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NEW YORK, DECEMBER, 1879. 
KEEPING FLOWER-SLIPS. 
By inverting a tumbler or a glass over a slip when 
first set out, and keeping it over a few days, it will 
almost surely take root and thrive. If a handful of 
well-pulverized charcoal is put in the earth when 
you plant a geranium, it will have a much richer 
growth and color. 
I have kept scarlet Japonicas fresh a very long¬ 
time by putting their stems in a saucer of white 
sand : if the flower has its under surface touching 
the sand, it will keep bright a very long time. By 
placing the stems of holly berries, or almost any 
kind of scarlet berries, in the sand a few days, the 
berries will retain their brilliancy thereafter for 
months without being shrivelled. Autumn leaves 
laid in sand and carefully covered over with a layer 
! of sand, for sometimes only four days, will preserve 
their color perfectly and not have the flat, stiff look 
of preserved leaves. The scarlet dogwood and the 
yellow leaves of the birch are beautiful preserved in 
this way. Lay them in with three or four leaves on 
a stem, and they will keep their graceful curves and 
waves as if just gathered; and one, by a little 
trouble, can have a more beautiful group of leaves to 
grace a winter bouquet than oil or wax or varnish 
can make them. 
WILLIAMS’ HOUSEHOLD SERIES. 
The Publishers would call attention to the extremely favorable 
terms upon which they offer the charming and popular volumes of 
Williams’ Household Series. These books have met with so 
favorable a reception hitherto that their merits need hardly be 
pressed upon the readers of the Cabinet, to many of whom they 
are already familiar. The following premiums are offered upon 
orders for hooks: 
PREMIUMS. 
For $5 order : One year’s subscription to Cabinet. 
For $10 “ $4 Periodical. 
For $15 “ $4 Periodical and others according to price. 
For $20 ‘ ‘ Several Periodicals will be furnished, selected 
according to the price of the periodicals and the choice of the pur¬ 
chaser. 
The Series embraces the following works, all abundantly illus¬ 
trated : 
Household Elegancies. Beautiful Homes. 
Every Woman Her Own Gardener. Evening Amusements. 
Ladies’ Guide to Needlework. Window Gardening. 
26 Designs for Fret Saw. Ladies’ Fancy Work. 
7 vols. Ornamental Designs for Fret Sawing. 
All of these volumes will be found invaluable in the home. The 
instructions given are full and clear, and exceedingly practical. 
The Fret. Saw designs are especially useful for making pretty 
holiday gifts. 
ADAMS & BISHOP, Publishers, 
46 Beekman Street, New York. 
TO SUBSCRIBERS AND CORRESPONDENTS. 
The Publishers of the Cabinet feel that an apology is due to 
readers and correspondents of the paper for the neglect and delay 
which has occurred in the past in answering letters and queries. 
Under the new arrangements now completed, the editor will give 
prompt attention to all queries, and publish the replies as rapidly 
as possible. If the reply does not appear as soon as expected, our 
correspondents may rest assured that the delay has been unavoid¬ 
able. Those who send plants for name, will And it much the safest 
plan to send a small branch or twig, with leaf and flower. Many 
leaves resemble each other so closely as to render identification 
impossible. Delicate blossoms may be secured between two cards 
wrapped in a little raw cotton. In the mail bags specimens are 
often so crushed as to be unrecognizable. Care in mailing is abso¬ 
lutely indispensable. Ferns are often entirely destroyed when en¬ 
closed in an envelope. 
THE HYACINTH. 
A Beautiful Christinas Present.— The $1 Magic Lantern 
advertised in this issue will make a suitable Christmas present for 
every boy and girl. Don’t fail to read the advertisement. 
We willingly recommend to our readers “The Bowker Fer¬ 
tilizer” advertised on another page, as the Company’s references 
and testimonials are all that can be asked. 
The Hyacinth is a universal favorite in the most 
extended application of the word. The number of 
its varieties is now fully equal to that of any other 
florist’s flower. They are not only desirable for 
planting in beds in the flower-garden, hut for forcing 
into flower in the dull, cheerless months of winter 
and early spring, when their bright-colored blossoms 
and rich fragrance lend a charm not otherwise to be 
found. For growing in the conservatory or drawing¬ 
room the bulbs should be potted, as early as they 
can he obtained, in small pots of rich, light earth, and 
placed in a cold-frame, or some protected place in 
the garden where they may he secure from heavy 
rains ; cover them with at least foot of newly-fallen 
leaves, and being once well watered soon after 
being potted, they may remain for a month at least, 
to form their roots, when they may he uncovered, 
and the most forward brought out and repotted into 
larger pots, and placed in a moderately warm room. 
The size of the pot will depend much upon the size 
of the bulb ; as a rule, the first potting should be in 
four and the second in six-incli pots. Some care 
is necessary in the application and increase of heat, 
or the flowers will be abortive. For the first three 
weeks it should not be above fifty degrees at any 
time of the day ; after that the heat maybe increased 
to whatever degree is desirable in the room where 
they are to bloom. Water should he slightly warm 
when applied, and given in proportion to the devel¬ 
opment of foliage and flower ; in no case should the 
earth in the pots become dry, neither soddened, an 
excess of water being as iryurious as drought. 
Hyacinths succeed best in a humid atmosphere, I 
which is not easily obtained in the drawing-room; 
and they are particularly sensitive to cold draughts 
of air, which may and should be avoided. 
Hyacinths in glasses are an elegant and appro¬ 
priate ornament to the drawing-room, and for this 
purpose occasion but little trouble. To those con¬ 
templating this interesting branch of floriculture we 
make the following suggestions : 
1. If you choose your own bulbs, pay more atten¬ 
tion to weight than size, and he sure that the bulb is 
sound at the base as well as at the top. 
2. Use the single kinds only, because they are 
earlier, more hardy, and as a rale perfect their 
flowers in water better than the double varieties. 
3. Use rain or soft spring water. 
4. Set the bulb in the glass so that the lower 
end is almost hut not quite in contact with the 
water. 
5. When the bulb is placed, put the glass in a 
cool, dark closet, or any convenient place where 
light is excluded, there to remain for about six 
weeks, or until the roots fill the glass, which they 
will do sooner than in the light, as they feed more 
freely in the dark. 
6. Fill up the glasses with water as the level 
sinks by the feeding of the roots or by evaporation. 
7. It is not necessary to change the water if a 
few pieces of charcoal are placed in the bottom of the 
glasses. 
8. When the roots are freely developed, and the 
flower-spike is pushing into life, remove by degrees 
to full light and air. 
9. The more light and air given, from the time 
the flowers show color, the shorter will be the leaves 
and spike, and the brighter the colors of the flowers. 
10. Do not place the glasses where the direct rays 
of the sun will strike upon them, as that will raise 
the temperature of the water sufficiently high to 
cook the bulbs, which is by no means an unfrequent 
cause of failure. 
11. Hyacinth bulbs for forcing either in glasses or 
in pots should he of the very best quality ; common 
mixtures will do very well for the open border, hut 
named varieties should always he selected for house 
culture—not that the names are essential, but be¬ 
cause all poor and undeveloped bulbs are culled out 
from named sorts and sold as mixtures. 
CUTTINGS BEFORE PLANTING. 
Cuttings of Geraniums and many other plants 
will be found to start with more certainty if wrapped 
in slightly damp moss for a few days before inserting 
in sand. This will allow the cut end to partly heal 
or become calloused, and thus not he so liable to rot 
or damp off. The propagator must he the judge as 
to the time the cutting ought to be so kept. Verbenas 
and similar wooded cuttings can he kept hut a day 
or two, while some hard-wooded cuttings may be 
kept for two weeks to advantage. Never allow cut¬ 
tings to become wilted before insertion, and always 
allow several leaves to remain on each to elaborate 
the sap and assist in forming roots. Do not crowd 
your cuttings, as this will often cause them to 
damp off. 
