THE LADIES' FLORAL CABINET. 
201 
fume. Place the sponge inside the vial, and turn it 
upside down in the mouth of the jar, and put it in the 
hottest sunshine for four or five days. The heat will 
distil the Rose leaves, and the aroma will rise and 
saturate the oil in the sponge. Throw away the leaves 
when they are dry, and fill the jar again with fresh 
Rose leaves. Do this as long as the Roses last, and 
when the bits of sponge are thoroughly saturated, 
squeeze out the oil, or you can leave them in the vial 
and keep it closely corked, A drop or two of this oil 
will perfume several ounces of alcohol .—Country Gen¬ 
tleman. 
How to Cleanse Waste Pipes. 
A simple, inexpensive method of clearing the waste- 
pipe of washstands, bath-tub, or kitchen, the stoppage 
of which often entails great expense, is said to be as fol¬ 
lows:—Just before retiring at night pour into the pipe 
enough liquid potash lye of 36 degrees strength to fill 
the “trap,” as it is called, or bent portion of the pipe 
just below the outlet. About a pint will suffice for a 
washstand, or a quart for a bath-tub or kitchen-sink. Be 
sure that no water runs into it till next morning. Dur¬ 
ing the night the lye will convert all the offal in the 
pipe into soft soap, and the first current of water in the 
morning will remove it entirely, and leave the pipe as 
clean as new. The so-called potash lye is not recomen- 
ded for this purpose, The lye should be kept in heavy 
glass bottles or demijohns cohered with wicker-work 
and plainly labelled; always under lock when not in 
actual use. 
Renovating Black Silks. 
Put one teaspoonful of ammonia into one pint of 
water, and with a piece of flannel wet in this mixture 
gently rub both sides of the silk. When the silk pre¬ 
sents a clean surface roll tightly on a round stick, which 
must be as long as the silk is wide; a broom-handle is a 
good thing. When dry, unroll and lay singly where 
all possible moisture can be absorbed. Silk treated in 
this way will look almost as well as when new. 
To give glass great brilliancy, wash with damp 
sponge dipped in spirits, then dust with powdered blue 
or whiting (tied in a muslin bag), and polish with a 
chamois skin. 
A paste made of whiting and benzoin will clean 
marble, and one made of whiting and chloride of soda, 
spread and left to dry (in the sun if possible) on the 
marble, will remove spots. 
Fuller’s earth, mixed to a stiff paste with cold 
water, spread on the carpet and covered with brown 
paper, will in a day or two remove grease spots. A 
second application may be necessary. 
CURRENT NOTES AND COMMENTS. 
The last (May) meeting of the New York Horticul¬ 
tural Society was one of unusual interest. The exhibi¬ 
tion of plants and flowers was not only large but of a 
remarkable character. One of the chief attractions was 
the collection of hardy herbaceous plants, shown by 
Woolson & Co., Passaic, N. J., which was, without ex¬ 
ception, the most interesting we have ever seen. The 
exhibit required a table the entire length of the hall. 
There were but few duplicates, and all were fit for 
specimen plants. We were promised a complete list for 
publication, but have failed to receive it, which we 
regret. 
The exhibition was intended principally for a Geran¬ 
ium show, and that interesting class of popular bed¬ 
ding-plants was fully represented. As was expected, 
Mr. Thorpe’s seedlings and newly-imported varieties 
were a prominent feature of the exhibition. Some 
two hundred and fifty specimens were shown, most of 
which were well furnished with large and well-formed 
trusses of bloom. Every color, and all the shades that 
the various combinations could produce were notice¬ 
able. Mr. Thorpe is persistent in his efforts to pro¬ 
duce a variety with yellow flowers, and it is astonishing 
to see what progress he has made, when we take into 
consideration the small amount of capital he had to start 
with. It is well understood that no new color can be 
introduced into a flower, but that any color found in 
the genus, however small its proportion may be, is 
capable of development, by careful selection until the 
desired color becomes a self. Some of Mr. Thorpe’s 
seedlings have gone a long way towards the orange, 
which is sufficient encouragement for a continuation of 
experiment in that direction. Roses and Orchids were 
m abundance, but none superior to those already 
noticed. 
* 
* * 
We saw, a few days since, in front of Peter Hender¬ 
son & Co.’s store, Cortlandt Street, a specimen of the 
Bermuda Lily ( L. Longiflorum, var Eximium), with a 
fasciated stem, on which was more than 100 perfect 
flowers and buds, arranged in a perfect umbel. The 
plant was about four feet high, and about as noble a 
specimen of the Lily as we have ever seen on 
exhibition. 
* 
* * 
Messrs. C. L. Allen & Co., Garden City, N. Y., who 
make the growing of Gladiolus a specialty, have com¬ 
pleted their first and main planting. The bulbs are 
planted in drills, the average length of which is 500 feet, 
and the combined length of the rows is nearly or quite 
eight miles. The flowering bulbs are grown ten to the 
foot, and the bulblets and very small bulbs from 50 to 100 
to the foot. Their harvest this year is estimated at con¬ 
siderably more than a million bulbs. 
■* 
* * 
Shirley Hibbard in “A Walk Round the Garden,” has 
discovered a few truths that should be read at least 
twice, and then studied. He says: “ What about double 
flowers ? Some people dote upon them and some despise 
them, and the botanists repudiate them because they are 
double, not caring whether they are beautiful or not. 
The amateur who loves the garden will care nothing for 
the hard and fast lines of the botanist, but it may be well 
