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THE MISTLETOE 
The Mistletoe (Viscum album) belongs to the 
natural order Loranthaceec and Dioecia-tetran- 
dia of Linnseus, it is a true parasitica! plant, as at 
no period of its existence does it derive any nour¬ 
ishment from the soil or from decayed bark, like the 
fungi and allied vegetation. Of this genus there 
are several species; this is the only one of special in¬ 
terest, and is what is generally known as the Eng¬ 
lish Mistletoe. It is an evergreen, pendent shrub, 
usually found growing on fruit-trees, but occasional¬ 
ly fixing itself on the thorn, oak, maple, and ash, 
very rarely on the pine. The stem, when full- 
grown, is an inch in diameter; it is very much 
branched or subdivided. 
forming a head from two 
The bark is smooth, of a 
The leaves are 
to five feet in diameter 
yellowish green color, 
tongue-shaped, entire, in pairs on very 
short foot-stalks. The flowers are male 
and female in different plants, axillary, and 
in short, close spikes. Neither the male, 
nor female flowers have a corolla; the 
stamens and pistils spring from the calyx. 
The fruit is a globular white berry covered 
with a viscous substance; these berries ap¬ 
pear in winter, and are in perfection about 
Christmas. 
The Mistletoe may be made to grow on 
the apple or other trees, where the climate 
is not colder than that of England, by cut¬ 
ting- a notch in the bark on the under sur¬ 
face of a branch, and carefully inserting 
the seed therein; the only precaution 
being necessary is to place the seed in 
such a position that the embryo shall be 
directed toward the trunk of the tree, and 
that the seed shall not be bruised. The 
growth of the Mistletoe is very slow, 
rarely more than two or three inches of 
the shoot and two or three pairs of leaves 
being produced in a season ; the durability 
of the plant is proportionately great, for 
when once established on a tree it is seldom known 
to cease growing until it has exhausted the vitality 
of the tree, causing its death. Many old orchards in 
England have been completely destroyed by this 
beautiful parasite. The death of the trees is not, 
however, to be greatly regretted, as the Mistletoe 
brings a high price in the markets, more than the 
value of the tree. Hundreds of tons of it are sold an¬ 
nually for Christmas decoration ; it is now regularly 
imported into this country for the same purpose. 
The Mistletoe was a special object of worship with 
the ancient Britons, and that many important rites 
were performed with' it by the Druids or priests is 
certain. By them it was held sacred, and many vir¬ 
tues were attached to it. They sent round their at¬ 
tendant youths with this plant to announce the en¬ 
trance of the New Year; and a somewhat similar 
custom is still con tinned in France. The popular 
custom in England of Irissing under a branch of Mis¬ 
tletoe during the Clmstiuas festivities is referred to 
the supposition on the part of some that it was the 
forbidden tree in the garden of Eden. Mr. Louden 
supposes tliis pleasant custom most likely came from 
our Saxon ancestors, and to have been commemora¬ 
tive of Balder, the son of Odin, who is one ot the he¬ 
roes of Icelandic romance. According to the stoiy, 
it was prophesied that Balder would die, to avert 
which fate his mother exacted a vow from all things 
on earth that they would uot injure him. One of 
his enemies, knowing the Mistletoe had not taken the 
vow, as it did not grow upon the earth but on trees, 
made a dart of its wood, and with it killed the hero. 
The origin of tlie modern custom connected with 
the Mistletoe is not very clear, which is perhaps for¬ 
tunate. If known, tlie innocent merriment now as¬ 
sociated with the plant would he exchanged for a 
feeling of stern disappointment, and it would be 
banished from many firesides, where it is now a great 
source of joy and pleasure. The Mistletoe of the 
Southern and Western States is the Phoradendron 
flavescens, which grows chiefly upon the branches 
of elms and hickories; it is a yellowish-green, woody- 
stemmed parasite, with a jointed stalk having oppo¬ 
site and whorled branches, fleshy, obovate-shaped 
leaves, small flowers in axillary spikes, which are 
shorter than the leaves; the fruit, though smaller, 
resembles that of the English varieties. This spe¬ 
cies is widely distributed from New Jersey, South 
and West. This species has none of the poetic as¬ 
sociations that distinguish in so marked a degree 
its English namesake. 
AN ENCLOSED WINDOW-GAKDEN. 
A lady correspondent of Tick’s Illustrated Maga¬ 
zine, at Lynn, Mass., writes as follows : 
I have no conservatory, or even a bay-window; 
only one south window in my sitting-room that I 
can use for plants. At this window, half way up, 
is a walnut shelf a foot wide, supported by iron 
brackets, and on it is a zinc pan painted drab, 
with an inch of sand on the bottom to k.eep the 
pots moist. My idea was to enclose this window 
from the room, with the shelf inside, so as to 
exclude dust and include moist air. I communi¬ 
cated my idea to a carpenter, and his hands com¬ 
pleted the practical part, and my window-garden 
stood completed. I am well pleased with it, and the 
plants are, judging from the way they grow. Now 
for details: I had a table made of black walnut, as 
long as the window is wide, including the casing, 
two feet wide and six inches deep. It is plain on 
the sides, has handsomely turned legs finished with 
casters. There is no top ; at the bottom inside is a 
cleat, on which rest narrow slats of pine, and on this 
a zinc pan just the depth of the sides. An inch of 
damp sand supplies the moisture, and the warm air 
from the furnace comes iu contact with tlie pan un¬ 
derneath and furnishes bottom heat. So much for 
the table. The sides are of walnut, aud reach to tlie 
top of the window-casing. The front con¬ 
sists of two glass doors, opening in tlie cen¬ 
tre, each one made of two panes of glass. 
The top is made of walnut and finished with 
a handsome moulding similar to a bookcase. 
The top is fastened to the table with four 
large screws, and to the top of the window 
with small brass hooks, and screw-eyes. 
The whole can he removed from the window 
iu a few- minutes. An outside window in 
winter bids defiance to Jack Frost. 
At different times I have had Hya¬ 
cinths, Polyanthus, Narcissus, and Due 
Yon Tliol Tulips. I have noticed that tlie 
flowers hang on longer than when kept iu 
the dry air of the sitting-room. The plants 
are not half the trouble they were before, 
and so I think my window-garden a success. 
When winter is gone its mission is not 
ended ; while I am writing to-day, with the 
thermometer among the nineties, my garden 
is still a pleasure, and gives me a cooling 
sensation when I look through its glass 
doors. On a shelf in a large pot is a Japa¬ 
nese climbing fern, Lygodium scandens; 
it is trained on strings and covers the upper 
half of the window. In the lower part on one side 
is tlie Hoya, now full of lovely clusters of bloom; on 
the opposite side Cissus discolor, trained on a trellis 
like the Hoya. In the centre 1 have ferns, Adiantum 
cuneatum, in a ten-inch pot; it measures, outside 
the foliage, thirty inches. Besides this is Cyrtomium 
falcatum and another fern I do not know, and a lot 
of Lycopodium Martensii, green and white; Begonia 
rex, and silver-leaf Begonia. At ten o’clock in the 
morning I close the blind, open the window, and then 
open the blind when -the sun has gone aw'ay. The 
ferns grow beautifully. 
The Ladies’ "Floral Cabinet for August con¬ 
tains numerous valuable household hints for floral 
and ornamental adornment of the home. Ladies of 
taste and those desirous of cultivating a taste for 
embellishing their home, should subscribe for this 
handsome monthly .—The Beporter, Savannah, Mo. 
