ifiiiiei muil iPietorra \ 
OHie 
stand with a zinc pan that fits the top, stained and 
varnished to match the table. It is filled with native 
ferns, partridge berry vines and mosses; near the edge 
is planted Tradescantia, which conceals the dish. 
Suspended above this is a hanging basket made of an 
old-fashioned porcelain gas shade ; it lias a crocheted 
cover of stout blue embroidery silk with crystal beads, 
finished with a handsome tassel of silk and beads ; the 
same for cords to hang it. A small saucer is put in 
the bottom to cover the hole. It is filled with pressed 
ferns and long sprays of Ivy put in bottles of water. 
Near the front window is a bouquet table bought 
without the marble top ; that leaves a hollow place 
about an inch in depth. Into this is fitted a little 
wooden tub covered with bark, racked on ; the tacks 
concealed by bits of moss, glued on ; then filled with 
earth and three English Ivies planted near the outside 
and twined around the tub, and around the table, until 
they reach the feet, where they are fastened with green 
worsted. The surface is covered with moss. In the 
centre is a tall white vase with the stand broken so it 
can be pushed into the earth until it stands firm. It 
is filled with Sweet Peas and Mignonette, and Mau- 
randia vines trailing around the vase. Near the hay- 
window is a similar table ; this lias a mat fitted into 
the top made of stout pasteboard, covered with green 
cambric; then there is moss sewed around the edge 
about three inches deep; made by knitting shaded 
green worsted as wide as the moss should be, dampen¬ 
ing, pressing, and ravelling it out, then sewing it on to 
the pasteboard. This imitates moss very well. The 
dish on it was originally a tall cut-glass preserve dish, 
but an accident had deprived it of its standard, so it 
was appropriated to this use. It happened that it 
broke just where the standard joins the bowl, so it 
fitted nicely into the mat. There was pounded char¬ 
coal put into the bottom, then leaf-mold and sand, and 
a Smilax vine trained around a small green wire cross. 
Of course this was done last spring, so now the cross 
stands draped in living green. It is trimmed with red 
and white Carnations and sweet Allyssum; the stem 
of each is wrapped in a bit of green moss and tied on 
with green worsted. Kate tells me they will keep 
fresh in this way several days. 
On the mantle (a marble slab supported by bronzed 
brackets) is a paii of alabaster vases of the antique 
pitcher- shape, a wedding gift from an uncle; a few 
feathery pressed ferns, and scarlet bitter-sweet ber¬ 
ries, set off the lovely whiteness of the pitchers, and 
trailing down from the mouth are pressed partridge 
berry vines. Do you know how lovely these are when 
pressed'? In the centre of the mantle is a photograph 
framed in blue velvet and gilt, on an easel frame; be¬ 
hind this is a wide-mouthed bottle filled with water, and 
bits of charcoal to keep it sweet; then long sprays of 
Madeira vine are put in and trained around the pic¬ 
ture. Over the mantle is a life-sized chromo of “ Bea¬ 
trice Cenci ” framed in gilt. On each side of the bay- 
window are bouquets of bright flowers painted in 
water colors on black grounds and framed in gilt. On 
the side next the hall is a group of chromos, the cen¬ 
ter one a winter scene; either side a spring and au¬ 
tumn scene. On a bracket below the winter scene is 
a white vase filled with Tsadescantia. In the corners 
on the bay-window side are brackets ; on one. is a 
white wax cross wreathed with colored wax flowers, 
on the other a bust of “ Clytie.” I declare! I haven’t 
said one word, about the furniture. It is black walnut 
covered with drab rep with blue gimp and buttons. 
There is a cosy little tete-a-tete sofa across the corner 
between the bay and front window ; a large easy chair 
on castors, opposite side of the front window ; a larger 
sofa on the side next the hall. Three smaller chairs 
on castors, and two after the camp-chair style; no 
parlor chairs. I asked Kate how she dared have a 
parlor and not have one of the aforesaid chairs? She 
replied that “ she agreed with Rev. Mr. Murray about 
parlor chairs, that they were ridiculous,” and so on. 
You remember his comical description of his call on 
some ladies, and sitting on that kind of a chair, and 
his feelings on the occasion. I shall never get through 
if I stop to tell it. 
I have not told you of the pretty centre table, 
bought second hand, but not defaced, excepting some 
scratches on the top. It has a drab broadcloth cover, 
with an embroidered border, made of scraps of blue 
velvet and satin, appliqued with gold colored embroid¬ 
ery silk. It is very handsome. In one corner is a 
round marble-top table, with a group of “Roger’s 
Statuary” on it, “The Favored Scholar.” This was 
presented by Kate’s scholars when she left her school. 
I must not linger here, but pass across the hall into 
the pleasant sitting-room. Here is another bay win¬ 
dow opposite the door facing south; another window 
in front; a door at the right opening into the dining¬ 
room ; then the chimney ; the other side of that a 
book-case fitted into the recess made by the chimney. 
The paper is plain drab again, same molding, scarlet 
and black border, same above the baseboard, The 
carpet is common ingrain white, ground, scarlet and 
black figures. The furniture Kate said was a second¬ 
hand set of black walnut covered with hair-cloth, 
slippery and dismal, but she bought it very cheap, and 
thought she could cover it. She bought some plain 
twilled French cretonne, such as is used for covering 
furniture, made covers, hound them with scarlet braid, 
and then ornamented them with “ spatter work.” The 
large sofa had a lovely bouquet of ferns and trailing 
vines on the centre of the back. One easy-chair had 
a bouquet of maple leaves; another, small-sized oak 
leaves, and so on. .The effect was charming, and as 
Kate said, “Who knows they are shabby underneath ? ” 
White shades, with scarlet and golden border, were 
at the windows. But the crowning glory of this 
room is the bay window filled with plants. It is 
arch-shaped at the top and shut off from the room by 
a glass door, open in the centre. It is hoarded across 
about eight inches across the window sills, and a zinc 
pan fitted even with the sills; tills makes a sort oi 
sink. The bottom is covered with sand, the pots set 
in and filled in between with sand, and then moss 
from the woods on top. This is made even by putting 
the large pots almost to the bottom of the sand and 
heaping the sand higher under the smaller ones, so 
they present an even surface at the top. This is bet¬ 
ter than planting directly in the soil, as is often done; 
they can easily be changed so they will not grow one¬ 
sided, and most plants blossom better in small pots. 
There is a little door underneath and a faucet to draw 
off any extra water. Suspended from the centre over¬ 
head is a rustic basket, a Dracena terminalis in the 
centre ; near the edge, is an Ice Plant covered with its 
tiny white blossoms. At the side windows are brack¬ 
ets with pots of pink and white Maurandia trained up 
the sides of. the window; each side of the centre win¬ 
dow are pots of Cobcea Seandens and Tropasoluin 
Minus. Then, there are Tricolor Geraniums, Bego¬ 
nias,- Ahutilon, Chinese Primrose. Carnations, Agera- 
tuins, Salvia, Cyclamen, Heliotrope, and directly in 
the centre is a splendid specimen of Cyperus Alterni- 
folius Varigatus. Some of the grass tufts measure 
over three feet in height. They all looked finely and 
not a hug to be seen. I asked Kate how she managed 
to keep them so free from insects. She said, “ When 
the weather gets cold I take a kettle of boiling water 
and pour carefully between the pots, then shut the 
door tight. This causes the steam to rise and the air 
keeps moist a long time, and the red sp : ders and all 
the rest of the tribe are nowhere; when the water 
gets cold I draw it off.” Each side of the glass door, 
about halfway up, is a bracket with a pot of English I vy 
on it, trained up until they meet in the centre, where 
they cross and then are trained straight along on the 
scarlet border. Where they cross is a bracket with a 
statuette of Flora on it. The hook-case I spoke of 
is built into the wall in the recess formed by the chim¬ 
ney projecting into the room. It is made of black 
walnut, glass doors, drawers uuderneath, is about five 
feet high, and the top projects a little into the room. 
On it is a bust of Dickens; behind it is a wide¬ 
mouthed bottle filled with Tradescantia, which droops 
around the bust. Near by is an open grate, with its 
cheerful fire; or, Tather, an open stove. It looks so 
like a low-down grate that one can hardly see the dif¬ 
ference, and as Kate said, “One can see the difference 
in the cost.” This is eighteen dollars, and the grate, 
with its accompanying marble mantle, from fifty to 
seventy-five dollars. There are white vases with 
scarlet and gold medallions on the mantle, filled with 
pressed ferns and sumac. There are pictures and 
brackets. I came near forgetting the front window. 
There is a black walnut box fitted to it; in each end 
are two Smilax vines trained on strings across to the 
centre of the window, where they are fastened ; then 
crossed diagonally, then back, forming diamonds and 
half diamonds. In the centre of the box is a Dracena; 
each side of that is Ahutilon Thomsonii; around the 
edge is Coliseum Ivy covering the box ; overhead, sus¬ 
pended in his cage, is bright little ’Dick, the canary. 
Kate has a nice piano she has had several years. Over 
it on a bracket is a vase of something, I could not make 
out what. She said, “I partly manufactured it and 
;t is partly natural.” I took some sprays of oats that 
had been bleached in the sun, gathered some milk¬ 
weed pods before they began to fly open ; began at 
the top of the spray of oats, taking a milk-weed seed 
with its winged attachment; put a drop of mucilage 
on it; then held the husk of the oats apart and in¬ 
serted the seed out of sight, and so on until all was 
done. I then filled the vase with sand, so that I could 
arrange them gracefully and keep them steady. They 
look as if they would fly with every breath of wind, 
hut they can’t. I think my room will look warm next 
summer, there is so much scarlet about it. I’ll tell 
you what I mean to do : After my carpet is shaken 
and put down again, I will lay down some heavy 
carpet paper and then some white straw matting; 
that will make the room look cool and he easy to 
sweep. Quite a consideration in hot weather, espec¬ 
ially when one has to do their own sweeping; in the 
fall all 1 will have to do w r ill he to take up the straw 
matting and paper and my room will be clean. 
The dining-room has two windows facing south and 
one west. There is plain huff paper on the wall; wood¬ 
work, chestnut, oiled; floor, chestnut and black wal¬ 
nut, in stripes; the chairs are black walnut with dark 
green leather covers, studded with brass nails. Kate 
said they could not afford a woolen carpet and nice 
chairs, so she chose the latter, they are so durable, 
and the floor was so easy to keep clean. There is a 
woolen drugget of oak and green under the table. 
The window shades are light huff. At one window is 
a hanging basket made of an old tin pail covered with 
birch hark and moss filled with German Ivy. At the 
other window is a white-lead bucket, holding about a 
quart, painted scarlet, hoops black, filled with Saxi- 
