seems to be a good place for hatching ; and a little glass and putty would suit most of the Horti¬ 
culturists better than any seeds the Government can furnish, no matter how unlike they may be 
to American packages. It is certainly a wise thing to charge American seedsmen twenty per 
cent, on all seeds they import, which, of course, their customers must pay, and then spend 
this money, which the seed planters of the country have furnished, in purchasing common seeds 
to give away to those who do not need them, or are too mean to purchase. There may be some¬ 
thing about the Washington atmosphere that makes this look very wise, but to all the world 
besides it seems exceedingly stupid and unjust. 
If the Government designs to be liberal , or even just , to seed planters, let the heavy duty be 
taken off all seeds not grown in America, at least, and this will be a general good in which all 
can participate, while even if the folks in Washington knew enough to get good seeds, not one 
planter in a thousand could receive a package. If Americans wish to do anything great and 
worthy of their name and character, why do they not send a competent man to explore California, 
Oregon and the new Territories, to tell us of the plants that flourish there? While our wise men 
at Washington are peddling out Turnip seed, foreign countries are sending explorers through our 
new Territories, and our finest trees and plants are discovered by foreigners, and named after 
foreigners, to our everlasting shame. 
WINTER FLORAL DECORATIONS. 
Almost all our Holidays and happy times come in the winter. Perhaps it is not so every¬ 
where, but here most of our birthday , that is, the birthdays of the nicest folks, seem to be in the 
stormy, frosty season — ours in November. It is not a difficult thing to decorate the house in a 
festive way with a garden full of flowers and leaves—all to be had for the cutting; but when 
there is not a flower in the garden and scarcely a green leaf to be found, it is quite a different 
matter. There is, however, ome compensation in the fact that decorations that would be unat¬ 
tractive in the summer, when all is bright and glorious outside, challenge attention and praise in 
December storms and January frosts. In several numbers of the Guide we have given sugges¬ 
tions on winter decorations, and cannot better answer several inquiries now before us than by 
copying the substance of what we have before said, with some 
additional facts learned from more recent experience. 
There are times in all our lives when the heart is joyous, 
and its rapturous throbs make the eyes sparkle with delight, 
and wreath the face with smiles. We delight to give expres¬ 
sion to this joy in kind acts and pleasant words, in adorning 
our homes with garlands and flowers, in presenting our 
loved ones with bouquets and other marks of regard. The 
“Merry Christmas ” and the “Happy New Year,” Char¬ 
ley’s return from school, the baby’s birthday, and sister’s 
wedding, must all be honored, and how so innocently, so 
tastefully, so sweetly as with garlands of flowers? Then the 
church and school room must be trimmed, and mottoes be made, by fingers which know nothing 
of the painter’s art, and that have not fashioned a Roman capital since they printed letters to school 
mates, long, long ago. We will endeavor to show how it is done. The forming of letters neatly 
and rapidly is no mean accomplishment, and those who possess this art are almost invaluable at 
all festive gatherings. How beautiful the word “ Welcome,” on some occasions; and Peace 
ox Earth,” will be new and glorious every Christmas. These letters 
are usually made of dry or Everlasting Flowers and dry moss, cedar, 
or of other evergreens. Obtain heavy straw board at the book or 
paper stores, as shown in Figure I, and mark out the letters with a 
pencil. Determine the height you wish the letters, and divide that 
into six equal parts by drawing lines entirely across the board, as 
shown in Figure 2. Four of these divisions will be a good propor¬ 
tion for the width of most letters, as seen by the same figure. The 
few letters that vary from this can be correctly made by the following arrangement : Suppose the 
43 
