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KaEifiet anti Pictorial Kooie Companion. 
FLORAE ARRANGEMENTS. 
I hope yon will allow me space in your valuable 
paper for the description of some floral arrangements 
I lately saw, which I thought would he interesting to 
your lady readers, and give them some hints upon the 
arrangement of flowers. 
All places now seem to have their annual agricultu • 
ral fairs, where premiums are offered as inducements 
to growers of flowers to send plants and flowers, put 
up in every form and device, to decorate the buildings, 
and a happy contest goes on among the ladies of the 
rural towns as to the beauty of their several exhibi¬ 
tions. I happened last week to he in a village near 
the shire town of St. Lawrence County, Canton, where 
the county fair was held, and on the great day of the 
fair accompanied my friends to the grounds. After 
seeing a wonderful quantity of superb cattle, and look¬ 
ing at the beautiful butter and cheese in Dairy Hall, 
I entered Floral Flail, expecting to behold the usual 
amount of staring portraits, fancy cushions, bed quilts, 
tidies, and badly arranged floral decorations, in short, 
all the many odds and ends gathered on such occa¬ 
sions. Imagine my surprise upon turning to one side 
of the hall to behold a wonderful bower of green and 
flowers beautifully blended, refreshing to the eye, and 
most fragrant, and all in perfect taste. Pots of plants 
were placed on shelves, the largest reaching the ceil¬ 
ing, the second size below, so arranged that the lower 
hid the pot above, and so on to within four feet of the 
ground. It was a mass of green and flowers; all 
the plants were well grown specimens; double and 
single Geraniums of the finest kinds, with their wealth 
of bright flowers; Fuchsias, with blossoms of marvel¬ 
lous size, their graceful branches thrown over some 
pure white Centaurea, or glossy Fern; bright Bego¬ 
nias, gaudy Coleus, the lovely Cissus discolor and 
Amazonica, the Clerodendron Balfourii, with its curi¬ 
ous and lovely flowers; Abutilonsof variegated foliage 
and pretty bells, and the Catalonian Jasmine, shed¬ 
ding its fragrance on all around. These and very 
many more all grouped and mixed together in the 
simplicity of true artistic taste. Below the flowering 
plants were cut flowers, and to this arrangement I 
wish to call especial attention. The flowers were 
placed in shallow boxes, two feet square and three 
inches deep; there were eight of these, and they were 
prepared for the reception of the flowers, first by a sod, 
evenly cut and laid in, filling up the depth of the box 
to within half an inch of the top ; the sod was thor¬ 
oughly wet, then on this was laid green moss from the 
woods, which was wet and pressed smooth and firm, 
forming a green bed for the specimen flowers to rest 
upon. These boxes were placed upon the lower shelf, 
resting against the one above, so that they were not 
perpendicular, but nearly so, showing their flowers 
perfectly. Each box was bordered by leaves and 
small flowers, the stems put through the moss into the 
sod. One was bordered with Coleus of the richest 
and brighest colors, red, green, purple, and light 
green, then a circle or wreath of purely white Stocks, 
the centre one a bright red. The Stocks were very 
double and full. The effect was beautiful. 
Another had a border of Ivy leaves and Mignonette, 
the box was filled with Gladiolus flowers of various 
colors, taken from their stems, every flower large and 
well opened. Another had a border of English Ivy 
leaves, Sweet Peas, (Painted Lady and Scarlet Defi¬ 
ance,) and an occasional sprig of the new blue Agera- 
tum; the centre was Lilium Lancifolium Eubrum, 
which rested upon bright blue Verbenas, the same 
shade as the Ageratum. The effect was perfect. An j 
other had a feathery-leaved border, with white Candy¬ 
tuft. This box was filled with Petunias, white, striped, 
mottled, and the curious green-edged one. But I can¬ 
not describe all; there were Zinnias, Dahlias, superb 
Asters, and the beautiful new scarlet Japan Coxcomb. 
Between the boxes of flowers and in front of the plants 
were placed single glasses of Gladiolus of great heauty. 
These were all fine varieties, and beautifully grown. 
I noticed among many others several stems of Meyer¬ 
beer, Lord Byron, Semiramis, and some of the finest 
white I have ever seen; they were of every shade of 
color, and magnificent in every respect, There were 
also simple looking baskets filled with cut flowers. 
One of various shades of Phlox Drummondii was very 
pretty; another filled with Heliotrope, and one large 
basket I particularly noticed was entered for a separate 
premium. The basket was bordered with tri-colored 
Geranium leaves, Lady Culluin, Italia Unita and Mrs. 
Pollock, then filled with Eoses, Carnations, white 
Stock, and Jean Sisley Geranium, and some flowers 
of the Agapanthus Lily placed here and there, adding 
to but not hiding any, the handle wreathed with the 
graceful little Maurandia. This certainly deserved 
every premium that could be given it; every flower 
showed, and yet all were softened and blended togeth¬ 
er. It was perfect. Near it stood a table bouquet, or 
pyramid, very effective with its bright red and white, 
and choice flowers. It was one of the most sinqile and 
tasteful I have seen. 
I saw many a careworn woman and gentle child 
linger long before this heautiful exhibition and turn 
again and again for one more look before leaving the 
hall. Truly such a work is a labor of love, and if by 
doing one’s best to render effective the lovely floral 
treasures God has given us, we can soothe one over¬ 
worked and weary spirit, and lead the creature to look 
above to the bountiful Creator, our work lias not been 
in vain, and we ought not to begrudge the time and 
labor to do it well. 
There were many other decorations scattered about 
the hall; all lacked simplicity, and the flowers were 
too much crowded, hiding each other, and the colors 
not well chosen. I must conclude for I have already 
made my story too long, but if I can lead any lady 
florists to copy some of the good points of the arrange¬ 
ments I have described, I shall be very glad. And let 
me again say to all that arrange flowers, do not crowd 
them, give them space; let them lie naturally, not 
forced out of shape; avoid too many colors, let every 
arrangement be simple, and have plenty of green leaves 
about them; in this, nature is our teacher. M. 
Geraniums. —I am very sure no one reads the 
Ladies’ Floral Cabinet with greater interest than 
mvself. It is one of my every-day jileasures to be 
among my flowers, and watch and cultivate them. I 
get something new from your paper every month to 
make me love them better. I have often wished I 
could thank some of the ladies for hints received, and 
would say to the one who asked, in the September 
number, for information respecting the management of 
Geraniums in the spring, after their winter rest, that 
last November I pulled from the earth a large scarlet 
Geranium, together with my double one, tied strings 
around them and hung them in the cellar, which, by 
the way. is a very dry one. In March I took them 
up leafless, to all appearance dead, put them in some 
common earth and kept them moist; they soon showed 
life and came out very well. Transferred them to 
tubs ’for growing flowers in my grounds I think the 
last of May; they began to bloom immediately, and 
have had a profusion of flowers ever since, and a 
bushel basket would not cover one of them. I think 
there is nothing better for them than hen manure and 
plaster. If the cellar is very damp, put the Geraniums 
in boxes of sand through the winter. Some questions 
were asked about the Amaryllis. One year ago last 
fall, a friend sent me one not looking very nicely, I 
put it in the cellar and said, go to sleep till I call for 
you. In March, as usual, I brought it out, not look¬ 
ing very well, I assure you, but I watered it up and it 
soon bloomed ; then I let it rest awhile, merely keep¬ 
ing life in it, then again watering well, and it bloomed 
again. It has now its third bloom, one stalk of six 
beautiful flowers. But perhaps the April number 
would give more definite information than I can, and 
I would refer the lady to that number, assuring her 
good success if she follows up the treatment there laid 
down. F. G. Y. 
Geraniums. —In the February number of the Cabi¬ 
net I saw a communication from M. E. White, who 
had Geraniums blootn in seven months from the seed. 
Most florists say it takes two years for plants to bloom, 
while others say they take their own time for bloom¬ 
ing ; the latter statement I believe to be correct. I 
wish to give you my experience in raising Geraniums 
from the seed this year. Last year I procured two 
scarlet bedding Geraniums of the Zonale variety. I 
saved the seed, and last spring, about the middle of 
May, I sowed them under glass; the plants appeared 
above the ground the last of the month; I trans¬ 
planted three of them in the open ground as soon as 
they had leaves an inch broad ; the other plants, some 
fifteen in .number, I potted about three weeks later; 
the three I transplanted in the open ground were put 
in soil prepared by mixing equal sand, loam, and well 
rotted manure. The three treated as above-mentioned 
bloomed oh the 10th of September, which would make 
the plants three months and ten days old. The plants 
potted were not put in very rich soil, and at the writ¬ 
ing of this have no appearance of blooming before 
another year. Mbs. C. S. Lockwood. 
Canyon City, Oregon. 
Wandering Jew, Etc. —Perhaps Dick Hopson, of 
Texas (I have a fancy he is a girl), means Moneywort 
(Lysimachia nummularia), when he asks for the 
botanical name of Wandering Jew. I knew it under 
the name during childhood; here it is called “hen and 
chickens,” but try my best I cannot see the least 
resemblance. Can you, reader? So many plants 
have names that are not at all suitable. This is a 
good trailing, hardy vine, nice to run over old stumps, 
for rock-work, and hanging baskets; it has dark 
green, round leaves that grow opposite, and in June 
bears bright yellow flowers—generally two—between 
the leaves. I cultivated Nemopliila insignis this sum¬ 
mer for the first time, had hitherto thought it difficult 
to raise, refrained from buying seed, but last spring, 
among others sent me, came a paper of Nemophila 
insignis, I planted them in May, in a box, covering 
with a large window glass. Every seed I planted 
must have come up, for the box was full. It is a 
lovely shade of blue with white centre, and I find it 
does nicely with treatment similar to the Pansy; 
shade is essential to its growth. II. L. asks about 
Trumpet Flowers (Bignonia radicans). If he or she 
will consult February number of the Cabinet, 1874, 
concerning Trumpet Creepers, the inquiries will ho 
answered. Mine, this year, began to bloom the 21st 
of June, and is very handsome now. Cultivation im¬ 
proves them, they bloom longer. Georgie B. C. 
