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WINDOW, FIRE-PLACE AND MIRROR 
DECORATIONS. 
Upon this page we illustrate several very charming 
devices for ornamenting windows and rooms. The 
flower stand and hanging baskets are made of an arti¬ 
cle called virgin cork, which any one can take and 
construct into a hundred beautiful forms. By the use 
of the knife, and cementing the pieces together, floral 
ornaments of an inconceivable variety can he made, 
which are elegant in appearance and of great dura¬ 
bility. This article, virgin cork, is hardly known yet 
in the United States, and yet has been very popular 
for years in England. 
During the summer time, when our flre-places are 
not in use, it is the taste of many ladies to decorate 
them with floral and woodland treasures. The wicker 
basket seen in this illustration is filled with moss, hav¬ 
ing at bottom a large pan with abundance of earth, 
and in it are placed a great variety of plants, which 
do well in the shade. 
Hanging-Basket. 
Another long basket or tray is put on the mantle, 
wherein are growing flowering plants, with vines at 
either end, and ferns at the back next to the glass. A 
beautiful way to finish the decorations of such a man¬ 
tle is to take the tips of fern leaves, and, sticking their 
stems into the wicker basket, let them point outward 
and hang down. It gives a finish far beyond any¬ 
thing of artificial manufacture. 
FLOWERS IN WINTER IN THE 
SIERRAS. 
I will tell you a little about the winter of the Sierras. 
It is very dull- here in consequence of the deep snows 
that fall during the wet season. It snowed fourteen 
days at one time in January : the snow was twelve 
feet deep when the storm was over; but it has settled 
down to ten feet. The sun is so hot, that the snow is 
soon packed down solid. When we want to go out, 
we have to go on snow-shoes; they are from four to 
fourteen feet long, arranged to suit the size of the per¬ 
son. Boys and girls from five to seven, wear them 
from four to five feet long; twelve and fourteen years 
old, from seven to nine feet, etc. They are made of 
very light wood, and painted : nice leather slippers in 
the centre to place your foot, and a pole with a wooden 
button on the lower end to support or help your pro¬ 
gress up hill. Every afternoon the hoys and girls 
go head over heels; hut we do not hurt ourselves as 
the snow is soft. My shoes are seven feet and a half 
long. 
Well, away up here, in this isolated region, we 
try to have flowers. At the east window we have 
table filled with beauties. The Oleander is just 
bursting, a delicate pink flower and very double. 
Black-eyed Susie is full of flowers, orange color. A 
daily Rose, with eight roses of very delicate shade of 
pink ; after white we expect the Red Rose. Fuchsia 
has grown eight feet and a half high, scarlet, and is 
very beautiful wdien drooping with flowers. A Mau- 
randa vine runs over a trellis frame, then up a cord 
ten feet. We train it up to the ceiling, then around a 
picture called Faith and Hope, which hangs over the 
organ. We have three varieties of Pinks ; some are 
in bud. Geraniums are doing well. Petunia is just 
putting out buds. Pepper-tree five feet high ; leaves 
are handsome. Two hanging baskets, one of Wan¬ 
dering Jew, the other of Ivy Geranium, and the grass 
found on the hill-sides. Arabella M. Stoker. 
Floral Stand. 
have a splendid time snow-shoeing. We sometimes 
Fire-Place and Mirror Decoration. 
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