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Classic
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page 444
mucilage made of five parts gum-arabic, three parts white sugar, two parts
starch; add very little water, boil, and stir till thick and white.
TO KILL EARTHWORMS. --Ten drops of carbolic acid in a pint of water, poured over
earth in flower-pots will kill all earthworms.
CUT FLOWERS.--Large soup-plates or dishes, filled with wet sand or wet cotton,
will keep cut flowers fresh for a long while, or many seeds may be started in
such receptacles, and will grow luxuriantly in them.
TEMPERATURE.--The principal difficulty in keeping house-plants healthy is
overheated rooms; the temperature should never go above 80° nor below 40°, in
order to keep plants healthy.
TO KEEP CUT ROSES FRESH.--Roses, camellias, and all hard-wooded flowers, such as
are used for head-dresses, button-hole bouquets, etc., may be kept fresh, and
their beauty preserved by the following plan: Cut stems off at right angles, and
apply hot sealing-wax to the end of the stalk immediately; this prevents the sap
flowing downwards, thereby preserving the flower.--Gov. Kemper, Virginia, 1788.
IVIES.--A successful cultivator of ivies feeds them with iron and cod-liver oil;
the iron in form of rusty nails, mixed into the earth. Another produced a
luxurious growth by watering once a week with tobacco-water; making a tea of
refuse tobacco-leaves and stems, or of coarse tobacco. The water from the
washing of fresh beef is also of great benefit to ivies.
TO REVIVE WITHERING FLOWERS.--Take them from the vase, throw out the cold water,
and replace it with hot water in which you can hardly hold your finger, put in
it the flowers immediately; or burn the ends; or throw a little salt in the
water. The effect is wonderful.
FLOWERS FOR TABLE.--A very beautiful way to arrange flowers is to use tin forms,
filled with water or sand, made in any desired shape, such as crosses, circles,
half-circles, triangles, etc. They are made easily by any tinner, and should be
about one inch deep. Tiny forms of tin in the shape of the letters of the
alphabet, containing the initial letter of the name of the guest, may be placed
at the plate to which each is assigned. The flowers may be arranged so as to
conceal the tin form if desired.
WARM WATER.--Plants will thrive much better if warm water is used upon them
instead of cold. If every saucer is filled with boiling water every morning, it
will add to the luxuriance of the plant, and frequently no other moisture will
be needed for several days; tea-leaves can also be added in small quantities to
the soil of the pots. Ivies are always beautified by such an application, and it
is an excellent thing to wet a sponge in tea, and moisten the leaves with it.
Wax plants are especially susceptible to the benefit of warm water application.
HANGING BASKETS.--A correspondent of the Gardner's Monthly tells of a new style
of hanging basket made of round maple sticks, about one inch in diameter, eight
inches in length at the bottom, increasing to fourteen at the top. In
constructing, begin at the bottom and build up, log-cabin fashion; chink the
openings with green moss, and line the whole basket with the same. They are
easily kept moist, and the plants droop and twine over them very gracefully. A
good way to keep the earth moist in a hanging basket without the bother of
taking it down, is to fill a bottle with water and put in two pieces of yarn,
leaving one end outside. Suspend the bottle just above the basket, and allow the
water to drip; this well keep the earth moist enough for winter, and save a
great deal of time and labor. Plant morning-glory seeds in hanging baskets in
winter: they grow rapidly and are very pretty.
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