144 
THE LADIES’ FLORAL CABINET. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Turk’s-Head Cactus .—May Fox .—The requirements 
for this cactus are the same as for nearly all the family— 
a season of active growth and a season of perfect rest. 
When in growth water liberally, and during its period of 
rest withhold water almost entirely, and keep in a dry 
situation. Then when growth commences again it will 
quite likely flower. Its blossoms, however, are unattrac¬ 
tive and have but little beauty. It is not necessary to re¬ 
move the offsets. 
Plant for Name.— John P. Phillips .—We cannot un¬ 
dertake to name a plant without seeing it or its flowers. 
Yours is probably a medinilla. 
Dielytra Spectabilis. —Daney McDonald , Miss .—Your 
climate is decidedly too hot and dry for this plant. Give 
it shade, and keep it cool and wet as possible.] 
Beans.— F. M. Adams .—We “don’t know beans ” un¬ 
less we see them, and not always then. Send us one, and 
possibly we may be able to give you its correct name. 
Editor of Floral Cabinet : 
Allow a new subscriber to join the circle of inquiring ones— 
who loves flowers, but is not sure of the proper way to treat 
them. I. Will it secure me succession of tuberose flowers 
to plant one bulb now in a pot and turn it out into the bed 
later, and others say a couple of weeks later, until time for 
out-door planting ? 2. Can I grow any kind of flowers in 
the shade of evergreens? 3. I have a fir, a pine and a larch 
forming a triangle—of two sides twenty feet and one fifteen. 
They are trimmed up to a height of five feet. Other ever¬ 
greens have been removed from this triangle, leaving a chance 
-for the sunlight to strike through. 4. What will thrive on 
the northern side of a house where the sun will shine for two 
or three hours in the morning? 5. Would a climbing rose? 
6. Also, please suggest plants for a bed in the same situation ? 
Mrs. B. R. McClellan. 
ANSWERS.— 1. You can get flowers from your tube¬ 
rose much earlier if they are started in pots before the 
weather is warm enough to plant in the open border, but 
care must be used not to allow a check to their growth 
after starting, in which case an early start will only re¬ 
tard, if not destroy, their bloom. As a general rule, if a 
dozen bulbs are planted at any given time in the open 
border, a succession of bloom will be had, as they are not 
at all likely to flower at the same time. Do not plant 
before the first of June, and do not cover the bulb more 
than one inch with soil. 2. Not successfully. 3. Begonias 
and ferns would do in the situation you name, if left in 
the pots, which should be plunged in peat or leaves, and 
not allowed to suffer for want of water. 4. On the house 
or trellis a Cobaa scandens would do splendidly. 5. No. 
6. Fuchsias would be perfectly at home in this situation 
as would also begonias, ferns, fancy caladiums or pansies. 
But the soil must be made very rich, and water must not 
be allowed to stand on the bed. In such a situation the 
plants named will not only grow, but will thrive and give 
you very great pleasure. 
VIEWS OF HON. WM, PENN NIXON. 
R. NIXON is widely known as the editor of Tine 
Chicago Inter-Ocean, one of the most outspoken and spirited 
dailies of the present age Like many other busy editors, Mr. 
Nixon overworked himself, and about six years ago found that 
his health was gradually running down. His business associates 
and his family felt that he was in a perilous condition, and urged 
him to take rest-giving up, for a while, all editorial labor. His 
natural ambition and his long habits of diligent work were against 
this. Declining the suggestion of a vacation, he kept at his desx. 
At last, after fighting for some months with the condition of his 
system, which was gradually undermining his vitality, Mr. Nixon 
concluded to take a few weeks of rest. Of that rest and what 
followed it we will let him tell, in his own words, as communicated 
to one of our correspondents, who recently visited him at his 
editorial rooms in Chicago. 
Mr. Nixon, who now appears in the prime of life, and in the 
full vigor of bodily and mental vitality, said, substantially : “It was 
in February, 1878, that I took a severe cold. My system had become 
much worked down, and, driven with constant editorial duty, I 
had neglected it. After long consideration I concluded to take 
needed rest. I went to Florida and Cuba for a few weeks. On the 
way I had several hemorrhages from the lungs. I was quite sick 
and returned in no better condition than before. My wife was 
much alarmed about me. The physician who attended me on my 
return gave me inhalations, tonics, alteratives and pills; after 
taking which, for about two weeks, I was weaker. I kept at my 
work, which was exacting. By September my state had become 
critical. I lost flesh and suffered from a severe soreness in the 
upper part of my right lung My wife’s sister, who was in Boston, 
wrote about a treatment which was novel to me— Compound Oxy¬ 
gen. A relative of hers who had been in such poor health that he 
had been compelled to spend several winters in Florida, had been 
restored by this Compound Oxygen to such an extent that he was 
able to endure the climate of Boston in winter. The little book 
issued by Starkey & Palen on Compound Oxygen was sent me, 
and after reading it I concluded that even if their method of 
treating my ailments could do me no good, there was reason to 
suppose that it would do me no harm. 
“I procured a ‘Home Treatment’ from the office of Messrs. 
Starkey & Palen, in Philadelphia, determining to give it a fair 
trial, and abide the result. For four or five months I took the 
inhalations at regular intervals, twice a day; continuing my work 
steadily. At first no marked effect was observed; in fact, not until 
three or four weeks. Then I began to feel that it was doing me 
good. I found that when I was exposed to the cold, and to chilling 
drafts, my power of resistance was far greater than it had been. 
There was no exhilaration, but there was a constant increase of 
strength. I still coughed considerably, and, in fact, did so for some 
months. The sore spot on my right lung gave me much annoyance. 
I rubbed my chest with various liniments, and I wore a chest- 
protector. But gradually the soreness went away as the lung 
gained strength. And the cough, which had so long clung to me, 
at last went off in an unexpected manner. One of the last coughing 
spells I had was almost as severe and extended as any I had ever 
experienced. It seemed to be the going out of the cough-habit. 
There probably was some extraneous matter in the way, and 
this severe spell of coughing got rid of it. 
“I gained flesh very slowly, but gradually came back to my 
original weight, and now weigh more than before my illness. I am 
more able to resist cold, and, though I now take cold occasionally, 
I am far less subject- to it than 1 was of old. My digestion, which 
was, of course, disordered, is now all that I can desire, and I am 
able to do my customary work without inconvenience or serious 
fatigue. I have never given a testimonial to any patent medicine, 
and I would not; but I do not consider Starkey & Palen’s Compound 
Oxygen a patent medicine. It is a vitalizer and a restorer, and to 
it I owe my life.” 
“ Mr. Nixon, did you ever take any other ‘ Oxygen Treatment ” 
than that of Messrs. Starkey & Palen ? ” 
“No; I had no use for any other. This served the purpose per¬ 
fectly, and did even more than I could have expected of it.” 
“ Do you ever have occasion to return to the use of the Compound 
en Treatment since your restoration to health ? ” 
nly occasionally ; for instance, if I had been exposed, and 
have taken cold. But I keep a ‘ H ome Treatment ’ in my family, 
for we set a high value on its efficiency in cases of need, and several 
of my friends have found the advantage of it. You may put me- 
on record as being a hearty and thorough believer in it.” 
Mr. Nixon’s case is not a peculiar one. Thousands have been 
benefited by the use of Compound Oxygen. Among those who have 
experienced its wonderful curative properties are Judge Flanders. of 
New York; Edward L. Wilson, the popular lecturer and photo¬ 
grapher, and Judge Kelley, of Philadelphia ; Mrs. Mary A. Liver¬ 
more, the eminent lecturer, and many others equally prominent. 
If you are interested to know what it has done for others, and 
what it can do for you, send to Drs. Starkey & Palen, 1109 Girard 
street, Philadelphia, who will send you free a treatise on this remark¬ 
able vitalizer-its discovery, nature, action and cures. 
