THE LADIES' FLORAL CABINET. 
47 
lines that radiate from the footstalks in the fashion of a 
fan. The leafage will suggest the question, ‘ Is this a 
sensitive plant?’ It is. The shrinking from the touch 
so noticeable in Mimosa pudica and M. sensitiva is ob¬ 
servable also in this plant, but in a less degree, though, 
for the purposes of the cultivator, in a very useful 
manner. The cultivation rests mainly on the tempera¬ 
ture, and if the plant is unhappy in respect of tempera¬ 
ture the leaves never expand so as to show their proper 
character, and they do not contract when touched by 
the hand. If, therefore, Inga pulclierrima is found to 
be insensitive there needs no further evidence that is 
not in suitable conditions to display its beauties. 
“This is a stove plant, but not one of the ‘accom¬ 
modating ’ kinds that may be grown to perfection in a 
greenhouse. From June to August it maybe kept in 
the greenhouse, and not then in the coolest house that 
can be found. It needs air and light and moisture, but 
a cold draughty place will be quite unfit for it. From 
September to May the stove is its proper house as a 
cultivated plant, and in the dark season, say from Oc¬ 
tober to February, it should be kept somewhat more dry 
than the average of stove plants, and this is an impor¬ 
tant point in the management. As regards soil, the 
finest plants seen by the writer were grown in a mixture 
of loam, peat, and leaf, with a fair proportion of sand. 
The list of species of Inga in Don’s ‘ Dichlamydeous 
Plants’ runs to the extravagant number of 136. They 
are all elegant and interesting, but the plant before us 
is the best for any general collection, and has often 
been grown in specimen style so as to command uni¬ 
versal admiration. It is easily propagated from cut¬ 
tings of the young wood, and if well managed the 
young plants grow rapidly to a size that renders them 
effective and useful. The smaller vermin of the stove 
are partial to this plant, as to all other Mimosas, but 
there is no golden rule save the general rule of good 
cultivation to keep them in check." 
PAPER GARDENS. 
It is not the common custom to make gardens while 
the snow is two feet deep all around the house, the air 
full of it, with but little prospect of its stopping; the 
wind blowing a gale, and thermometer registering 20 
deg. of frost. But we have been hard at it all day, and 
in a single hour we have done nmre planting than forty 
men could do in a week out of doors. As the seeds we 
sowed came up like magic, the plants filled the air with 
the fragrance of their blossoms, and produced their 
seeds in the most prolific manner. This kind of garden¬ 
ing we admire, because of its cheapness in the first 
place, and its perfection in the second. All our flowers 
are absolutely perfect, no bugs, birds or beetles to 
annoy, no droughts, no storms nor tempests, no thun¬ 
derbolts, no back-ache, nor laborers to be tormented 
with. Here, by a cozy fire, we are having all the flow¬ 
ers, vegetables and fruits that the world affords, with¬ 
out fields, gardens or greenhouses. And who ever had 
so many flowers with such colors, and loaded with 
such fragrance ? Whoever had such strawberries, and 
in such quantities ? Fruits in their order come and go 
before us, more luscious than any tree ever bore, with¬ 
out worms or curculio. Vegetables of every denomi¬ 
nation, all first-prize specimens, are produced without 
squash-bugs or cabbage-worms. 
The gardens that produce all these luxuries are our 
catalogues. Paper gardens, just as real to all who have 
imaginations as our gardens of earth, and in many 
respects a deal better, as they are inexpensive, the 
seasons are always fine, flowers always a success, and 
hick always good. Here we are surrounded with these 
beautiful gardens, free of cost, excepting postage, and 
who would think of asking a seedsman or florist for an 
expensive catalogue, without sending stamps with the 
request, sufficient, at least, to cover postage. Certainly, 
no one that has sufficient soul to love and appreciate a 
flower. Let us examine our files, taking them in the 
order of their coming. 
D. M. Ferry & Co., Detroit, Mich.—Seed Annual for 
1884. This illustrated L and descriptive catalogue is 
what might be expected from a house as prominent in 
the trade as theirs. That the lists of all the require¬ 
ments of a first-class vegetable or flower garden, the 
orchard and farm, are complete, will not surprise any 
one; but that the cultural instructions should be so 
ample and concise, will surprise many and make all 
who send for it more than grateful for such a treat. 
Burpee’s Farm Manual—IF. Atlee Burpee & Co., 
Philadelphia, Pa.—This list is one of the most complete 
of any on our files. Vegetable and Flower Seeds, Bulbs, 
Plants of all kinds, fancy live stock, including Turkies, 
Fowls, Pigs, Dogs, etc. Burpee’s “Welcome Oats," is 
a specialty, and when the yield from 2 oz. of seed is 10% 
bushels, we should consider it rightly named. 
Henry A. Dreer, 714 Chestnut St., Philadelphia. Pa.— 
Garden Calender for 1884. An enlarged and improved 
edition of this well-known catalogue, containing all 
that can be desired, in the way of plants, seeds and 
bulbs, with ample instructions for growing them. 
Several pages are devoted to novelties, many of which 
we have tested and know them possessed of all the 
merits claimed for them. It is a catalogue well worth 
preserving. 
Hiram Sibley & Co., Rochester, N. Y. and Chicago, 
Ills.—While Mr. Sibley is ambitious to be one of the lar¬ 
gest seedsmen in the world, he is still more anxious to be 
considered one of the best. With that intention he 
presents his customers with a large catalogue of vegeta¬ 
ble, farm and flower-seeds, implements, &c., &c. It is 
complete in variety of strictly useful and valuable 
seeds, with the necessary cultural instructions to make 
their growing a success. We consider this a desirable 
publication. 
Hale Brothers, South Glastonbury, Conn.—Annual 
Price List of Small-fruit Plants for 1884. A firm that 
makes a specialty of any particular branch of business 
is, in most cases, the one to look to for the best of every¬ 
thing in their line. Small fruits claim the undivided 
attention of the Hale Bros., and they say that the Mrs. 
Garfield, Dan Boone and Old Iron-clad Strawberries; 
