104 
THE LADIES’ FLORAL CABINET. 
ing out the easy management of them during our cold 
winters, where the conveniences for their protection are 
at hand as they are in many places. These plants can be 
kept in a moderately warm cellar having sufficient light 
to keep the leaves from turning yellow. Many cellars 
having heaters to warm the house are in as good condi¬ 
tion as a greenhouse for storing many of the exotic plants, 
and they are wintered with much less labor. They do not 
require much water, and should be kept in nearly a dor¬ 
mant state. They must remain in the pots or boxes dur¬ 
ing the summer and winter, and this affords convenience 
to move them from place to place, as occasion requires. 
When shifting into larger pots or boxes becomes neces¬ 
sary, always do it in the spring, when they are taken out 
of the cellar; this should be in March, when the plants 
are taken from their winter quarters, and set into a room 
not heated direct by a flue or stove, as in such a room the 
air becomes too dry. Water must now be given them, so 
they will be nicely started when the time comes to set 
them out into the lawn. 
When the weather becomes quite warm, and all danger 
of frost is over, carry these plants to the places on the 
lawn where you have decided to set them, and plunge the 
pots so their tops will be a few inches below the surface 
of the lawn ; the sod necessarily removed should be neatly 
laid over again to within an inch or two of the stem of 
the plant. The plants will appear as if they were per¬ 
manently planted. In dry spells water must be supplied 
by hand, to keep them in growing condition. In the fall 
when in danger of frost, they should be lifted and placed 
in sheltered situations, until cold weather comes, then 
carried into the cellar. The holes left in the lawn can be 
filled with earth, and the sod laid over again. 
Several plants of a variety can be used with good effect 
in a large lawn. Large plants of many of the exotics are 
too costly, though they make the finest show ; but if we 
consider the item of expense, we feel willing to wait a 
few years for size, and purchase small plants. The fol¬ 
lowing should not be overlooked in procuring this class 
of plants. 
For a description of each examine some of the many 
different catalogues now issued. Palms in two or three 
varieties, not forgetting Pandanus utilis; the india- 
rubber tree, Ficus elastica; the flax-lily, Phormium 
tenax; dwarf pomegranates; varieties of the agave ; a 
few of the tall cactuses; a double-flowering oleander ; 
a lemon-tree; a few caladiums, and an amorphopallus, 
A. Rivieri; the last two are bulbs, and can be kept 
through the winter in a warm place, not far from the 
stove or heater. Other fine plants can be added to these 
where the size of the lawn demands a more extended list. 
Every tree and plant should be trained to grow in the 
finest possible shape into which it can be brought. 
Henry S. Rupp. 
THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. 
Lettuce. 
I DO not know of any vegetable that presents such an 
inviting and appetizing appearance during our early 
spring and summer months as crisp and tender lettuce, 
and it is quite a wonder that a vegetable so easily grown 
and so highly prized is so seldom seen upon the tables of 
our amateur cultivators. Early lettuce is by many con¬ 
sidered to be very difficult to cultivate successfully, but 
such is not the case, and I think any person can easily 
raise enough for his own use, if the following directions 
are carefully observed. 
The quality of lettuce depends most essentially upon 
its vigorous growth, and it should be borne in mind that 
in order to have crisp and tender lettuce it - should be 
given a mellow and well enriched soil, together with an 
abundant supply of water at all times, and every available 
means should be employed to secure a rapid uninterrupted 
growth. For the early crop, the seed should be sown 
about the middle of September, very thinly on a nicely 
prepared border, and as soon as the young plants are 
strong enough to handle, they should be transplanted 
into a cold frame, about two inches apart each way, for the 
winter, or until they are wanted in the spring; or the seed 
can be sown in a well-drained pot or pan filled with light 
loamy soil in February or March, and as soon as they are 
strong enough to handle transferred into shallow boxes 
similarly prepared. Let them be placed an inch apart 
each way and grown on in any light warm situation until 
they commence to crowd each other, when they should 
be planted out, about six inches apart (where they are 
to head), in a gentle hot-bed. These young plants should 
be kept close and moist until they start into growth, when 
air should be given on all favorable occasions, not for¬ 
getting to water thoroughly whenever it is necessary to 
do so. 
At the same time the remainder of the plants can be 
planted ont in a similar manner in a nicely prepared cold 
frame, and if properly cared for will produce excellent 
successive crops. 
For early spring the cold-frame plants are the most 
preferable, as from them lettuce can be obtained from 
three to four weeks earlier than from seed sown in the 
spring, so that to gain this advantage in time it may be 
found advisable to purchase a few hundred plants from 
some neighboring gardener or seed store. For the earlier 
crops to be cultivated under glass, the best varieties are 
the Early Curled Simpson, and the Early Tennis Ball. 
The former does not head, but forms a mass of leaves. 
It is the earliest and leading market variety. The latter 
is a favorite market sort and a desirable forcing variety. 
It forms a close, hard head with but few outer leaves. 
As it is quite hardy, it can be easily wintered over in a 
cold frame. Charles E. Parnell. 
