ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Glexinias.— Mrs. E. H. G., Dcinsvitte, N. Y. After 
your Glexinias have flowered they will need rest, which 
should be afforded them by gradually withholding water 
for two weeks; after that do not give them any water, 
but put the pots in any out-of-the-way place, warm and 
dry, and leave them until about the first of March, 
when they will commence a new growth. Then they 
should be re-potted if desirable, the bulbs or tubers can 
be cut into as many pieces as there are eyes, or they 
may be grown on without division, making a large and 
showy plant. 
Begonias.— Mrs. E. Shouse. We cannot say, with 
any degree of certainty, what the cause of the buds of 
your Begonias’ drooping is. There must be some un¬ 
favorable condition of growth; what it is we cannot 
say without seeing the plant. The most likely cause is 
too dry an atmosphere where it is grown. This is a 
common cause of failure; too much water when the 
plant needed rest may have been the cause. Again 
there are some varieties that will not thrive in the living- 
room ; they must have the humid atmosphere of the 
fern-house. Yours may be one of these. 
11 Learned Names.”—A good friend of the Cabinet 
does not like the correct, or “learned names” of plants 
which we are compelled to use, not because tee are 
learned, far from it, but because local or common names 
have no significance. The derivation of the names is 
one c.f the interesting features in the study of plants; 
often they are commemorative, sometimes liistorical, 
again for their uses in the arts, or for their supposed 
medical properties. In all cases they mean something, 
which cannot be said of such names as Bouncing Bet, 
May-weed, Butter-and-Eggs, Red-hot-Poker, Ragaud, 
Squaw-weed, etc., etc. 
, Elle.vton, Fla., 18S2. 
* Dear Cabinet —I have always welcomed your arrival 
with much pleasure, but this month you have come in 
a fresh dress, and in such a greatly improved form that 
I hasten to send you my congratulations. 
Your “Floral Notes from Florida” have interested as 
well as amused me. My experience is similar to “ Aunt 
EfBe’s.” I must confess I was a little disappointed, ray- 
self, at not seeing such a profusion of flowers as I had 
been told were growing all around, everywhere. But 
I find there is an abundance of them, if one knows where 
to look. In a hammock, a short distance from the 
house, there are growing some lovely, pale straw-colored 
flowers, somewhat resembling our Fleur de Lis of the 
North, but the green leaf is prettier, the largest being 
convoluted and holding in its folds the long delicate 
buds, that in their manner of growth resemble the Calla 
liily. The flower is a pale lemon or straw-color, the in¬ 
ner petals being delicately crimped. It gives out a faint 
joDquil-like perfume. I wish I could send one so as to 
find out its proper name. Going along the road the 
other day, I saw a large bush full of brilliant, gorgeous 
flowers growing beside a stump; it proved to be a Lan- 
tana, of which there are many varieties all growing 
wild. The Madagascar Periwinkle is perfectly at home 
here, so, I am told, are the Passion flowers, though, as 
yet, I have seen but one variety, and that a pale laven¬ 
der. Pilea grows spontaneously, and is called “ Cuba 
Moss." Portulacca is everywhere : a little boy brought 
me a handful of dowel's this morning that I could 
scarcely believe were wild. He got them, lie said, on 
the “prairie.” There was a pure white, daisy-like 
flower, but single, borne in clusters on the slenderest 
stem ono could imagine. So delicate and flexible were 
they that the flowers were in constant motion. In con¬ 
trast were two Lilies of a bright cherry-color, shading 
at the base into yellow. I asked the name, hut it had 
none except Lily. The boy said it did not have a bulb, 
but only a root. I must look into that, for it docs not 
seem likely that a flower, so much resembling a Tulip 
or Lily, should not have either a bulb or a tuber. In 
this number of the Cabinet, I was delighted to find 
“ How to pack plants when traveling.” As 1 intend 
going North in a few weeks, I want to take a few of my 
Florida pets with me. But I am running on at greater 
length that I intended. P. W. P. 
[We are always glad to answer any inquiries coming 
from our readers regarding plants, and if the writer of 
the above will send us a blossom and leaf of those 
flowers she is not familiar with, we will give her their 
names, etc.— Ed.J 
Timely Hints.—One of our good friends in the South 
would like us to make our monthly hints suit that 
climate. We cannot well do this, as it would require a 
page for each degree of latitude. We write for the lati¬ 
tude in which we live. The operations carried on maybe 
commenced sooner or later, to suit the locality, whether 
north or south from New York. The work for April, 
in New York, should be commenced in January in 
Mississippi. 
Gladiolus.— John B., Ottawa City, Canada. The in¬ 
formation you desire you will find given at length in an 
essay upon “The Gladiolus,” published in this issue. 
Zinnias .—Martha A. Patten, Texas. Perfectly white 
Zinnias are now becoming quite common, and are very 
useful plants for the border. Your success with plants 
shows plainly what can be achieved by well directed 
labor. Plants, like friends, like attention, and they 
will return love for love every time. 
Tea Roses.— Mrs. N. C. D. The enemy of your Roses 
is mildew, the cause of which is not known, though it is 
a well-known fact that when the conditions of growth 
are not favorable mildew appears. For that disease, 
sulphur appears to be the only remedy. In the green¬ 
house it is sprinkled over the pipes or flues, which makes 
an effective fumigation. A good plan for you to adopt, 
would be to let your Roses gradually dry off, allowing 
them a rest of a few weeks, then shell all the earth from 
their roots, and repot in fresh soil. We should advise 
the use of well-drained pots instead of cans. You may 
