108 
THE LADIES ’ FLORAL CABINET. 
kernel, growth ceases until a new and unnatural joint 
is formed at the surface, from which these aerial roots 
proceed. When corn is planted in mellow ground the 
hoe should never be used, the feet alone being the best 
implement that can be used for the purpose. When the 
Corn is dropped, with the foot scrape sufficient soil 
over it to cover to the depth of half an inch, then step 
on the hill in such a manner that it will get the whole 
weight of the body, and if the planter weighs 250 lbs., 
the work will be the better done. This same rule will 
apply to the planting of most other seeds. Proper care 
in planting, and the too common practice of burying 
seeds, is just the difference between success and failure 
in their germination and growth. 
MECHANICAL ASSISTANCE 
is also of the greatest importance in the planting of 
many kinds of seeds, particularly those of the vine 
family. In testing the seeds of the Boston Marrow 
Squash, we planted six in the usual manner, and but 
three came up; by their side we planted the same number, 
placing them edgeways—these all came up; again we 
placed the same number upright, with the germ down; 
these also all came up, and in much less time than either 
of the other tests. From the experiments made, we are 
fully convinced that it is great economy to plant all 
vine seeds in the manner last stated, the difference in 
the time and labor required in doing the work will be 
doubly compensated in the success attained. 
We always plant Lima Beans by placing them edge¬ 
ways, and never have a failure in their coming up and 
growing vigorously. Last year we sowed a large quan¬ 
tity of hybrid Amaryllis seed, not one of which showed 
any signs of life or growth. We have, this season 
repeated the operation, but in a different manner, 
treating them as follows: We prepared three boxes of 
soil in precisely the same manner. In two of them we 
placed the seeds in regular rows, placing them edgeways, 
leaving the edge of the seed barely covered; in the 
other box we scattered the seeds in the usual manner, 
covering them about one-half inch in depth with the 
same soil from which the boxes were filled. The result 
was, that tn the two boxes where the seeds were 
on edge nearly every seed germinated, and the young 
plants were making rapid growth, while those in 
the other box are entirely lost; but a single seed germi¬ 
nated. 
This experiment shows the importance of well- 
directed labor in this direction, as in this case, where 
the seed sown was all from the same plant, sown the 
same day, in the same soil, and the boxes were placed 
side by side in our propagating house. By this experi¬ 
ment we can understand why one customer will claim 
damages from the seedsman because of poor seed, and 
another will thank him kindly for seed from the same 
stock. There is not a seedsman in the land, but what 
is at one time or another accused of selling poor seed— 
at least so far as its growing qualities are concerned. 
The truth of these accusations is, that in 95 per cent, of 
the cases, poor seed means a poor gardener. 
Jersey City, N J., March 3, 1884. PETER HENDERSON. 
PALMS WITHOUT A GREENHOUSE. 
For some time I have been trying some interesting 
experiments in growing tropical palms in the ordinary 
temperature of a sitting-room. My method consists in 
giving my pets plenty of fresh air, in keeping them 
sheltered from the sun and wind, and in watering them 
overhead wifh warm water. They have been accus¬ 
tomed to a temperate climate from early youth, for I 
take matters in time by removing them from the nur¬ 
seryman’s stove into my drawing-room in a very young 
state. I find it the best way to select the healthy little 
seedlings about six inches high, with only three or four 
leaves and a strong-looking leaf bud just rising; I then 
feel that all the growth is my own. 
I start them in the summer months, in order not to 
let them feel the change of atmosphere much, and the 
warm shower baths that they receive from the rose of 
a 'watering-pot remind them of the syringing they had 
while in the hot plant-house, and corresponds with the 
warm dews of equatorial regions. 
Palms should never be allowed to remain in a room 
with gas, and on cold nights it is best to remove them 
as far from the window as possible. A table in the cen¬ 
ter of the room is as good a place for them as any, and 
on frosty nights in winter I find they are nowhere so 
safe as in the kitchen. 
As a rule, however, the less Palms are moved about 
the better they thrive, for they get accustomed to the 
place where they stand, and object to being carried 
about from one apartment to another. Nothing is so 
bad for them as letting them out on hire and sending 
them to decorate heated dining-rooms and ball-rooms 
after being exposed to the cold wind out of doors. If 
there were a society for the prevention of cruelty to 
plants this practice would be prohibited. 
How often they should be watered of course depends 
upon the state of the atmosphere. In dry hot weather 
twice a day is not too often, while twice a week might 
be often enough when it is damp and chilly. Of course 
in a dwelling-house plants absorb much less moisture 
than they do in a greenhouse. I generally find, how¬ 
ever, that they are ready for the warm water (really 
warm, not merely tepid) that I give them all round 
every evening. 
Warm water is the more easily absorbed than cold, 
and I take care that the water runs through the pot and 
does not stagnate about the roots. To encourage the 
roots and keep them warm is the leading idea of the 
remarkably simple plan I go upon, and my little plants 
are gallantly supporting my theory, for it is not too 
much to say that they all look actually better than 
when I bought them. 
Another point that I ought to mention is that I pur¬ 
chase them of a respectable nurseryman, and direct 
from the stove, where I know they have been carefully 
grown and well looked after. It is a great mistake to 
buy Palms from the shop-window of a florist or green¬ 
grocer, for their constitution has probably been weak¬ 
ened by exposure to cold draughts in the market, and 
