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[For the Ladies’ Floral Cabinet.] 
FERN LIFE. 
October skies are molten gold, 
October hills are gay; 
We’ll dig deep down in earth’s dark mold* 
And bid October stay. 
The breezes and the summer show’rs. 
All died in summer’s death; 
And now we guard the fading flow’rs, 
And catch their ilutt’ring breath. 
O ! flowers of the woodland del), 
We loved and cradled you; 
But He who doeth all things well, 
He can create anew. 
November skies are leaden gray— 
The, year is growing old; 
The brown leaves shiver as they say, 
November winds are cold.” 
Scarlet and green, crimson and gold, 
Fluttering on the sod; 
Wrinkled and brown, withered and old, 
We give them hack to God. 
December gathers all his strength 
Of snow and icy blast; 
He seizes ev'ry stream at length, 
And binds it tightly fast. 
We ferns are robed in softest snow, 
“ Ermine too dear for earls ;” 
We watch the Old Year lying low, 
And wear his tears for pearls. 
We greet with joy the new-born star. 
While ev’ry spruce and fir, 
Like Eastern wise men from afar, 
Brings frankincense and myrrh. 
With joy and brightness breaks the morn— 
Welcome, thou glad New Year! 
New joys, new hopes, new pleasures born— - 
Yet will we shed a tear, 
For in the silence of the night 
The weary Old Year died. 
We watched the last dim ray of light, 
Standing his cot beside; 
The weary Year—sin grief and care 
His shroud, and withered flow’rs 
And dead, brown leaves. Yet he was fair 
In sunny youth’s glad hours. 
February mocks the tyrant Death, 
And whispers of the spring! 
Still ice and snow, but in his breath 
Is fragrance of the spring. 
He calls the birds from Southern clime, 
New life each fiber thrills; 
We watch afar the glad spring-time, 
The verdure of the hills. 
March winds and sunshine, snow and death, 
The travail of the spring ; 
We fought for life, we fought for breath, 
And conquered the Ice King. 
We lift our heads up to the light, 
And stretch our quiv’ring hands 
To reach God’s majesty and might, 
Where on the hills he stands. 
Through grief and pain, darkness and cold 
We struggled; and at last, 
In God’s own sunshine, we unfold, 
Safe from the wintry blast. 
Weeping and laughing, sunshine and rain— 
0! April! smiles and tears! 
Sorrow and gladness, joy and pain, 
God’s smiles, man’s gloomy fears ! 
We ferns have donned our robes of green, 
Sweet life fills ev’ry vein ; 
And God’s own glory, golden sheen, 
Makes gladness after pain. 
The wee,"bright blossoms from their sleep 
Have waked, the morn to greet. 
O ! Soul, fear not ; God’s love will keep 
You safe, His face to meet. 
M. H. E. 
SCALE LOUSE, MEALY BUG, &c. 
I have been wanting to have a chat in our paper for 
some time, and as I have had something to do with 
the above-mentioned intruders during the past sum¬ 
mer, I have concluded this is a good time to have it. 
These disgusting creatures were introduced to my 
notice by a Myrtle and two Bouvardias (pink and 
white), received from the greenhouse some months 
ago. I wondered why my Myrtle grew so slowly, 
and one day, on giving it „a more loving look than 
usual, I discovered it was literally covered with little 
brown scales ; the midribs and aril of every leaf, and 
all along the woody stem, till every joint looked 
swollen. I immediately thought of the scale louse I 
had read of, so I concluded this was the pest, and went 
to work. I put the pot on a paper, and with a dull 
penknife, carefully scraped every stem and leaf, till 
they fell down thick on the paper, which I burned; 
then with an old tooth-brush I scrubbed the entire 
plant with soapsuds with ammonia in it, and have 
repeated this operation three times within as many' 
weeks, and my Myrtle, even in this short time, shows 
a change; it is putting out tiny shoots all over, and 
every little glossy leaf looks bright and healthy now. 
I know it thanked me for those scrubbings. 
In many places one would scarcely detect the scale 
louse, it looks so much like the bark, but a touch with 
the point of your pen-knife will soon tell you if it is 
there. My pink Bouvardia I treated the same way, 
and it is also flourishing. The white Bouvardia (Jas- 
minoides) had the mealy bug on it, and before I had 
observed it, they had infested my Vinca Harrisonia, 
but constant watching has freed them both from this 
pest. One day you will see some white powdery 
looking stuff, and the nest, perhaps, a snug nest of 
young mealy bugs; they increase rapidly, as it seems 
to me all enemies of plant-life do. I find it best to 
look over all plants from the greenhouse, for there is 
almost always some enemy biding around, and one 
infested plant will soon spread through a collection, 
and give more work of the kind than one cares to 
perform. 
And now I want to ask a few questions, one about 
Apple Geraniums—great favorites of mine—and this, 
by the way, reminds me to say, through the Cabinet, 
that I answered Birdie Arnett’s letter in February 
number of the Cabinet, 1876 (Augusta, Ark.), and 
sent her some flower seed, but never after heard from 
her, and suppose the letter never reached her. I was 
so delighted at her success with Apple Geranium, and 
I wanted to ask her if a green excrescence ever grows 
down near the root of hers, and if it must be removed ? 
or, does it develop into a branch ? I have always 
taken mine.off, as it looks like a disease to me. I have 
a handsome Poinsettia, and must speak in its favor as 
a winter window plant. I kept mine in a frame house, 
and more than a dozen times during the winter the 
thermometer was down to 40° at night, yet its scarlet 
bracts were lovely, and remained on for two months. 
I got it from a florist last October, repotted it, using a 
great deal of old manure (it is a gross feeder) and 
watered it freely till it was done flowering, then wa¬ 
tered gradually for a few weeks longer, when I set it 
away for a good rest. About May 1st, I repotted and 
started it so as to be ready for another winter, and it 
has half a dozen new shoots, three of which I have 
pinched back, so as to have more branches for bloom¬ 
ing. It is a fine stately plant now, and is admired by 
all, even when not in bloom. 
I would like to know what is meant by a double 
Poinsettia. Does it mean several rows of flower bracts ? 
If so, then mine is double. The true flowers have a 
yellow gland at the top, on one side, filled with a drop 
of honey. 
I raised a slip of Hoya Carnosa last fall; it had but 
two leaves then, now it has eighteen and is over eigh¬ 
teen inches high. I also have a larger one, bought 
from a florist last spring; it has several branches four 
or five feet long, and I am looking for buds, as he said 
it would bloom in August. I give mine the hottest 
sun and plenty of water, while it is in active growth, 
and it has flourished ever since I got it, and sent out 
several new shoots from the roots, besides numerous 
side branches. It is in a six-inch pot, and I want to 
know if that is large enough. I will send slips to any 
floral friend who will let me know she wants one. 
I have a fine double pink and white variegated 
Oleander, eight feet high; it has been a mass of bloom 
ever since June, and I have just budded it with the 
single white and buff. I wonder all the ladies don’t 
learn to bud their plants, it is so easily done; only 
watch it done once and you will know how. I am 
trying to bud Geraniums also, but they require more 
care than Roses, etc. 
I did not allow my Calla to have an entire rest this 
summer, as there was a lovely pink Maurandya with 
it, which grew and covered entirely the large pot, so I 
kept' the Calla damj) enough to let the Maurandya live 
and bloom, and it has been covered with its pink 
Gloxinia-like flowers all summer, and now I have com¬ 
menced to give an abundance of water, as I like my 
Calla to bloom early in the fall, and then it keeps on 
all winter. A Calla is no trouble at all, and its. pure 
white spathe is too beautiful to try to describe. I like 
the name “ Lily of the Nile,” though we all know it 
is not a Lily at all, but belongs to the Arum family, 
like our “Jack in the Pulpit” (arissema triphyllum); 
neither is it a true Calla, according to Dr. Gray, but a 
Rieharaia, named for the French botanist, L. C. Rich¬ 
ards, and is a native of the Cape of Good Hope. 
My Catalonian Jassamine or Jasminum Grandi- 
florum is full of buds and bloom; it is such a fine fall 
and early winter bloomer, I wonder every one who 
loves fragrant flowers does not have one. I can fur¬ 
nish slips of it also. 
I have three fine Stevias ready for winter-blooming; 
were slips last May, and now are over a foot high 
and very bushy. I keep pinching the branches up to 
Sept. 1st, and then let them grow to form buds. My 
Smilax is in a seven inch pot, is several years old, and 
has run to the top of a five-foot trellis, and is sending 
up no end of new runners. I let it rest in early sum¬ 
mer (May and June), repotted, July 1st, in rich soil, 
gave it plenty of water and shade, and it is a marvel 
of beauty. If Begonia lovers want a beauty let them 
get Glaucophylla Scandens. 
Mrs. R. S. Truslow. 
Kanawha C. H., W. Ya. 
Scotch Thistle.—In your “Window Gardening” 
favorable mention is made of the Daphne Odorata, 
and I have searched for it in vain in every catalogue 
that I have, but without success. Can you tell me 
where I can procure one ? As a slight token of grati¬ 
tude for the numerous hints I have received from the 
various contributors to your pages, permit me to lay 
before them an annual not much cultivated in this 
hemisphere, but which makes a splendid foliage plant 
with no trouble. I refer to the Scotch Thistle. Do 
not start. I do not mean the Canada Thistle, or any 
other similar horror. The plant I mean is of a beau¬ 
tiful glossy green, reticulated with pure white, the 
leaves serrated and studded with strong sharp spines; 
it grows from two to four feet high, and then sends up 
a flower, such as you only see in heraldic paintings; 
there is no danger of it spreading, as the seed has to 
be carefully preserved every fall, and the appearance 
of the plant, in its various stages of growth, varies 
from sweetly cool to majestic; it will bear transplant¬ 
ing, but it is best to sow it where it is to grow, as it is 
tap-rooted and loses leaves and,growth by transplant¬ 
ing. I have grown it every year for six years, and to 
all of your contributers, who send me their address, I 
will, if I have my usual good luck, send a few seeds, 
in the fall, for trial next spring. Mrs. R. Calvert. 
La Crosse, Wis. 
Answer .—The Daphne Odorata is generally found 
in catalogues of the best florists, such as Dreer, Din- 
gee & Conard, etc. You will probably be aston¬ 
ished at the correspondence the Cabinet readers trill 
favor you in response to your free offer. 
