tries' Salami £»ufiinc»t it iu! ft claim! Same 
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WINDOW GARDENING. 
As I have neither conservatory nor hay-window, and 
nothing hut the common family living-room for my 
plants, perhaps I cannot compete successfully with 
those who have these conveniences; hut other flower- 
lovers may he in the same position, and perhaps the 
hits of knowledge that I possess, may serve to encour¬ 
age some one to make home bright and pleasant, so 
that loved ones may find more pleasure at home, and 
love home better than any other place. 
If we would have early flowering plants in the win¬ 
ter, we should make our plans in the spring. Slips 
may he started even without a hot-bed. I start mine 
in spring, in small pots ; after the usual piece of crock 
has been placed in the bottom of the pot, I put in an 
inch or so of rich soil, till the remainder of the pot 
with sand, pull the lower leaves off the slip, insert it in 
the sand, pressing it firmly around the slip. It will 
root 'more readily if it touches the bottom or side of the 
pot; place it in a sunny window, and keep the sand 
wot; I sometimes place a tumbler over my slips, they 
do not need repotting till the pot is filled with roots. 
I have a sort of compost heap, which I make by 
scraping up the cattle droppings and putting them in 
a pile, mixing them with sand scraped from the side 
of the road where the rain washes, I also put in pieces 
of sod and weeds pulled from my beds, and add leaf- 
mold; when this is well rotted, it is excellent for 
plants. In potting plants, after cleansing the pots and 
putting in the usual piece of crock, I always fill in an 
inch or more (according to the size of the pot,) of char¬ 
coal; it serves for drainage and keeps the plant 
healthy. I prepare the soil for my plants by mixing 
the above compost with leaf-mold and garden earth, 
baking it in the kitchen stove to kill worms, &c. In 
June I set my double Petunias in the border where they 
grow and bloom profusely. 
Thinking it better t,o have new plants for winter 
blooming instead of bringing in the old plants, I start 
slips from them in summer, by taking a box so 
shallow that the slips will touch the bottom ; fill with 
sand, insert the slips, place a tumbler, goblet, or 
any other thing that is made of glass, over them, 
keep the sand wet, and place the box in a shady 
situation. The slip will scarcely ever fail to grow 
when these directions are followed. Other slips, such 
as Verbenas, Coleus, Heliotrope, Fuchsias, Gerani¬ 
ums, Hose, &c., foot readily under the same treat¬ 
ment. These slips should be potted as soon as rooted; 
if left too long they- grow sickly. As soon as they get 
growing well, I pinch off the terminal bud that they 
may branch, well knowing that the more branches 
there are the more flowers I shall have. The Chinese 
Primrose is a lovely window-plant; I think I may 
safely say this is one of my pet plants, blooming as it 
does from October to June, I do not know how much 
longer it would bloom, because I then cut off all the 
flower stalks, pinch out all buds, and set it in the shade 
that it may have a season of rest. In potting it I use 
leaf mold largely ; it does not require so much water 
as many plants, I let the surface get dry before water¬ 
ing ; I keep mine in an east window. If you would 
have healthy plants, you must examine them daily, 
pick off the dead leaves and keep everything about 
them clean; the foliage should be kept clean by 
sponging once a week with soap-suds, and rinsing with 
clean water ; give them all the sunshine, never mind 
if it does fade your carpets, it will not only make your 
plants bloom, but will bring the bloom of health to 
your own cheeks ; air is very essential to the healthy 
growth of plants, they should have air every day, but 
do not let them stand in a draught o.f air. 
One lady wants to know about Peperomia maculosa; 
from the experience I have had with it, I should judge 
that it required very little water; when I first had 
mine, all the leaves rotted off except two, I concluded 
that I gave too much water, so I tried the drying pro¬ 
cess ; new leaves soon started, I gave full sunshine, and 
have watered very little since; it thrives with this 
treatment. I occasionally give my plants manure 
water and soot tea; once a week, on washing days, 
summer and winter, I water my plants with the dirty 
suds. I never water in driblets, but give them a good 
watering and let the surface get nearly dry before 
watering again. I always use warm water both in 
summer and winter, using warmer water in the winter. 
The soil in the pots should be loosened quite often; a 
stiff hair-pin is good for the purpose. I never use 
tobacco on my plants in any form; the use of tobacco 
and its kindred evils cause so much misery, that I 
think it wise for the ladies, and especially for flower- 
lovers to see that they do not give their influence in its 
favor. If plants are kept clean and potted as often as 
they need, there will be no trouble with insects, at 
least I find it so. Every plant should be examined 
when it is brought into the house, and both plant and 
pot thoroughly washed in soap-suds, and always rinsed 
in clean tepid water. When the frost comes and my 
plants can stay out no longer, I bring them into the 
house nights, and carry them out in the warm part of 
the day, till they get accustomed to the change. I 
carry large Geraniums and other large plants for which 
I can find no room, into the cellar. Fuchsias (except 
the winter bloming varieties,) are allowed a few weeks 
rest. Mrs. Chastina J. Agard, 
Staffordville, Conn. 
MY SITTING-ROOM. 
I think our editor is very kind to let us have such 
familiar chats with each other on our household pets 
and pleasures, and perhaps the pleasure of this kind 
of chat is increased inasmuch as it is all on one side; 
and you, dear reader, are taken at a disadvantage and 
have not the opportunity to put in a word even edge¬ 
wise, but must restrain your patience for at least one 
month. It is considered quite an accomplishment to 
be a good listener during conversation, an accomplish¬ 
ment which requires a large amount of patience; we 
are all so eager to empty our little budget of news and 
information. A similar feeling I have had in reading 
ihe different experiences of flower-lovers given iu the 
Cabinet. 
I do not write of my sitting-room because it is a 
marvel of beauty, for it is not, but that I may give 
some suggestions that may perhaps be found useful to 
those whose purses are not very deep, or those who 
prefer simple adornments to the more elegant and 
costly. What is there that money can purchase more 
beautiful than flowers 1 How interesting to watch their 
growth, and when a bud appears, what joy it gives. 
I know there are many who cannot appreciate this 
love for flowers, call it all nonsense, but they are not 
readers of the Floral Cabinet; we are all brothers and 
sisters of a family of similar tastes, enjoying infinitely 
more than those who can derive no pleasure from the 
beauties of nature. But to return to my sitting-room : 
I have suspended behind two of my pictures, bottles 
out of sight filled with water, the water having to be 
replaced as it evaporates, in which is the Joint-plant 
growing. Last winter for some three months I had 
the Irish Ivy growing in the same manner which did 
very nicely, until thinking to hasten its growth, I put 
iu the bottles a few drops of ammonia which caused 
the loaves to wither almost immediately, so beware. 
On one side of the room on a bracket is the English 
Ivy. It was a slip late last Spring; it has now one 
branch twenty-four inches high, and another ten 
inches. I have had an Irish Ivy for several years, 
but have become out of patience with its slow growth. 
I think the English Ivy gives better satisfaction on ac¬ 
count of its more rapid growth, and I do not think 
they can be told apart unless one is very well ac¬ 
quainted with them. I have heard of trimming the 
Ivy vine with autumn leaves which I should think 
would bo very pretty, I have some autumn maple 
leaves pressed for a few days in a book, then ironed 
with a moderately hot iron, which looks as well and as 
bright now as they did immediately after being pre¬ 
pared a year ago. 
My flower-stand by a window contains some two 
dozen plants: one or two of them I would like to 
introduce to the reader. Last summer when cherries 
were ripe, a neighbor sent me a slip of the, Oleander ; 
I rooted it in a bottle of water, then I placed it iu a 
six-inch flower jar in almost wholly leaf mold; it is 
now thirty-nine inches tall, has been iu blossom two 
or three months, had upon it as large and handsome 
a cluster of flowers as I think I ever saw upon one. 
I have a balm Geranium a year old, forty-nine inches 
tall; I think in some respects a balm Geranium gives 
more satisfaction than a Rose Geranium ; I think it 
makes a finer show, but its leaves being so large are 
not quite as useful for bouquets. My plants do not do 
remarkably well, yet they are healthy and I am not 
troubled with insects as many are. They have a west 
window. When I sweep, that they may not receive so 
much dust, I keep my broom damp by dipping in a 
pail of water, and I also take sweeping time to give 
them a good supply of fresh air by opening the win¬ 
dow a short distance from them, not letting the cold 
air direct!y upon them; I keep the earth well stirred 
up, and I sometimes have to smoke my roses with to¬ 
bacco, but not often; sprinkle them as often as con¬ 
venient, which is not very often in the winter. Wire 
saved from old brooms is good for making frames for 
vines to run upon. Take a small stick any length you 
choose ; with a gimlet, bore holes about every two 
inches down its length; take your wire, put it through 
the top hole, bring it half way through, then draw 
each end from opposite sides through all the other 
holes, leaving the loops any length you desire, and 
bending them in any shape to suit your fancy, paint 
the whole with green paint, and you have a support 
which will be very acceptable to such small vines as 
Smilax and Maurandya, &c. A very pretty fernery 
can be made with but little expense in the following 
maimer: Take a board the size you wish your fern¬ 
ery to be, around this board make a box of four-inch 
moulding, using the board for the base of the box, 
line the box with zinc, and give the inside of this zinc 
box a coat of tar; now make a glass box that will fit 
in this zinc box, with common flour paste and a nar¬ 
row strip of cloth, fasten the glass together at the 
comers, pasting the cloth on the outside and a little 
way down the inside from the top, cover the cloth 
with paper the color of your moulding, also bind the 
glass to cover the top -with the same, this top to be a 
little larger than the box; in this you can place your 
small jars of plants, or All up with one inch drainage, 
with moss over it to prevent the earth washing into it, 
and then fill the zinc box up with soil suitable for your 
plants, and set your plants in it. 
Fenton, Mich. Mrs. F. A. Smith. 
'1 
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