306 
THE LADIES' FLORAL CABINET. 
Helianthus argophyllus. —Last spring a miscellaneous 
lot of flower seeds were sent us to test. Among the num¬ 
ber was a package of the Helianthus argophyllus, the 
silver-leaved sunflower, a native of Texas, which, after a 
fair trial, we find possesses several advantages over any 
other sunflower we have had under cultivation. It has 
a graceful habit of growth, while its silvery gray foliage 
adds greatly to its beauty. It grows from four feet to six 
feet high, and branches to the very base, the branches 
themselves being much ramified—an arrangement which 
insures an abundant supply of flower heads, as each 
branch terminates with a flower. These are about three 
inches across, the ray-florets being a bright yellow color, 
and the disk of a blackish purple. The whole is densely 
clothed with a soft gray pubescence, especially the 
younger branches, which gives it a silvery aspect, to 
which its specific name alludes. In saving seeds of this 
variety careful selection is necessary, as some of the 
plants are inclined to lose their pubescence, which takes 
from them their real beauty and distinctive features. 
Select seeds from the most hairy plants and those of the 
most compact habit of growth. 
* 
* * 
Gumming Flowers is practised to a considerable ex¬ 
tent by the English florists, and E. A. Arnold thus 
describes, in the Nineteenth Century, the manner in 
which it is done: •' Gumming flowers is another sim¬ 
ple but useful trick of the trade. It is applied to pelar¬ 
goniums, azaleas, and all flowers which have a ten¬ 
dency to drop off. A single drop of gum is inserted with 
the end of a sharp pointed stick into the centre of each 
calyx, and by this means the conformity of the bloom 
may be preserved for two or three weeks. Although they 
bear no marks of the process, all the cut-flowers and 
blooming plants of the kinds specified are thus treated 
before they are brought to market, the composition of the 
gum being such as to dry up and set immediately, be¬ 
coming invisible even to the closest scrutiny.” 
The same writer, in speaking of the cultivation of flow¬ 
ers as a business, makes the following remarks, which 
may seem strange to a people who are taught to think 
that it is what a man is, and not what he has, that 
makes the man: 
“ Before any decisive steps are taken toward entering 
a business of this kind, there is another matter which 
claims equal consideration with that of profit and loss. 
The question of social position is an important factor in 
the case,'which ought not to be lightly disregarded. No 
doubt in London the ‘ status ’ of business men is fully 
recognized, but much of the old exclusiveness still pre¬ 
vails in the country, where connection with trade is by 
no means a good passport into society. A man who set¬ 
tles in a fresh neighborhood, without introductions and 
with nothing but unpretentious business to recommend 
him, will do wisely not to calculate upon being received 
with open arms at the outset. In the long-run he will be 
sure to find his level, but it will require great tact, pa¬ 
tience and steadiness to live through an inevitable period- 
of isolation, with but little to relieve the monotony of 
work. Nevertheless, if a man is genuinely devoted to 
the pursuit, so that it can serve him at need both for 
business and pleasure; if he possesses that resolute de¬ 
termination to succeed which asserts itself in spite of 
difficulties, making the most of every opportunity and 
refusing to recognize an impossible, then there is but lit¬ 
tle fear of his being disappointed with horticulture or 
regretting his choice of such a novel profession. He 
will appreciate the value of having secured a country life, 
amid the fragrance of flowers gathered from all quarters 
of the globe to bloom at command beneath an English 
sky ; he will rejoice in the manly feeling of independence 
and freedom unknown to ‘ men about town ’ and he will 
have the satisfaction of believing that his work consists 
in ministering to one of the purest and most refined 
tastes of a civilized community—the newly-awakened 
love of flowers.” 
* 
* * 
Pompone Zinnias are coming into favor and justly 
deserve all the compliments that are bestowed upon them. 
For massing purposes they are preferable to what are 
popularly known as bedding plants, as they are constantly 
in bloom, little or no trouble to cultivate, and there is no 
class of flowers that make a greater display. The flowers 
are far better than those of the taller growing varieties, 
not only in form but in variety and intensity of color. 
The florets are perfectly imbricated, forming a symmetri¬ 
cal cone perfect to the tip. The colors are indescribable, 
being so subtle in gradation of tints. They range from 
pure white, through delicate creams and buffs, and from 
the most delicate pink to the richest crimsons and reds. 
There does not appear to be the same difficulty in keep¬ 
ing the colors separate in this as in the old type. We 
have recently seen growing for seed purposes several 
rows of 400 feet each in length, each row being of but 
one color, and we have never seen the color line drawn 
more evenly, not a variation in the whole lot, and the 
grower said the seed was saved from plantings made in 
the same way last season. 
Literary Notes, Etc. 
With the November number, Harper s Magazine con¬ 
cludes its seventy-first volume. The most striking paper 
of this number is the illustrated article on that most re¬ 
markable of our metropolitan institutions, the New York 
Stock Exchange. While Dr. Wheatley’s purpose does 
not seem to be the presentation of the evils of specula¬ 
tion, he clearly shows that a great portion of the broker¬ 
age business consists of fictitious sales. “ The Defense 
of Our Seaports ” sounds a note of warning, and the 
article entitled “ An Indian Journey,” with its illustrations, 
vividly reproduces the attractions of a New England 
autumn and many scenes of early conflicts with the sav¬ 
ages. For the December number is announced among 
other attractions a contribution by Rev. Henry Van 
Dyke, Jr., D.D., on “ The Nativity in Art,” to be illus¬ 
trated by thirteen engravings from paintings relating to 
the subject by both old and modern masters. The 
frontispiece is to be an engraving of Raphael’s “ Madonna 
del Granduca,” and with the illustrated stories and poems 
