THE LADIES’ FLORAL CABINET AND PICTORIAL HOME COMPANION 
PICTORIAL HOME COMPANION, 
A han<I«omply lU.USTRATED JOURNAL, rtovoted 
to. the CULTURE OE FLOWERS for oiU-tloov or In¬ 
door decoration ; and I’ICTORIAL HOJfE LITERA 
TURB for all members of tlio Family Circle. 
SVBSCRIl’TION TEB9IS, - • - 75 cents per Year. 
Stiff' No subscriptions for less tlian a year. 
Specimen copies, ten cents. 
Club TifR.MS: 10 copies 1 year, 00 cents caoli, and 
copy IVec to former of cinb. 
Agents and Canvassers wanted evcrywiioro. 
Illustrated Prospectus and Premium List sent ft'co 
on receipt of postage stamp. 
Tiik Caiunict is for sale niontlily at every Nows Slaud 
in the United States. 
Advertising Rates. SI per line. Space limited. 
Address all commnnicatious to 
HENRY T. WIIiEIAMS, 
JBcUtoi- €intl Vropriiftor. 
Ofllcot 6 Beckman St., N. V. 
NEW YORK, JANUARY, 1872. 
THANKS. 
From many a cosy home, the mails daily bring 
us the letters of fond llowcr lovers, who bid the 
Cabinet welcome, and at once thej' busj' them¬ 
selves in helping to extend its good work. 
One lady wrote us, “ my children seem never 
tired of looking al the 2 }ieture$, and the liaper is 
all worn out, so quick.” 
Another writes, “just the paper I have heen 
looking for these tiventg gears; welcome Utile 
stranger.” 
A third, the publisher of a household journal, 
which has won its way to thousands of h.appy 
firesides, and now numbers 50,000 subscribers, 
writes us, “ the Cabinet is a treasure, a pierfeet 
gem ; you are sure of an immense circulation.” 
Friends, we began this good work purely froi 
the love of it, feeling it would meet with .appre¬ 
ciation everywhere, for who does not love flow- 
towards the encouragement of such a depart¬ 
ment of rural taste ? 
We still remind you not to cease your efforts 
in its behalf; recommend it everywhere, make 
up your clubs, and let them grow larger and 
• and Larger by constant additions. A'o slackin; 
now, for the flower-planting season is soon ti 
come upon u.s, and every one will need the Cabi¬ 
net more than ever. 
We thank you for your kindly welcome, so 
cheerfully given to us, and trust you will be 
more than repaid for your good efforts, by look¬ 
ing into these pages and always finding something 
to cheer or to enjoy. 
A WINDOW GARDEN. 
Look at this cosy home scene—a library win¬ 
dow decorated with an ornamental drapery of 
living green. It is a quaint scene, betokening 
real home comfort within. Somebody lives here 
who can for a while forget the' outside world, 
and recollect that there is something else worth 
loving and cherishing, a familiarity with which 
breeds no fever of mammon, but develops a 
purer knowledge and happier love. 
Such a window garden as this can be m.ade 
by any one, only observe this short description, 
and you can get any carpenter to help you carry 
out the details, provided your room is suitable. 
The library window itself is not over three 
feet in width, with some six in height; there are 
book shelves well filled on either side, and below 
there is a locker for storing old pamphlets. The 
window .sill itself is about fourteen inches in 
vyidtli, forming a very convenient stand either to 
place boxes on; or when these are away, for plac¬ 
ing any newspaper, magazine, etc., upon it. In 
the winter time wo can transfonn this little re¬ 
cess into a very pretty little garden,'as follows: 
Make a wood tray about three inches deep, 
which will fit the entire sill, then line the entire 
inside with galvanized iron, which should be 
proof against leakage, and fiU it up with good 
rich earth or woods mould from the forest; at 
each end place an English Ivy, and between 
these, specimens of our hardiest ferns, and if 
there are any spaces in the tray which still ex¬ 
pose the earth, cover them with moss. The 
front of the tray may be decorated, if desired, 
bj' nailing there or glueing thereon a few acorns, 
and a split or two of chestnut sapling, well 
dressed. About half Way up the height of the 
window, put a little rustic bridge across, well 
supported, and so arranged that it will support 
another and smaller tray, which in turn is filled 
with lighter and more delicate ferns. The Mai¬ 
den’s Hair Fern will be very suitable for this 
position; and you may add, if you like, a iilant 
or two of the Speckled Kattlesnake Lily, or an 
English Primro.se. Your ivy ns it clambers up¬ 
ward will soon cover the entire rustic frame¬ 
work, and its tendrils will drooii in and out, in 
charming contrast with the bright looks of the 
red dogwood or the linden lattice it hangs from. 
If you want some effect of rustic work, place at 
the top of your window some trunk or crotch of 
a shaggy oak or cedar. 
The entire window need not cost but very 
little money, the plants are exceedingly cheap; 
the ferns especially, can bo taken just at the 
close of autumn from the woodlands, or fields, 
just at the edge of some copse, and transplanted 
to this little spot to add a refiesliing and inviting 
look. 
indulged “ under the rose,” for notliing so said 
wn.s to bo repeated. And ns stratagem delights 
in silence ns well ns love, the Homans placed it 
on their shields. Over Greek, Homan and Chi¬ 
nese gi-avcs it is a frequent emblem, and the 
Turks will not sufl'er a red one to lie on the 
ground since the days it was colored by the 
blood of Mohammed. The Arabians have a 
legend of a garden of roses planted by Kiiig 
Shaddad, and now buried in the desert, which is 
analogous in many respects to the gai-dcu of 
F,don. Throughout Southern and Central Europe 
it is itscd in love spells and divination. One 
common German siqrerstition is to name rose 
leaves and then thi'ow them into a basin of clean 
water. The leaf which sinks last is to be the 
husband or wife of tlio inquirer. Another su¬ 
perstition is to throw rose leaves on to hot co.als; 
the burning fragrance is thought to attract good 
fortune. Wliite roses blooming at an nnexpcclcd 
time arc believed in England to denote a death in 
the family of the ownei', and red ones a mar¬ 
riage. As tlic lily is the emblem of France, .so 
tlie ro.se is of England, where it assumes more 
of an historical than sacred character. 
JENNY LIND AND THE BISDS. 
A very pretty story is told of Jenny Lind, as 
she was riding one day in a stage in the country: 
“A bird of brilliant plumage, perched on a tree 
near, as they drove slowly along, trilled out 
such a complication of sweet notes as perfectly 
astonished her. The coach stopped and, reach¬ 
ing out, she gave one of her finest roulades. 
The beautiful creature arched his head on one 
side, and listened deferentially; then, as if de¬ 
termined to excel his famous rival, raised his 
graceful throat and sang a songof rippling melody, 
that made Jenny rapturously clap her hands in 
ecstacy, and quickly, as though she were before 
a severely critical audience in Castle Garden, 
delivered some Tyrolean mountain strains that 
set the echoes flying. "Whereupon, little birdie 
took it up, and sang and trilled, and sang, till 
Jenny, in happy delight, acknowledged that the 
pretty woodland warbler decidedly out-caroled 
the great Swedish Kightingale. 
CHARM OF FLOWERS., 
Flowers seem intended for the solace of ordi¬ 
nary humanity. Children love them; quiet, 
tender, contended, ordinary people love them as 
they grow; luxurious and di.sorderly people re¬ 
joice in them g.athered. They are the cottager’s 
treasure; and in the crowded town, mark, as 
with a little broken fragment of rainbow, the 
windows of the workers, in whose hearts rests 
the covenant of peace. To the child and the 
girl, to the peasant and manufacturing operative, 
to the griselte and the nun, the lover and monk, 
they are precious always.”— liuskin. 
PUBLISHER’S NOTICES. 
Clubs. 
Members of clubs at GO cents, cannot claim a 
Package of seeds; the onl3'' Premium given is to^ 
the one who forms the club. 
If members of clubs at 75 cents each, claim ' 
each the Package of Seeds, Diadem Pink, the 
club agent cannot claim any extra Premiqj 
savecopyTroTToniis club or^cTorovei^To^U 
with his own Package of the Diadem Pink. If * * 
the club agent is competing for any special pre¬ 
mium mentioned in Nos. 2 to 39 of our Premium 
List, the members of his club cannot claim any 
individual Premium. 
M JOiOrary IKhtdon). 
One Hundred Papers at Club Rates. 
The Cabinet is offered free only when the 
full Puhlisher’s price of any Paper is remitted to 
us. If the sum is less than S3, The Cabinet 
is given free ,6 months. If the Publisheris (not 
the club) price is over S3, The Cabinet is given 
free one year. You can club all your papers 
through this office at a saving of 25 to 50 cents 
on each journal. 
Club of Fifty. 
Who will get us a club of 50 subscribers at 
75 cents each To any one doing so, we will give 
a Premium of the Colby Clothes AVringer worth 
S7.50; or a AA'ebster’s Diction.aiy, Latest picto¬ 
rial unabridged edition, worth S12, for a club of 
GO at 75 cents each. 
THE LEGENDS AND EMBLEMS OF THE ROSES. 
CURIOSITIES OF FLOWERS. 
There is an old legend which saj's that Eve 
brought the Hose out of Eden with her. It has ' 
ahvays been a favorite flower with the Jews, and ‘ 
Solomon likens Christ to the Rose of Sharon. 
In later times the Rose of Jericho has usurped 
the place of affection so long held by that of 
Sharon. This rose is a native of Arabia Petrea, 
and opens only in fine weather. It also pos¬ 
sesses in a remarkable degree a reviving power, 
and can recover its life when to all appearance 
dead; hence the Jews use it as a symbol of the 
resurrection. A Mexican plant, possessing the 
same wonderful tenacity of life, is constantly for 
sale on the streets of New York; so that many 
must have become familiar with this phenome¬ 
non. The AA'hite Rose has always been sacred 
to the Virgin Mary, and mingled with the cross 
it w'as the device of Luther and also of the Rosi- 
crucians (su6 rosa cru.v). The Red Rose is the 
emblem of love and also of silence, because 
Cupid gave it to Harpocrates, the god of silence, 
in order to bribe him not to reveal any of the 
indiscretions of his mother; hence it was often 
■placed over the doors of guest rooms, to signify, 
that perfect freedom of conversation might be 
If you watch plants you will sec how pretty 
some of their characteristics are. For instance, 
observe how much ail flowers love the light. 
They' naturally tuni to it, oven if set or bent in 
an opposite direction. If set for a long time in 
one position, so that the stem has become con¬ 
siderably inclined, you may turn the pot around 
until the jiLant tends exactly' in an opposite di¬ 
rection from what it did before, yet it will grad¬ 
ually straighten itself up and curve again toward 
the light, and bask in all the sunshine it can 
reach. 
Flowers have their time to. sleep, some during 
the night, others during the day. Worthington 
Hooper, in writing of this characteristic, says: 
I W'as once admiring in the morning some 
flowers that were sent to me the evening before 
by a lady. Among them were some tulips, and 
out of one of these, as it opened, flew a bumble¬ 
bee. A lazy, dronish bee he must have been, to 
be caught in this way, as the bower was closing 
itself for the night. Or, perhajis, he had done a 
hard day’s work in gathering honey, and just at 
night .was so sleepy that he stayed too long in 
the tulip, and so was shut in. 
Clubbing Books Together. 
A copy free is given to any one forming a 
club of 10 for the purchase of either Fverg IFb- 
man her own Floicer Gardener, or Window 
Gardening, or Boxes of Initial Stationery. We 
have a neVv style now ready, superior to the 
last. The prices are as follows: Every Woman 
Her Own Flower Gardener, in pamphlet covers, 
50 cents; bound in cloth, §1. Witidow Garden- 
ing, §1.50. Initial Stationery, 50 cents. 
Window Gardening. 
This has been unavoidably delayed a month in 
consequence of some illustrations. These are near¬ 
ly finished, and progress, now is so satisfactory 
in printing, that we hope to have the book ready 
by the 20th of January. All may rest assured 
it will be a gem when actually issued. The il¬ 
lustrations are very numerous and expensive. 
LADIES’ CABINET INITIAl NOTE PAPER. 
A charming Novelty; Paper Rose-tinted and Per¬ 
fumed; your own Initial on each Sheet and each En¬ 
velope; handsomely Illuminated Cover on each Box; 
make very pretty and fashionahlc Presents among 
friends; a Packet of Choice Flower Scells or an En¬ 
graving in cacli Box, a Gift from tlic Publisher. Price 
50 cents per Bo.v, post paid by mail. For a Chib of 10 
at 50 cents, an Extra Box is given free. Address Mexrv 
T. Williams, Pnbiislier The Ladies' Flofal Cabinet, 6 
Bcekman Sti-ect, New York. 
