labelled, but, as she passed along, she j years, but even then it wouldn’t bloom in April. They 
drew them out to read them, paying little heed where | neV er will forgive it for flowering in August. Blue 
they went—right or wrong. The rosebuds were han- Lay Lily i s too suggestive a name for the Funkia Ce- 
rulea, which has not much blueness nor much Lily 
about it. If disposed to speak in its favor, one might 
say it blooms freely year after year, without cultivation. 
L. M. McFarland. 
died, and one knows how little it takes to mar the 
beauty of such. The fern fronds were toyed with • 
some of the delicate sprays were broken and thrown 
cautiously down. Finally, after occupying a great deal 
of the busy man’s time, she found a small plant which 
she would buy if he would guarantee its being the 
white variety—she knew it was so marked, but she 
had bought so many plants wrongly marked. Now, 
to me it was very evident why they were not correctly 
marked, and I came to the'florist’s aid, for he looked 
aggrieved, and I faintly suggested that the ladies were 
very apt, in trying to assist the florist to find the vari¬ 
ety in quest of, to misplace labels, but she did not seem 
to take the remark to herself in the least. Why is it 
Wax Plant.— I see, in July Cabinet, there are 
ladies out of patience with their Wax Plant (Flazu). 
To Mrs. N. R. H. I would say, have patience. I have 
one which I kept ten years, and not a blossom. Two 
years ago it showed tendrils, as though it would run 
on a string. I twined it round one, and found it was 
what it needed. That year it had one blossom only. 
This June it has repaid me for all my years of care of 
it by its many blossoms. It sets on the lower shelf of 
that ladies will be so thoughtless ? They would not j my plant room, and is a mass of leaves for about two 
think of going into a dry goods or other store, going 
behind the counter, pulling out and openiug boxes, or 
unfolding goods, removing price or trade marks. The 
greater portion of such articles could be handled with¬ 
out serious damage, while the same carelessness in 
handling plants, which are so frail and daiuty, would 
be quite objectionable—if broken, destroying, perhaps, 
their symmetry, or breaking buds which have been 
long and patiently watched—of course a loss pecun¬ 
iarily, as each bud and blossom has its price. This is 
all thoughtlessness on the part of the fair purchasers, 
and I am sure if brought to their mind they will re¬ 
member it, for I know, from the anxious look on the 
florist’s face, that it was far from agreeable to him, but 
his politeness was greater or at least overcame the love 
of his plants. A Subscriber. 
Running Rose. —I trust, although so far away— 
away from “Louisiana’s lowlands low,”—that I will 
be none the less welcome. But I must tell you all about 
my White Running Rosebush. A friend of mine pre¬ 
sented me with a slip, of which I was quite proud. I 
planted it in a little trench, leaving each end exposed 
a little. It soon sent out four branches, and they grew j tie vine requires more careful culture than any other of 
so rapidly that I began to think very strongly of “ Jack 1 the many vines we have ever grown. Ours has done 
and his beanstalk.” Very soon I spied tiny little buds, I best in a good leaf mold, with a little sand and char- 
and I watched them not daily but hourly. This morn- I coal added. Good drainage and sufficient water are 
ing one of them is wide open. Imagine my disap- | very important—if allowed to become dry, it will curl 
pointment and surprise when I discovered it was nei- ; its leaves, and must be cut back. It will bear no neg- 
and a half feet—tied to a tall trellis, then numerous ten¬ 
drils are supported by strings going up to and across 
the top of my conservatory. Every quarter of a yard 
a bunch of lovely waxy looking blossoms. I have 
been told they should not be picked off, as they blos¬ 
som in the same place every year—is it so? Are they 
poisonous? (No.) The Wax Plant needs dry, hot 
air, and water quite sparingly. 
Rockport. Mrs. E. E. Carleton. 
Chinese Primrose.— In the July number of the 
Cabinet, M. E. M. inquires how many years the Chi¬ 
nese Primrose lives. I have a neighbor who has one 
in full bloom now, six years old. In the same paper 
E. L. H. asks how to raise Date Palm from seed. A 
short time ago I discovered something coming up in 
my Ca.lla Lily pail. On pulling one of the odd look¬ 
ing plants up, I found it was a Date Palm. Others 
followed, and, on making inquiries, I found my chil¬ 
dren had stuck Date-stones in the dirt and they were 
all coming up. They continue to grow finely. 
Ellsworth, Me. 
Mrs. A. W. Clark. 
Smilax. —Answer to Miss Brown .—This lovely lit- 
ther white nor red, nor yet yellow, and still a combina¬ 
tion of all three colors. It is very odd, yet very lovely. 
What can have changed it ? Do you think it could 
have been because at one end of the root is a red Lily 
planted ? Do you think by taking the branch farthest 
away and planting it in a bed of Lilium Longiflorum 
lect in this respect. If you plant the seed, wait pa¬ 
tiently for its coming—in a sunny spot it may never 
come at all: in a shady place it may be four weeks 
before a single plant makes its appearance. But when 
at its best it is so perfectly beautiful it pays for all the 
care it requires. H. M. B. 
Pansies. —Answer to Inquirer .—Pansies require a 
very rich soil; one half manure, mixed with good gar¬ 
den soil, is not too much. They should have a shady 
situation, and will do best where they will be in the 
sunshine the fore part of the day only. They look 
best grown in masses, and if you would have large, 
beautiful flowers, water them freely at evening, and 
pick off all faded blossoms, allowing none to go to seed. 
If you wish Pansies for the house in winter, keep back 
their growth by giving less water, and pinch off all 
flower buds till you pot them in September. 
H. M. B. 
Date Palms.— In my last Cabinet I noticed an 
inquiry, from E. L. H., how they should start a Date 
Palm. Now I have one that is five years old this 
spring. Mother was eating dates one day, some time 
in the month of April, and she thought she would just 
stick a seed into one of her plant pots, and see what 
it would amount to; and it came up, and was trans¬ 
planted in a pot by itself, and it is alive and stands on 
a post out of doors to-day. Our room was not spe¬ 
cially warm, being heated only by a wood fire, and no 
fire kept at night at that. And we have started two 
or three more so nice that I don’t see as it was very 
particular about being kept warm. 
Springfield, Yt. Mrs. Curtis B. Taylor. 
Insects.— Tell Mrs. Y. D. to try white hellebore 
for the insect pest which eats her flowers. Dissolve 
an ounce in three gallons of water, and throw it on 
with a syringe. If the insects are not all killed by the 
first application, try it again. It. kills all sorts of 
insects, but does not hurt the plants at all. Please 
tell me what to do with my Camelia to make it branch 
and bloom. It has a straight, apparently healthy 
stalk, but no branches or flowers. 
H. Dudley Gardner. 
Ground Ivy. —I saw a communication asking how 
to kill Ground Ivy. This is my remedy : Rake the 
ground and Ivy thoroughly with an iron tooth rake, 
then sprinkle the ground with salt. This will effect a 
cure, and is the best remedy known. A. M. W. 
Ellsworth, Wis. 
Fuchsias. —Last year I bought a Fuchsia with scar¬ 
let tube and large double white corolla. It flourished 
finely, and I took from it two slips, and placed them 
in a small vase with two other kinds. One has a pink 
tube and scarlet corolla, the other a white tube and 
pink corolla. They all grew together very fast, and 
blossomed simultaneously; but while the two latter 
retained the original colors of the plants from which 
they were taken, the slips from the one with white 
corolla bore flowers with scarlet tubes and dark double 
purple corolla. Has any one of your correspondents 
had a similar experience? Mrs. N. A. B. 
Rockland, Me. 
Earth. Worm. —Small bits of gum camphor, dug in 
the earth among the roots of pot plants, will effectually 
destroy earth worms. It is a complete success in my 
experience. W. E. W. 
Callas. —Permit me to correct one mistake. The 
Calla is spoken of as Calla Lily, while it does not be¬ 
long to the Lily family, according to Gray, but to the 
Arum family, in which is Sweet Flag, Skunk Cab¬ 
bage, etc. Mrs. John Marshall. 
Wellesley, Mass. 
Name of Plant.— Enclosed find a plant, the leaves 
green and white striped. Please give its name. 
Scottsville, Ya. S. T. Moon. 
Answer .—Euphorbia variegata. 
