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NEW-YORK:
RANDOLPH,
1859.
683
BROADWAY
'
rt;
Entered, according
to
Act of Congress,
in the
year 1857, by
ANSON
D.
F.
RANDOLPH,
-ft'
Fire-Proof Buildings.
v\
TO
MY TWO DEAR
tt
vt
MOST AFFECTIONATELY
DEDICATED
New-Toe k,
1857.
v>
And who ?
"Doppies"?
who
in all the
world
are your
and they
their
little
girls.
I love them,
when
was
visiting
me
to her, laid
my head,
me
me
to be her aunt.
me Aunt "Doppy."
They
said to
us."
Anna; but
I prefer to call
them
my
Love's baptism.
m>
**
PEEF ACE.
I
WAS
after
most exquisite wreath of pressed flowers, which as far surpassed the best imitathe even surpasses painting as the work of God ever
^^%
tion of
it
that
man
can make:
"
Why
little
who
least,
do not
think
many who would like to know how to set themselves about it and yet I should and they, at even children might be told how to do them,
;
that
in this
perience
any thing that they can do themso much more pleasure than any thing could done for them." The notion was a pleasant one, that I exfrom know I way add to the happiness of children and amused for a that I take a much greater interest, and am
;
as
much
work
that I can
make with
my own hands,
%*
"ready-made," to than I do in any thing that is bought for me, beauty I whose arrangement I can add no new grace; to whose
my own
individuality.
book
is
intended to
assist in
either of time,
money.
4>
8
PREFACE.
I think, even quite small children, both boys and
girls,
as well
pictures,
it
delightful to
make themselves
all sorts
and have a
Will
collection
"of
their
own," of
of leaves, mosses, m
if,
grasses, flowers,
it
and
lichens.
in
'*
May
to October,
Hortus Siccus, or
come,
when in varnishing and arranging them as pictures and decorations, you can almost restore to yourself the delight of your summer rambles, and make into a permanent and abiding pleasure a portion
of the beauty which then charmed and refreshed your soul ?
Therefore, dear reader, be you child or woman, boy or man, if you would open your eyes some frosty morning next January, and behold a lovely wreath of flowers blooming upon the walls of your
chamber, with
all
read
little
this little
book
for
its
directions.
who
long for
have no curtains of lace or damask, and some beauty and grace in your furniture, only read
your windows, that
my
walls,
by the
beauty the
to
whom
the creations
me
little
full treasury
may
each and
gather materials to
and garnish
at the same time, health and hope, a knowledge of the exhaustless skill of God, and a taste ever
He
IK
1
PKEFACE.
With
those
you
^oloring, outline,
joy,
you say
That
is
true
but
if
and you
will
^ directions,
am
and catch
my
quite sure
you
me
for a
Any
some
and
and flowers
as
ornaments
oi^
id
jLias been
Lfts
to
me and
;
if
you ever
upon me,
am
sure
you
will
o sadly
I were
sit
and
say,
I"
a child to-day
and
^r>-;
I,
to Nature's groves
It-
j^chcr
ffifott
;;^ u and
grass,
ghalt
be^^gxfd
at night,
and waking,
say,
"
How
What
Truly,
tell
was a simple
spell 1"
4:i
**
PKEFACE.
9
as for marvellous profusion for your culture and enjoyment, as well his
own
pleasure.
With
those
you
growing per-
you a
life.
"
means of usefulness
Do you
That
is
true
but
if
will "Nature never did betray the heart that loved her," and you these delightful follow my directions, and catch my enthusiasm for
pursuits, I
Il
am
quite sure
11
you
me
for a
"breach of promise.
I have
these
by no means exhausted the subject. Any one who loves after some things may go on and make original designs, and,
practice,
may
discover
and
decorations, in
seen.
how to use leaves and flowers as ornaments many ways that I have not yet thought of, and
it
;
have never
should become only half as pleasant and improving a pursuit to you as it has been to me and if you ever that win half the thanks for your gifts of leaf and flower pictures
If
you will kind and loving hearts have showered upon me, I am sure a thank me as long as you live for bringing to your notice such
charming recreation.
*
*
You who sadly sit and say, " Would I were a child to-day I"
Come, and
like the children, play:
Come
4"
"
and
flowers.
Thou
shalt
be as tired
at night,
As
a child
and waking,
say,
1
How
What
tell
1"
<i
10
PEEFACE.
In the buoyant shining
Breathe forth
all
air
;
and
leaf,
*>*
Only thou confiding be Pray that thy blind eyes may open,
and
tree
When the
Bade thee
Lord thy
all
spirit
met,
*>
H. B.
V\J
mi
mttt
Mmm ktttm
AOT)
ELOW to ma.:ke
=*
4
them
<
>
>
CHAPTER FIRST.
L
EAVES.
In May, you
may
and wild
and as early
roadside, in
by the
Hi
the forest, and in the garden, you can find beautiful green leaves in great abundance. It will be well
for
you
to
make
it
rule,
never to go
home from a
for collecting
leaf,
12
beautiful green,
when they
Gather
from the
by the
roadside,
and from
The smaller leaves are the best for wreaths of leaves, and pictures of all sorts but you will need some large ones, and a great many large and small fern leaves, to inter;
autumn leaves, with which you will decorate the walls of your rooms and small boughs of leaves will be needed to place
in vases with grasses,
side of
and
if
to nail
windows
of tiny leaves,
you can find small sprays be sure and gather them, for these
;
and
making your wreaths and The greater variety you can have in the
picsize
of the leaf, the better, as the greater the variety of outline the more pleasure will be given to the eye.
If,
for instance, I
make an
entire picture of
maple
leaves,
all of
one shape
whatever
will noi
of
variety of colors I
may have
it
:
the picture,
if I
it
be so beautiful as
each of these forms
will
be
13
;hers
V
z*
\
f
I
\U, in
^fiiis
many
col-
when
dried
by the
sun,
pressing
if
they are at
all
damp, or
c'ust
upon them.
13
And
others,
still,
in sprays
small leaves.
to the highest
color.
as essential
Soon
;
lect leaves
when
by the
sun,
soft
they are at
all
damp, or
:
.
14
common
Pear,
leaves that
Beech,
Aspen,
Oak,
Birch,
Plum,
Cherry,
Blackberry,
Ferns.
Purple Beech,
Autumn leaves
sible after they
liest,
change
turn ear-
and
brightest.
Re-
member
contrasts.
many
The
-
Sumac
it,
is
so brittle, that I
it is
although
more
brilliant in
leaf.
keep them
by
an Herbarium, or on
There are
many
more
whose names
pressed.
beautiful
when
)
Of P410N/ MAJOR
JcXNAF>. 4-tS
SWMWAr: MS
THE
F ORE S T
WRE AT H
15
CHAPTER SECOND.
BEST MODE OF PRESSING LEAVES. Take any old book, the
soft,
or,
to
the paper
is,
the better
for
then
it
will drink in or
It
for
more
make
soften
the covers.
soft towel,
dust and
dampness carefully from both sides of your leave. Then lay them flat, singly or in little branches, of three and four upon one stem keep the stems upon
;
as
many
give
for
when you
bottom of a wreath, you need the stems it the appearance of a vine or bouquet: also, in decorating walls, you will need the stems. Begin at the end of your book. Lay in as many
to the
to
come
'
16
take twelve or twenty leaves of the look, and press them down carefully over your green leaves, so as to be sure to leave them lying uncurled,.
any.
Now
then put
several
more pages
is
book
and so
on, until
your book
Med.
Many
piles of books, or
cumbrous contrivances to hold the lids of the book together tightly, and press the green leaves flat. But the simplest and easiest method for every one, is, to take one or two long strong
and pass them many times around the book, both from bottom to top, and from side to side, and Then if tied tightly, as near the edges as possible. you may make a foot-ball of it, if you choose, and
strings,
come out straight and in as good order as when you laid them In this way books filled with flowers and leaves, in.
may be thrown
wanted
;
and no amount
them, unless the strings get untied, and they will need no further care, but will be all ready for varnishing,
in the winter.
Indeed,
I
17
years since, ago, leaves pressed in Virginia twelve leaf that my brother picked from the grave of
and a
Napoleon, in
St.
moved
to Paris.
These are
all in
good preservation,
and much
2
18
CHAPTER THIRD.
DIRECTIONS FOR SELECTING AND PRESSING FLOWERS.
As a
general rule,
less they
soft calyx.
When-
ever the leaf or petal of a flower, has a juiceless, silky texture, and the little green cup, or calyx, that
is
double Buttercups will press well. But all Roses, excepting the Dwarf Burgundy, all Lilies, Petunias, and Camelias, Acacias, and nearly all white flowers,
are unsuitable. are
:
to press
common
Blue Larkspurs, Heaths of all kinds. All sorts of Heather, scarlet and purple Sages, Forget-me-nots, all sorts of Pansies, (which some persons call Violets,)
Carnations, and
many
of the red
semble Harebells, or single Buttercups. All varieties of small green leaves should be gathered and pressed
jMMHlHliMBlilliHHHMHI^^^
19
the more
flowers
of
them the
better.
Of greenhouse
among
the
and leaves, and DraBourardas, all Sages, Heaths, Geraniums, Nasturtions, and Fuschias, if small and
Coral-plant, Arbutilon
blossoms
gon-flowers,
do not know.
Quaking
and
Canadian
nearly
to the
all varieties of
to get In selecting flowers, care must be taken flower has those most recently opened. For when a in been opened a day or two, its leaves get loose
the calyx,
some of their brightness, and its silky leaves are more likely to crumple and you wrinkle in drying and the dried flower, when come to take it out of your book to use in a picyou will ture, will be very likely to fall apart, and
its
tints lose
have some trouble in rearranging the leaves as get they grow in the calyx. Yet if you can not take flowers when they are first opened, you can
the separate leaves,
when
pressed,
and
stick
them
one by one, back into their calyx, and they will look But in order just as if they had never fallen apart. flower to do this, you must study the look of every
you
be daguerrotyped in your
20
PICTTJEES,
be able to restore the petals to their cup, in the same order in which the Creator made them to grow.
a delightful and most instructive part of the study and if you learn it well, you can
is
;
This
draw and paint flowers, and leaves, and trees, from memory, which would be a great advantage to any
would add, that lialfopened buds, and small tm-opened buds, such as Arbutilon and Fuschias, are beautiful to press, and
artist,
especially in winter.
make your
Verbenas, and
many
must be sepaand either pressed singly, or in smaller bunches of two and three. If you undertake to press an undivided bunch, you will mar its beauty; for
rated,
should prefer
if
of your pictures, or in
flowers
and which
you do not own, and never omit an opportunity of adding to your collection. If you have friends who
21
them, proare travellers or sailors, you can, through interest cure many rare flowers, and those that have
Ivy leaf from foreign, or historical association. An Athens a from Kenilworth, or one from Rome or Australia any leaf from South-America, California, of an Hersuch token, adds much to the interest more perfect in barium. Tulips may be preserved
; ;
pressing,
by pressing each
itself,
petal
by
itself,
and the
calyx by
and then group the leaves together them, inserting afterward, when you come to use
them
|f
^>
22
CHAPTEE FOUKTH.
MOSSES AND GRASSES.
and on rocks. Lichens grow on old fences, on rocks, on stone walls, and upon the bark of trees. You need an old knife, with a blunt edge, with which to pry lichens, in large unbroken flakes, from the places where they grow.
trees,
Brakes and Ferns are found in almost every grove and forest in New-England, and they press beautifully.
They are
chiefly valuable to
mingle with
as
autumn
or
to place
over doors
and
arches,
they are
Still,
much
for
bouquets
too
and
baskets,
and
for
vases,
mingled
not have
You can
many
spurs
of
Oats
for all
these purposes.
_.
23
They are graceful in every place. You want them both ripe and unripe, for thus you will have two
varieties of color in one form, namely, green
when
unripe,
all
which help to
^
24
CHAPTER FIFTH.
VARNISHING LEAVES.
Have a large-mouthed vial, what carriage-makers call Have a soft brush like this
:
Flowing
Tarnish.''
paper varnish" in preference. As you dip it in the varnish be careful to take up but little, and press off all that would drop on to the side of your vial, or cup. Have plenty
of
Some use
table,
and a towel
at hand.
The leaves that you intend to paste into an Herbarium, or upon card-board for pictures, will need but one coat of varnish upon
the right side
;
newspapers
each leaf
to dry.
Be
careful that,
when
drying,
two leaves
MBOTBMi
MMMHMHB^BHMIHIiH
^^^^^B
25
them without breaking them. Then take your larger leaves, and leaves, and your boughs or bunches of varnish and dry them in the same manner; and when, after a week, they are perfectly dry, give them
an additional coat of varnish, dry them once more, and afterward take any boughs and leaves that you design to use in vases, and give them one coat of
varnish upon the wrong side of the leaf, to prevent their curling at the edges. If glued to paper,
or to a wall', they will not
need
is
it.
still it
and makes them more glossy. is the best thing to keep them
A large
in, after
paper box
they are
all
varnished and thoroughly dried. Girls and ladies will find it desirable to use an old pair of kid gloves when varnishing for although you can remove the
;
varnish from your hands with grease, hot water, soap, and a vigorous rubbing with a piece of pumice-stone,
yet
you much trouble not to get it on. You need newspapers to cover and protect your table, or table-cloth, both when varnishing and
it
will save
it is all
untidy work
if it
26
CHAPTEK
HOW
TO PREPARE THE
SIXTH.
FLOWERS
I
IN THEIR PLACES, IN
have tried
is
many
sorts of glue,
and
find that
Gum
Tragacanth
this
it
Get six
cents'
worth of
gum, of an apothecary take half of it and put into an empty tin spice-box, such as come filled
about
all
Fill it
with
will
fire,
do
let it
it
soak
two ounces of cold water night. Then put it over the and
stir it until all
where
the lumps
them to pieces. Then set it away in a dry place, until you want to use it. It will mould in a cellar, but will keep in a dry place, ten days in summer, and six weeks in winter.
This
gum
is
far better
than
any thing that I have used. and leaves and flowers that are pasted upon paper
with
27
Should
it
be-
come a
use.
little
it
will
make
offer
again
fit
for
Here
may
Wealth no
Flowers show a
wish astray,
nor vain display.
elate,
Feed not
Let the
pride,
rich,
with heart
Deck
their
homes with
gilt
and
plate
need we
feel
steal.
maiden mild,
Every
James
F.
Clerke.
28
CHAPTER
DIRECTIONS
SEVENTH.
WREATH
OF
SECTION" FIKST.
FOR
MAKING A
LEAVES
OR
Procure a sheet of
stiff
Bristol board,
which can be had of any bookseller or, if you wish to save money, go to a
w hite
T
The
sheets
of Bristol board
size,
are
and a
half-
will only
make two very small pictures, and the smaller sheet while one sheet of pasteboard will only make one will make two good-sized pictures, and costs but
;
Take a piece
of waste paper,
;
and cut it to the exact size of your pasteboard when you have cut that as large as you wish your picture Cut from the to be, then fold your paper double. centre of it, a circular or oval piece, jusl which
29
yon fancy
board
;
and lay it over your pastetaking care that their edges meet exactly.
;
then unfold
it,
Thus Plate 1
is
s~
(
~*x
\ *
v.. .y
Plate
1.
Plate
2.
Plate
3.
by laying the paper down on the card-board, and just making a dot once every two inches with a lead pencil, upon the cardout.
You can
have when you remove the paper, a perfect guide in the dots, where to paste your leaves, as you see it in Plate 3.
board to indicate the
circle,
you
will
If
line
little
it
around the
part of
it
circle,
would look
better than
it
mode
of
drawing a
circle, is
to take a
bowl
or other
down
for it is import-
may be
equally dis-
upon both
of
30
gum on
and
will crumble Put a mite of the gum on the back side of your leaf, and on one side of the cup or calyx of your flower stick it down on the card-board near the top
brittle
easily.
;
and
leaves, as they
Thus, as in Plate
so long as to
Plate
2.
Then break
Plate
1.
off
the stem,
if it is
/-
.-***"'""^".
3j ^
^
i
S
\
i
/ ^^y
more than
you are
to
it
put on another
leaf,
just lapping
:
over
keep on doing
thus, until
last leaf
the
circle.
Let your
bottom have a good long stem, and leave it The leaves and flowers should be narrow at
31
be a
little
You will
when making
circle
one.
Now
on the other
side, thus, as in
and
over-
flowers, letting
them
little until
you meet the other half the bottom of the circle. These
child, after
mak-
make
beautiful ones.
Section Second.
Orescent
op Leaves.
piece of
stiff
cut
And
nished, upon
until- it is covered.
Begin at the
32
left off
When
dry, nail it
up with
tacks, the
open
you have under or over which you wish to have the crescent, nail it as you like.
no
As
to
be at
same way, thus, as in the Plate, that you may prefer, and hung anywhere you please upon a wall, having autumn leaves pasted on them as directed above. Stars and inicut out in the
size
may be
of
any
require no framing.
Section Third. Decorations for the tops of win* DOWS, DOORS, AND ARCHES.
cutting
pasteboard,
to
33
then when dry lushed autumn leaves glued on, and window or arch. These to he tacked over a door or and 46) in a bedare very pretty (see pages 44, 45, window to room. A hoard can he nailed over the
project a little in front of the curtains,
strip of stout
and a straight
pasteboard can be covered with leaves, curand form a very pretty cornice for white muslin board after they are tains,"* being nailed on to the board glued upon the pasteboard. If there is no little in nailed upon the window-frame to project a
move your front of the curtain, then, every time you but curtains the edges .of your leaves will break
;
swing
beneath the board, and not hit and crumble the points and edges of the leaves.
Bunches of leaves, and small boughs of them pinned or tacked upon a white wall, or over a paper
that has no flowers
upon
it,
are pretty.
/
>
fife
^ijSr
l^t
34
CHAPTEE EIGHTH.
DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING A PICTURE IN THE FRAME OF
fold it double
/""'
{
%
1
4
/T^
V
*
*'-
s' s?\
VJ
paper down upon the card-board upon which you wish to make your picture. Now draw
this this outline
Lay
You can do
tell
time than
have taken
to
you how.
Now
THE
35
of a bouquet,
beginning at the top of the bouquet, if you wish to make it of leaves or flowers. Perhaps it would be
comwell to dot the outline of the bouquet before mencing it, as in Plate 3, for a guide to your eye,
to
and
flowers, in
the right
places.
Proceed to put on one flower or leaf after with the another, covering the stems of the first row you use top of the leaves in the second layer. If into the grasses, all the stems must reach down the vase. vase, and be cut off below the upper rim of
If
you use flowers or leaves, your last layer at the bottom must have its stems enter the vase, and reachtake ing below its upper rim. When this is all done, them pieces of lichens, of different colors, and glue
on to the vase part of the picture, so as just to By reach to the pencilled outlines of your vase.
litstudying the colored engravings in this book a any one will learn tle, after reading these directions,
how to go to work to make them. Some persons buy little toy baskets made
low,
of wil-
and iron them flat, and sew the under half of the basket upon the card-board, and then paste on
leaves, or flowers, or grasses, so as to look like a
little
basket really
filled
all
the
36
stems of the grasses and flowers enter the basket, and these are very pretty.
It will
be
well,
when making
more
which
will
make
the
clear
followed.
just sit
If
you think
my
how
down and
try to write
them more
a thing
and you
do,
difficult
to
and
am
sure.
Til EM.
37
CHAPTER NINTH.
CROSSES.
These can be
of a cross
made by
it
first
upon
Bristol board.
to
frame
it,
do not cut
out
but
to avoid
the expense of framing, you can cut out of the Commence at the pasteboard, the form of a cross.
outer end of one
arm
of the cross,
Then begin
of the cross,
arm
Then begin
of the cross,
and glue on leaves overlapping each other until you reach the bottom of the cross. Then glue on a large flat flake of lichen, for a forethen if you have any delicate running ground
;
fibres
of
them and
trail
at the bottom, so as to
38
By
this,
and
it
is
star.
Hortus
Siccus, or
Herbarium.
The
begin with.
Press your flowers in some other old book carefully, according to the directions in Chapter Third,
on
selecting
flower, or leaf, or
and fasten it, upon the back of it, in the centre of a page in your Herbarium; write beneath it, the time when and the place where you gathered it. Wipe off any
and pressing flowers. When your moss is dried, take one specimen, by putting a mite of Gum Tragacanth
gum
that
is left
pressed
down upon
on the paper, after the flower is it firmly, with a clean soft hand-
Thus in a few years you will have a charming book, especially if you make it a rule to press at least one leaf or flower in every
kerchief or towel.
THE HERBARIUM
HB
39
will
Your Herbarium
then not
only be a beautiful collection of lovely natural obpleasant jects, but a mute remembrance of all the
places you have visited, and the pleasant people you have seen. These who are fond of poetry, can
leaf,
a few lines that are just the thing to write on the fly leaf opposite a specimen
an Herbarium
!
" Violets
vale,
gale,
"Wooed by
the sunshine,
waved by the
None by
the
dew of
tells
by catching
he
kills.
a gorgeous
butterfly:
this
Then he lays the butterfly on a page of his book, and carefully draws the outline of it. Then he pulls and having with a off the wings with great care
;
small hair brush, laid a very thin coating of linn id Gum Arabic upon the place outlined for the
soft,
40
wings, he lays the wings right side down, upon the gum arabicked outline when dry, he removes
;
them
the
gum
painted
a per-
less liable to get injured, than he had pressed and dried the insect itself in the ordinary way. This is a delicate operation, and
if
and one
it
well.
It is said that
grows whose flower or leaf is so exact a likeness of a butterfly with its wings outspread, and all the
most
brilliant
copied, that
when
is
tinguish
it
Many
wild
woods as
to preserve
in a Hortus Siccus.
41
fying glass in a stout frame, is a most delightful companion in the country out of doors. Every leaf,
flower,
and insect
and,
made
by
the
sea-side,
every
moss and
structure
shell, are
to reveal their
wonderful
this sim-
clearly
by using
Mosses
by
its use,
As an instance
doors,
if
of
was sitting upon the piazzasteps with my sewing, I saw crawling lazily along, an uncommonly ungainly and awkward bug, an inch in length. He was " solid substantial black,
an ebon mass."
"What an
I
ugly, repulsive
looklo
!
ing bug,"
thought.
on
was a spot
spread wings
the
exact outline of a
*
winged
aerial form,
:
and
thought
"
Why may
in
advance of
scale of being,
be
42
image of a higher
state,
the
ugly to
my
eyes, or repulsive to
my
feelings.
Deep
in the
wave
is
a coral grove
;
Where Where
But
its
leaves of blue,
falling
dew
And
is
To blush
The
And
Are bending
on the upland
lea
And
And
life,
in rare
Is sporting
is safe,
when
Has made
Percival.
<
O
ff!
I-'
o
I
!
&4
s v
5
43
CHAPTER TENTH.
SEA-WEEDS AND MOSSES.
.
lias
by
at
low
of
beautiful mosses.
You may
dry without
if
any
care,
your time
take them
all
Even six months afterwards you can take them out, and by throwing them into a basin of tepid water, and allowing them to soak three or four hours, they will Do swell and regain their original form and color. not have your water too warm, or allow them to
for if
you
and
fall
in pieces,
them.
When
and every
remove them, one at a time, from the water, by placing beneath them (with your hand) a sponge
44
covered with a bit of fine muslin, and lifting them quickly out. When the water has drained from the
side
paper ready.
and
swiftly
grew
Now
it,
so as not to
move a
flat
fibre, if possi-
ble
add
tw^o or three
more layers
of blotting-paper,
ure that
may be
left.
Lay
Put a fresh piece of blotting-paper carefully over it shut the book carefully, and leave it to dry. It is better to soak only one
(a
;
music-book will
for it is fussy,
and takes a
do one piece nicely, and one after doing one. If you soak more
to
you
press,
you
will
have
to
throw them
away, as they get too tender to be dried, and afterwards soaked again. In two or three days your specimen will be perfectly dried, and ready to
45
which can be arranged just like a basket of grasses, The above process is more esflowers, or leaves.
more delicate and fibrous mosses. Those that have pulpy leaves and tiny bladders, must be thoroughly cleansed in tepid water, and then dried upon a board that has had spread
pecially for the
over
it
make appear
and
their
hues rival the flaming color of the red cactus blossoms, as well as the more delicate glow of the rosecolored varieties.
46
CHAPTER ELEVENTH.
MOSS VASES.
A
a
little colored girl brought me, one
(she
summer, as
gift,
was the
child of
my
nurse,
and named
moss vase made entirely, by herself and her younger brother. It was so very graceful and pretty that I asked her how she made
after me,) a beautiful
it.
She told
me
thus
Take a square piece of pine board an inch at least in thickness, and a foot square make another an inch smaller, square cut a square hole in the
;
which
is
Glue the
two
first
Take
Get a
AIS D
T
HOW
TO
MAKE THEM.
47
Gum
Tragacanth
on one side of
bind
it
pasting
it
with half the width of the ribbon on the upper side, and half on the lower side of the brim. the wire If you prefer, you can sew this ribbon on
;
keeps
it firm,
and
in shape longer,
it
would be
An
hat,
where you would put on a hat-band, would be an improvement, as without one it will be apt to get out of shape after a while. JSTow, nail
your hat upside down on to the top of the long square It will be well to do this before gluestick of pine.
ing the stick into the pedestal, and putting on bits
an inch square, one inside the hat-crown and the other beneath it outside when you drive your nail, it will make it much more secure, and keep
of leather,
;
your straw from getting torn out from the nail it must be a shingle-nail, and driven exactly through
;
than
done.
48
The whole outer surface of the straw hat, and the stick, and the pedestal, was covered with lichens, of
all colors,
hat was
glued on, and the inside of the brim of the covered as well as the outside. No one
it,
how beautiful a vase was thus easily and cheaply manufactured from these simple materials. I used to put a small, light earthen bowl inside the hat-crown, and fill it with
could believe
flowers
;
who
and
it
Be
was the glory of my parlor for years. which are nearly flat, for
this
purpose
autumn leaves UPON A WHITE WALL, BY THE SIDE OF A WINDOW THAT HAS NO DRAPERY CURTAINS.
step-ladder,
Have a
and commence
at the top.
glue the leaves on, as a mite of gacanth stuck upon the back of each leaf
it
You can
Gum
will
Tra-
keep
The
gum
should be
made
little
quite a thick paste for this purpose. One daub of paste on the back of each leaf
will
be
enough
for all
need two or
three.
Lap
first
the last leaf you put on one, as you come down the
JWW--S
B
5
3KJ55
'KqT'fsmF* s
Mj
JV
-.
3)'
Dffi^
SIM
49
and
if
can hardly
to
make
a pretty decoration.
You
small,
green and
leaves, large
and
and some boughs of bright leaves, and boughs of green leaves. Your boughs may need to have one or two carpet-tacks driven into the wall through
their thickest stems, in order to hold
them
firmly.
it,
out of
pasteboard.
at the
it,
com-
mencing
50
lapping
put on
piece,
and cover
;
centre
cent,
and glue on leaves until you come back to the centre. The crescent and the wreath can be made separate and nailed together when you put them
up, over a door or
in the next plate.
window
or arch, as it is
shown
This decoration
is
51
pasteboard covered with autumn leaves, glued on, and then nailed above a door or a window, with a
bunch
of leaves
As some
together, curving
them
irregularly, in
and
;
out, as the
main stem
of
on branches, if you like then commence at the top, and glue on your leaves until you have reached the To cover the branches, begin at the end bottom. with that is farthest from the main stalk, and cover it
leaves in the
same way.
and
if
very long,
of the larger or smaller, in proportion to the size window, or the wall which you wish to decorate, can
be covered with leaves and by means of two or three loops of tape sewed on the back of the pasteboard before any leaves are glued on, they may, when
;
ft
52
covered, be fastened
or a wall,
by a pin
or tack, to a
window
beautiful.
A
Take a piece
"Window Screen
the size of the inside of your window, or the size of one of the sashes only paste on to this,
;
with
Arabic, a border of strips of pasteboard two inches wide, all around it paste also in the centre a ring, or a round piece of paste;
Gum
Tragacanth, or
Gum
begin at one corner, and paste all around it make a wreath, on the circlet in the centre, or a bouquet, if you have pasted a round piece of pasteboard there pin it by
;
board
when
dry,
leaves on
the
window, and
I shall
be much
disappointed
if
you do not
Green
silk
muslin will
make a
thicker screen.
it is
I prefer
a better
and because
it
53
CHAPTER TWELFTH.
HOW
TO MAKE AND KEEP A FERNERY.
An aquarium
affair,
is
and of doubtful success, except in very patient and very skillful hands hands also, that have not a thousand other daily necessary things to do but
; ;
not so a Fernery.
to
expense
little
make
any
one,
and requires,
it
after it is
made, but
attention to keep
of
size that
perpetual.
;
you choose of course the larger they Any child can make a are, the more they will cost. little bit of one, that shall cost less than twenty-five
cents,
begin by telling
find, or
how
make
Buy a common
glass
a clear white
Take
a bit of board, and work some putty into a long roll, as large around as your little finger make a ring of
;
ft
54
circle,
make
it
and when
it is
it
down
your
glass,
and
let the
the groove in
it.
When
it,
perfectly dry,
you can
air-
and
it
will
be very nearly
of your glass,
JS
and
it
will cost
ow
with
cup mosses,
little ferns,
or
any
little plant,
with tiny
Dig them up
If
you can
or
is
moss-grown,
is,
break
off
a piece of
tall.
nearly as
If
you can't
an one ready
made, get a dead branch, take as much of it as will go under your glass, pry up some lichens off a stone,
and paste them on to the branch, covering it with the moss. Gum Arabic will do to stick the moss
or fence,
on with.
Now
your groove, a
little fairy
moss-covered garden, out of your plants put your little, branch in the centre, leaning over on one side a
little, and held up by a ground pine water these a so for put your glass on tightly, and it will grow touching three months, and perhaps more, without
;
Vapor will rise inside the bell, collect in it plants. The winterinto drops, and fall again on the and bear greens and squaw-berries will blossom,
again.
berries,
tell if it
and the
little
You can
needs water again, for if there is no vapor bell, then or dew collecting for two days inside the you must take off the glass and water it a little then
;
put on the glass again, and it will go so three months what more. You will not need any earth except
sticks to the roots of the plants,
from the
when you dig them woods. Too much earth will make the glass
If
liable to burst.
you have got two dollars to spend, you can buy a glass bell two feet high, and a foot in diameter for seventy-five cents, I believe and you can with get a standard turned for it out of wood,
;
a groove in
it,
and at any green-house, if you have no woods to go and bits of flowers, to, you can buy some little mosses, and green
things, that will
must
of course
buy plants in
56
not grow.
still
larger
one,
can
be made by having a table grooved, and a bell of glass blown, large enough to fit into the groove then
;
way as the small ones, only of course you can introduce larger plants, and more of them. Wild
fill
you
flowers
and plants
their table
made with a
rim, from
one to two inches deep, and in the top of the rim is the groove for the glass bell that is to cover it then they fill with gravel, and little bits of decayed wood
;
and
soil
from some
forest,
table
up
On one
this they
with small white pebbles and the wild flowers, ground pine, ferns,
line
shells,
etc., it
then plant
around, and
on a miniature
and put a
little soil
on top of
little
that,
and plant
make a
and woods, and pleasure-grounds of the whole, then cover it with the glass, and it will last so for years, and only needs watering when the dew ceases to collect inside the bell.
a room
All Ferneries must be kept in where nothing ever freezes, for freezing will
57
Keep a
for
slip of Ivy in
water
for
a fortnight or even
of a month in the spring, then plant it in a pot will have the earth, and set it in a window where it
most
light,
and
if
It will
grow
upon
and be careful to tie loosely, so as not to rub or cut the winthe bark fasten these loops with a pin into dow-sash, or wood-work, wherever you may wish to up by the train it in two or three years it will run and side of a door, or a window, and across the top,
;
finally
run down the opposite side, forming a perfect green border all around the door or window beside
which
it
grows.
is
no ornament more graceful and beautiful than this, for any room, be it a parlor, study, dining, Of course the dark glossy leaves will or bed-room. show to better advantage on a white wall, or a light
There
paper, or around mouldings painted white but decorates Oak as well, and is beautiful wherever
;
it it
is put.
Light
is
absolutely essential to
it,
58
LEAF
A1STD
FLOWER
PICTURES,
more rapidly
it
will grow,
and the
more perfect
It
It will
ly,
grow perfectly
in a
fire
all winter.
One lady has an Ivy which has been growing eral years in the house. It commences at the
of one
sevfoot
window, runs to
its
down upon
it
to
the floor
have therefore taken a bronze stand that has a bowl to it, and which is about three feet
I
high.
it
my
Ivy
thus mounted,
door,
makes out
my
and has
lichens,
grows,
covered with
with branches of crisp moss, and with turfs of longbearded moss, some of which I gathered a year ago,
At
Leuk
there is a walk to
woods
59
Up
upon slender ladders, of which there are ten, The trees all along this until you reach the top. walk are hung with thesebrai dsof moss. In Virginia forests, I have seen the same thing, and any one who
to crag,
"I
w ill take pains to hunt for them, may find almost any where, upon rocks and old fences, by the side of
r
ponds and
forests,
abundance
to stick
of mosses,
and he will
By
all
means
collect
bits of putty,
upon brown pots, with covering them entirely, and to lay over
them
conservatory, and
upon a shelf, or set of stairs, the common ugly-looking brown pots and black earth are converted by this simple means into an additional
liv-
spring
in
the
fields,
woods.
Putty
is
them on
my
my
plants, is
an
effec-
60
my patience
so long,
and
almost disgusted
me even with
One
had sprinkled the plant, and strewn the earth with powdered brimstone, not a bug was to be seen that was six months ago, and not one could be found upon any of my plants since that time. It is far less troublesome, and far more effectual, than smoking, or any other remedy I have ever seen tried, giving and
;
There
is
rented houses.
to house,
They are
easily
the care
we have taken
and
all their
be transplanted.
are, for the
is to set
If
summer,
that needs
be done,
rain and the sun will take care of the Ivy for you,
until
you return.
The leaves
and
BD
61
I
wipe them
as
off
can only hope you will set one growing, and enjoy
it
In
much many
common, and seems as hardy as the ground-pine does in JSTewvEngland. Of course, large well-grown plants can be bought, which will at once take their place over a door or window, as the chief elegance in a room, but those who buy them thus
in the woods,
and
is
as
far
by
to
The leaves
when
I
set in a
it
window,
all
whirled
;
room but the next day, the instinct of the leaves had twisted each stalk around, until, as at first,
into the
light.
New-
England.
will do well
it
forms
One can
62
be had
window
that leads
from a parlor into a conservatory, than a pot of Ivy, and in all piazzas that are glazed in, as a protection
to plants in winter, the Ivy, with little care,
fear that frost will hurt
it,
and no
63
POSTSCRIPT.
I
upon
upon young and old, rich and poor, to lay down the coverlet and worsted needles, the broom and the spoon, to leave housework or sewing, tailoring, shoe-making, and manufacturing of
tising
all kinds,
and even
upon harp
with crayons, or painting abominations in oils leave any thing you may happen to be about, and give
one hour in the day, or one hour in the week, to hunt with me in the undergrowth of the woods, or
saunter beneath trees, or look
by the roadside
some
as you
find
leaf or flower,
and look it in the face until you know it by heart, and love it and then press it carefully, to help give you glad thoughts and
or blade or spear of grass,
:
64
and have no green places to walk in, nor gardens to grow beauties in, surely in some old cask, or box, or broken pitcher, you can
put a shovelful of
You who
and have a Violet or two, a common blue Larkspur, or some oats, or grass, or a
earth,
Geranium; something
ful
to
is
growing,
or,
when
and
give
of
It
summer has
been,
Ye who
the
put in yours.
tion
as cultiva-
How can
a child or a
to
man
all
love flowers
love
Of
gifts to the
flowers is the
most valued, and a wreath of flowers or leaves made to hang in the sick-room of some
who
would
it
*
not
fail of its
reward
little
thoughtful charity
like this
may be
given by those
'
65
to bestow.
All
who
in-
tend to embroider or to
all
make
who make
;
houses
all artists
and painters in
fresco
;
all
who
are
en-
all
who
;
upon
all
furniture
all
jewellers and
manu;
ware
sort,
all
who
are to
make
fruits
;
artificial
all
flowers of
any
and
leaves,
and
who
and many more, can have no teacher like the leaves, and flowers, and grasses, the works of " the Highest." All other
or engrave their illustrations,
and feeble imitations, even the most renowned of them are. The best masters in
cojyies
;
of His
works
arts,
skill
by
call the
is
pressed
be
winter to be arranged.
guileless hours I
I
thank God
and
flower,
and stem of
66
feathery grass.
"
To
my
good
will,
promise
*
" That
girls in
making pedestrian tours, carry a book in which to press flowers and leaves. If American boys and girls would not scorn this refined and eleor
and appreciation of natural beauty, and consequently in true refinement, becoming thus more really
"
when He walked the earth in human form, drew lessons of wisdom and love from the flowers and never until we love them and make companions of them, shall we know their
The Son
of the Highest,
;
power to cheer, to teach, and to inspire our souls. The most skillful artist, when he comes to paint out
his thought for the world to read, will only reproduce
harmony and contrast of colors, that he has caught in the woods and gardens of the Lord. Our Creator says, that he made our souls in his own
that magic
6?
what he took pleasure in making, and pronounced "very good," we shall take pleasure in beholding and if we will but get suffitherefore,
;
marvellous
skill
they show,
we
shall
exclaim ever
more and more intelligently in the inspired language " Lord how manifold are thy works of David Poets say that in wisdom hast thou made them all" God has written out some of his most beautiful
: !
thoughts in the flowers, as a man writes out his thoughts in letters and words. Let us, then, by fre-
quent spelling and reading over many times these beautiful expressions of the thoughts of our God, daily learn to read more distinctly and clearly His
infinite
wisdom,
love,
and power.
is
How
away
at boarding-
school in a cold northern climate, will leap within him when he sees even the most stinted and imperfect
blossoms of such plants as grew in his sunny Even so, although the fairest flower southern home that blooms now on the earth bears only a dwarfed
!
and faded resemblance to those of our primal home in Eden, still they remind us of that glory from which
we
are
now
exiled.
awaken
in
68
Eedeemer has bought back from the hands of Eternal Justice, and which He promises to restore to all those w ho love Him, and who long to see Him coming, bringing with him the " Holy City' and its glorious garden bringing it from God, out of heaven down to earth and man ? He is not only the Redeemer of lost man, but the restorer of his lost paradise, and to both, like a king, he restores more than was lost.
inheritance which our
T
7
make us
homesick
when
now
the garden
God
am
digression"
his
own word
that "
by
they are
Shall
and
we not
we
him ?
Surely, the
more
like
him we
are, the
more
for
pleasure
shall take in
whatever he created
69
all
own
delight
and we
it
shall give
itself,
him
the glory,
had he not created us capable of taking pleasure in that which delights him, we should see no beauty in his works so that who-
we
take in
for
own
apprecia-
works of God,
71
" robs
I fear
God
of the glory,"
and
for
''glories in himself.
want
of thought,
and
also
perhaps
for
want
of humility,
to ourselves
:
have
"
pharisaical
I
w ay
r
of
saying
Thank God,
all
am
/can enjoy
it."
Bather
let
us go
and go
to
For not
gift
Com-
eth
maker