THE LADIES' FLORAL CABINET. 
131 
The Blue Woodruff, Aspemla azurea, has obtained so 
little notice that it is like a thing unknown, but its 
beauty and sweetness should secure for it a place in 
every garden. It grows ten to twelve inches high, its 
flowers are of a lovely tone of light blue, and their 
sweetness is delightful. In making up your list of 
spring seeds be sure to include the Blue Woodruff. 
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The Golden Queen Mignonette has been in cultivation 
several years, and has proved one of the finest of the 
various types that have been introduced of late. It has 
a very dense pyramidal habit, and when allowed suffi¬ 
cient space it forms splendid specimens from twelve to 
fifteen inches in height, and eight inches or so in 
diameter at the base, without any aid from the cultiva¬ 
tor. The flower-spikes are large and dense, and from a 
short distance the flowers have a bright golden appear¬ 
ance. It does not supersede the Hybrid Spiral and 
other white forms, and should be grown in addition to 
them. 
* 
Chrysanthemum Coronarium is one of the very best 
annuals of modern introduction; it grows up into large 
bushes, having an abundance of glorious flowers some 
double, some single, some yellow, some white, and 
blooms on and on right through the autumn. No one 
need despair of having a gay garden who sows a pinch 
of seed broadcast. It should be sown twice, in very 
early spring and again in early summer. For backs of 
borders and fronts of shrubberies nothing can beat it. 
■Js* 
White Bon Silene Bose. —Mr. F. Morat, of Louis¬ 
ville, is the possessor of this new Rose, that promises to 
be a valuable acquisition. It is a sport from the old Bon 
Silene, has all the virtues of the parent, free-flowering, 
free-growing, and delightful fragrance. The plant and 
its flowers are in all respects similar to the parent, 
excepting its flowers are pearly white. 
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We notice, both in this country and in Europe, ex¬ 
travagant advertisements of a new Pea that is creating 
quite a sensation. As it is of American origin, we hope 
it will prove to be as prolific as it is represented to be. 
But we should advise our readers not to expect seventy 
pods from a single plant, unless they take the precau¬ 
tion to pinch the plant back several times before it sets 
its pods, which operation will do very well as an ex¬ 
periment, but unprofitable for purposes other than 
advertising it. 
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That the Japanese Persimmon can be successfully cul¬ 
tivated in this country has been proved by Mr. Charles 
Lanman, of Washington. About six years ago he im¬ 
ported from Japan about a dozen or more young trees, 
including that number of varieties, from which he has 
obtained a good supply of fruit of superior quality. In 
this country the Persimmon is small, flourishes chiefly 
in the Southern States, and is not considered a product 
of importance; but in Japan, like the Apple in this 
country, it grows to an enormous size and is deemed a 
luxury. Specimens of this fruit recently produced by 
Mr. Lanman have attracted the attention of the Agri¬ 
cultural Department, and are being copied in plaster for 
its museum. The tree from which this fruit was taken 
is only about six feet high, and yet an average specimen 
of the fruit was found to measure ten and seven-tenths 
inches and to weigh nine and seven-eighths ounces. 
The color resembles that of a rich orange, and the tex¬ 
ture is pulpy. This particular variety bears the name 
of Tsuda, after the Japanese agricultural author Senye 
Tsuda, founder of the first agricultural magazine issued 
in his native land. There are several varieties of the 
Japanese Persimmon, which are packed in boxes for 
preservation and closely resemble in appearance and 
taste the best varieties of the Syrian Fig. 
«• 
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A man in Solano County, California, has a number of 
Date Palm trees, grown from the seed in 1857, which 
are now twenty-five feet high, and two feet in diameter. 
Only two of these trees have ever shown flowers, bear¬ 
ing for the first time at about the age of fourteen years. 
One of these is now loaded with fruit, having five large 
“regimes” (name given to the date bunch in date 
countries), averaging about twenty pounds weight in 
the unripe state. 
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It has for a long time been known that the color of 
growing flowers can be altered by simply mixing a 
little dyestuff with the mould of the flower pot. No 
one, however, has hitherto thought of changing the 
color of flowers when cut. Mr. Nesbit, a distinguished 
botanist, has found that by simply soaking the stems of 
cut flowers in a weak dye solution, their color can be 
altered at will, without the perfume or freshness being 
destroyed. Most beautiful effects are produced by pre¬ 
paring lakes. Singular to say, flowers refuse to absorb 
certain colors, while they dispose of others in different 
manners. If placed in a mixed solution they make a 
complete analysis, and some Lilies which had been 
treated with purple showed distinct red and blue veins, 
the colors having been divided in the process of absorp¬ 
tion. 
Books and Catalogues Received. 
Health in the Household; or, Hygienic Cookery. 
—Susanna W. Dodds. M. D. New York: Fowler & 
Wells. This volume contains three departments. The 
first giving “The Reasons Why.” The second, the 
“ Hygienic Dietary,” and the third “The Compromise.” 
In the Hygienic Dietary the bills of fare would almost 
make one shiver to read them on a cold morning. A 
dish of raw apples, hard graham rolls, a little mush 
without salt, and in place of cream a little fruit-juice 
to pour over it, graham bread without butter, stewed 
fruit without sugar and a baked potatoe sans salt, sans 
butter, sans anything. All meats are discarded; fish 
and fowl considered inferior to meat, and oysters and 
clams rank still lower. “Theoyster,”according to this 
writer, “is a creature of low organization; it lives, 
moves, and has its being among beds of slime, and its 
food is on a par with its surroundings.” The slaughter¬ 
ing of animals for food is looked upon as “a habit of 
murdering of itself degrading.” The milking of cows 
as “an unnatural practice, a pervertion of nature.” 
Eggs are objected to because “ the habits of the fowl 
are none of the cleanest, as it will pick up and eat al¬ 
most anything that comes in its way.” Time would fail 
us to give all ‘ ‘ the reasons why ” milk, eggs, cheese, 
