Re iWEIiBs’ Store! Btrlkiiei twi 3 3Pietoriral Konie ftamjmriioii. 
Black-Eyed Susan. — I hasten to relieve the mind 
of F. C. M. by telling you that Biack-Eyed Susan is 
the common, old-fashioned name for Thunbergia. 
Why, I never understood. 
Ridiculous as these names seem, are they not better 
than such jaw-breakeis as Mesembryanthemum, Ec- 
cremocarpus scaber, etc. ? 
Can you tell me what causes the leaves of my Wax 
plant (Hoya carnosa, I think,) to wither? Does it 
require a rich or light soil? Mine has a mixture of 
leaf mould and sand. 
If any one wants-a free bloomer for the window, let 
them try the Browallia. I have four that have been 
in bloom all winter. One of them is two and a half 
feet high; the others the usual size, one and a half 
feet. Its cheerful blue flower is sure to give pleasure. 
L. H. H. 
Begonia Bex.—I would like to ask a question or 
two : How to propagate the Begonia Rex ? I have 
a Passi flora; it has grown about two feet this season ; 
no signs of blossoming; what shall I do with it this 
winter ? L. Cobb. 
Answer. —Begonia Rex is propagated from seed 
and also from leaves. The species of Passiflora is 
not mentioned. Some are hothouse, some greenhouse, 
and one or two hardy, and many of them grow to a 
large size before flowering. 
Asphodella, &c.—1. Is there such a flower, tuber¬ 
ous-rooted, as the Asphodella grown in this country ? 
2. Why is it not put in the catalogues ? 3. If suited 
to out-door culture, where can they be obtained ? 4. 
What do you suppose is the real name of the bulb 
called Hyacinth Lily ? There is a blue one grown 
commonly in Mississippi called “ Prairie Lily” by the 
people. 5. Is there a .blue Jonquil, or a yellow one 
with a deep red edge ? Jennie E. Shepherd. 
Answer. —1. The Asphodella are natives of Europe, 
but probably there are some in cultivation in this 
country. 2. Probably because it is not asked for. 
3. Dealers should advertise. 4. No idea, but probably 
some weed. 5. No, neither. Why do you not select 
from the list of some respectable dealer instead of 
giving encouragement to a lot of scamps ?- 
“Susan wanted. Who is she?” —From my 
childhood I have heard the Thunbergia called Black- 
eyed Susan, and if F. C. M. is fond of flowers, he or 
she will find it a delicate vine and a bright little blos¬ 
som. 
If the readers of the Cabinet would save them¬ 
selves much trouble in making coral frames, brackets, 
etc., they can do so by using Irish Moss as a substi¬ 
tute for wire, hoop-skirts, and candle-wick. Soak it 
a half-hour in cold water, until you can pick the little 
branches apart with a hair-pin, dry it, and dip in the 
solution, and you will find it a better imitation of coral 
than any other. I speak from experience. Annie. 
A Little Greenhouse. —I saw in one of your 
papers, some time ago, an inquiry about how to build 
a greenhouse. I have one that is much admired by 
every one that sees it. It is built at the end of my 
house, around the chimney, and looks something like 
a large bay window. It is twenty feet wide (the 
width of my room), and ten feet from the chimney out, 
has seven corners and seven windows in it; the size of 
the glass is eighteen by twenty inches, and ten panes 
in a window; it is walled up three feet with brick ; it 
is twelve feet high, ceiled over head and covered with 
tin. It is built as near air-tight as could be done. 
The only heat it has in the winter is from the chimney 
of my sitting-room, where there is fire all the winter. 
There is a window on each side of the fireplace; one 
is in a door that opens into it. Sometimes when it is 
very cold I have a lamp in it at night, and then it 
looks perfectly beautiful from the outside. I have 
four shelves that extend around the chimney for my 
flowers, and one that extends around just at the top of 
the brick wall where the window-sash rests on; and 
then I have seven brackets, one between each window, 
to set flower-pots on. I tell you I would not give it 
for any two rooms in my house; it is so much com¬ 
fort and pleasure to me. I can sit by the fire in the 
winter and look out at my flowers blooming and 
growing all the winter. I have three Orange trees in 
it that bear; they had about fifty on them this season. 
Ellen. 
German Ivy. —We had, last summer, growing in 
our porch a basket of German Ivy. In October we 
cut it down, in order to carry it into the house, leaving 
the vine still hanging. In a short time after cutting, 
at each joint of the vine there appeared a bud, and at 
Christmas it was in full bloom, although it had no 
root and was exposed to some very cold weather. We 
had a Rose Geranium, a cutting in February, which 
was transplanted to the garden in May, and the first 
of September it measured thirteen feet in circum¬ 
ference. Can any of you equal that ? 
Miss Bessie W. Morris. 
Bicinus Seed.—I have a quantity of Ricinus seed 
from last summer’s plants. I do not know the variety. 
They grew five or six feet high, and had blood-red 
stalks. I should like to exchauge with any subscriber 
of the Cabinet. Mrs. J. P. Lloyd. 
Orange, N. J. 
Answer to “ Fern Leaf.”—I see you are want¬ 
ing some information concerning the Rat-tail Cactus. 
I have one that has four sprouts that measure about 
four feet, and two or three short ones. I kept mine seven 
years, and was almost discouraged with it, and had a 
notion to leave it out to freeze, but, having seen the 
Cactus in bloom, thought 1 would try another summer, 
and then I gave it all the sun it could get in a south 
window, and plenty of water, and pretty soon small 
pink spots, about the size of a pin-head, began to show 
themselves to the number of fifteen, and how I watched 
them until they came to perfection—but only half 
came to perfection, through some mismanagement of 
my own—but it has bloomed every year since, and 
even now has five buds on it; keep all of your Cactus. 
The Rat-tail has a bloom very much like the flat-leafed 
pink flowering Cactus, only it is a little smaller; it is 
worth keeping ; give it plenty of sun and water; the 
soil is not so particular. Mrs. H. 
A Beautiful Basket of Flowers. —Many times 
during the three years I have taken the Cabinet, 
when I have been reading what some of your lady cor¬ 
respondents have written about their success in the 
cultivation of flowers, more particularly window gar¬ 
dening, I have thought I would write you about my 
flowers. I have come to the conclusion, however, that 
the best way was for my flowers to speak for them¬ 
selves. Please accept the contents of this box as a 
specimen of my skill in window gardening; that they 
are lovely, you cannot but admit; also, that it requires 
management somewhat different from most plants 
grown in the house, to have Pelargoniums flower 
well; any one can grow them, but the difficulty is to 
have them flower. This is the fifth box full that has 
been cut from my plants already this spring; from the 
quantities of buds left, will be enough to fill a dozen or 
more. Last spring I sent flowers to Rutland, Lud¬ 
low, Woodstock, Albany, New Haven, Windsor, and 
last but not least, to Daisy Eyebright, Bath, N. H. 
The winter has been very severe, but for all that 
I have had flowers all winter — Heliotropes, Primroses, 
Begonias, a Eupatorium that was one mass oi 
flowers, and different varieties of Oxalis. My yellow 
Oxalis at one time had one hundred and twenty-three 
flowers—a perfect gem. Our ladies cultivate flowers 
because they love them, and it is not an uncommon 
thing for strangers, as they pass through our little 
village, to speak of the beautiful flowers they see. 
Mrs. C. S. Reywood. 
Bridgewater, Yt. 
Answer . — The Pelargoniums were perfect treasures — 
the prettiest we have ever seen. When we hear of the 
difficulties in growing them, we think you have done 
exceedingly well. 
Bleaching Ferns. —Can any person tell me how to 
prepare the rough-looking brown paint seen on rustic 
chairs, etc., out of doors. I wish some one who has 
had experience would give me the exact process of 
bleaching ferns, leaves, etc., for phantom bouquets, 
which is used, chloride of soda or lime? Do they 
bleach while in the solution, and how long do they re¬ 
main in it? Please give all the particulars. Dore 
Hamilton, in describing Easter Cross, speaks of “ white 
frosting.” Will she be so kind as to tell me what it 
is ? Can some of the sisterhood inform me what will 
set the color when blue ink is used in spatter work. 
Bertha. 
An Easy Chair —Will Mary M. Morris be kind 
enough to tell me, through the columns of the Cabinet, 
how to make an easy chair out of a barrel, as I wish 
to make one ? 
Lucinda R. How. 
Hoya, or Wax Plant.— Among all the talks with 
correspondents of the Cabinet about their rare and 
beautiful plants and flowers, I have never seen any¬ 
thing about the Hoya, or Wax Plant. So I propose 
to tell them something of one that I have. I had a 
slip of five leaves ten years ago, and now it is the ad¬ 
miration of all who see it. It is in a pot of large size, 
reaching from a stand to the ceiling, then back again, 
and rooting many times, filling the entire window, 
then branching so much that we don’t think of count¬ 
ing them. It is impossible to measure the branches, 
but there must be several hundred feet in length— long 
enough to reach round the room many times. The 
leaves are large, thick and glossy, spotted with white, 
and without the flower are very beautiful. My slip 
was a long time in rooting, and grew very slowly for 
several months, not budding till it was five years old. 
Then had seven clusters of blossoms. The next year 
about forty; and has kept increasing every year, till 
last year it had two hundred. It had one cluster in 
February, then they came along all the time, such 
lovely blossoms and so fragrant, filling the room with 
perfume. Sometimes there would be thirty of the 
pinkest, waxy bells in a cluster, and a few had forty- 
five. After being in blossom a week or two, there 
would be a drop of honey, real honey, sweet and clear, 
on each bell. When the flower would drop out and 
bud in the same place, three times in succession. 
The plant is hardy and needs very little care, and, 
owing to the thickness of the leaves, is not troubled by 
insects. If any lady, having rare plants, would like 
to exchange slips, I would do so very willingly. 
Mrs. Joseph Saunders. 
Orland, Me. 
