THE LADIES' FLORAL CABINET. 
245 
another source of ready diffusion of this same senti¬ 
ment. Generally, as a nation and a people, we practice 
at this time these things to- an exceptional extent, by 
comparison with others. It should, however, be the 
aim of individuals who experience such enjoyments to 
exert their influence on those around, that like plea¬ 
sures may accrue also to many who do not now ex¬ 
perience them.” 
It is not our intention, in these seasonable articles, to 
talk so much about plants and flowers as it is to have 
them talk to us. Flowers, like individuals, should be 
credited with the influence they exert. That they exert 
a healthful one, cannot be denied. Their cultivation is 
an evidence of refined intelligence. We look for the 
development of all that is noble and good in human 
character inside the house, when we see flowers 
growing in the door-yard, but we do not always 
find it; in fact, we often see selfishness mani¬ 
fested when the lesson of the flowers is benevo¬ 
lence and love; but we have never seen flowers and 
meanness thrive in the same atmosphere, excepting 
it may be • seen with those who grow flowers as a 
business—they are subject to the same peculiarities as 
other men. But the love that watches over flowers 
for their own loveliness is sure to extend in all other 
directions. 
THE AMARANTHUS. 
The various species and varieties of Amaranthus form, 
when taken together, an extensive group of plants some 
of which are mere weeds, while others are ornamental 
foliage plants of extremely graceful and attractive ap¬ 
pearance, while a few species are remarkable for the 
large upright racemes and drooping panicles in which 
their small flowers are produced. They are a class of 
plants wonderfully effective in the flower garden or 
mixed border during the late summer or early autumn 
months when they have reached their fullest develop¬ 
ment, and the growing effect produced by their masses 
of rich foliage or singular inflorescence is unsurpassed 
by any other class of plants. They are tender. annuals, 
and are mostly natives of tropical countries, the well- 
known A. tricolor being (a native of the East Indies, from 
whence it was introduced in 1600. It seems almost su¬ 
perfluous to remark that the Amaranthus ai’e useless 
when grown as pot plants, being suitable only for culti¬ 
vation in the open air. 
The varieties grown for their inflorescence do best 
when grown in a well-enriched, deep soil, while those 
grown for their foliage do best in a soil moderately en¬ 
riched. All should be given a sunny situation. They 
do best when sown about the middle of April in a shal¬ 
low box of light, rich soil, placed in a gentle hot-bed. 
Sow thinly and cover slightly, and when the young 
plants are strong enough to be handled, transplant them 
two or three inches apart each way into other boxes 
similarly prepared. Keep close and moist until well es¬ 
tablished, then gradually harden off, and as they are 
very tender do not remove them to the open air until 
after the twentieth of May. It should be remembered 
that it is an essential point in the cultivation of the Am¬ 
aranthus to never permit them to become checked in 
their growth while small, for if this is permitted they 
will never entirely recover from it. 
The following are the most distinct and desirable 
varieties: 
Atropurpureus, a most remarkable, strong-growing 
variety, attaining a height of six feet or more, pro¬ 
ducing its flowers in long, drooping, rich, purple spikes, 
which form a decided contrast with its heavy blood- 
red foliage. 
Bicolor rubra grows from three to five feet in height, 
the lower half of the leaf being of a fiery red, the 
upper half maroon. 
Bicolor olbiensis grows from three to five feet high 
the dark-purple foliage being edged at the terminus 
with bright crimson. 
Caudatus (Love-lies-bleeding) grows from four to six 
feet in height, producing its flowers in terminal and 
axillary racemes from two to three feet in length. 
Cruentus (Princess Feather) grows from four to six 
feet high; the flowers are produced in a manner similar 
to the above, but in erect spikes. 
Henderi grows from two to five feet high. One of 
the newer varieties, with beautiful drooping foliage, 
presenting in its beautiful leaf markings a range of 
colors not often seen in many plants. 
Melancholicus ruber grows from three to four feet 
high with blood-red foliage. 
Salicifolius (the Fountain Plant) grows from four to 
six feet high, one of the most distinct and beautiful 
varieties; of pyramidal, compact habit, branching close 
to the ground, and having long, narrow, wavy-green 
leaves of greenish bronze, often banded and tipped 
with orange and crimson bronze. 
Tricolor (Joseph Coat) grows from three to four feet 
high, a very pretty and showy variety, with yellow, 
red and green leaves. Chas. E. Parnell. 
Qoeens, N. Y. 
NEW VARIETIES OF SMALL FRUITS. 
The constant change of varieties of vegetables and who cultivate, to be merely a matter of speculation on 
small fruits under cultivation is quite commonly con- the part of the horticulturist. Such, however is not the 
sidered by those who simply consume, and by many case; on the contrary, these changes are matters of ne- 
