Bird's-eye pepper in a pretty flower pot is a beautiful ornament, as they are covered all the year with tiny green and scarlet peppers. They have a delightful flavor and beautify the table. Sprinkle the bush often, as it brightens the foliage and removes all dust. Besides these substitutes for flowers there are, for instance, pots half filled with damp sand, on which grains of corn may be sprinkled, and then the pot nearly filled up with sand. Into the sand may be plunged GREENHOUSES AND COLD PITS. 107 an old moss or lichen stick ; alongside it a spray of pretty ivy may be pressed into the moist sand and then twined around the stick and fas- tened with wire at the top. The sand may then be covered with moss and a spray of fir or arbor vitse may be added. If these are kept moist they will remain green till the corn grows. Or this : Sew coarse flannel around a goblet with the stem broken off ; put this shapely dome upon a saucer of water ; wet the flannel and sprinkle over as much flax seed as will adhere to it. The flannel will absorb the water from the saucer, which should often be replenished. In about two weeks the flannel will be concealed in a beautiful verdure, which will vie with any table ornament. GREENHOUSES AND COLD PITS. A miniature one may be arranged by means of a simple glazed frame, shaped something like a bay window. This, being made the size of the window, is screwed on to the other side, taking the place of the blinds, which are not required in the winter season. By opening the sash, top and bottom, the warm air of the apartment circulates among the plants, which shut out the wintry landscape and give a summer look to the room. When the plants are in a separate apartment, water can be used freely by syringing and a moist atmosphere preserved. The tempera- ture, with this arrangement, can be kept lower than would be comfort- able in the living room, and the plants be saved from dust and many evils which we manage to endure and live, but which generally prove too much for the plants. A small greenhouse may be built, including furnace and flue complete, for about $6 a running foot, that is, a house eleven feet wide and thirty feet long will need an outlay of $180, but if the owner is handy with tools and does some of the work himself, the cost will be materially lessened. Locust or cedar posts six feet long are put two feet in the ground, at three feet distance between each ; to these rough hemlock boards are nailed, then a layer of tarred paper, and the whole covered with weather boards. The rafters are now put on, at what carpenters term one- third pitch. Now we are ready for the roof. The furnace room is shingled, and the greenhouse will receive seven sashes on each side, each 3x6 feet, laid on in such a way that each of them covers one-half of the width of the rafter. The first and each alternate sash are screwed down, but the others must be left to allow ventilation when necessary, by putting a block of wood under them. The interior is divided in equal portions by a two- foot walk running its entire length, so that we get two benches on each side four and one-half feet wide. Such a house will be best heated by a flue made 7x7 inches inside measurement, starting from a furnace in 108 FLOWERS.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Bird's-eye pepper in a pretty flower pot is a beautiful ornament, as they are covered all the year with tiny green and scarlet peppers. They have a delightful flavor and beautify the table. Sprinkle the bush often, as it brightens the foliage and removes all dust. Besides these substitutes for flowers there are, for instance, pots half filled with damp sand, on which grains of corn may be sprinkled, and then the pot nearly filled up with sand. Into the sand may be plunged GREENHOUSES AND COLD PITS. 107 an old moss or lichen stick ; alongside it a spray of pretty ivy may be pressed into the moist sand and then twined around the stick and fastened with wire at the top. The sand may then be covered with moss and a spray of fir or arbor vitse may be added. If these are kept moist they will remain green till the corn grows. Or this : Sew coarse flannel around a goblet with the stem broken off ; put this shapely dome upon a saucer of water ; wet the flannel and sprinkle over as much flax seed as will adhere to it. The flannel will absorb the water from the saucer, which should often be replenished. In about two weeks the flannel will be concealed in a beautiful verdure, which will vie with any table ornament. GREENHOUSES AND COLD PITS. A miniature one may be arranged by means of a simple glazed frame, shaped something like a bay window. This, being made the size of the window, is screwed on to the other side, taking the place of the blinds, which are not required in the winter season. By opening the sash, top and bottom, the warm air of the apartment circulates among the plants, which shut out the wintry landscape and give a summer look to the room. When the plants are in a separate apartment, water can be used freely by syringing and a moist atmosphere preserved. The temperature, with this arrangement, can be kept lower than would be comfortable in the living room, and the plants be saved from dust and many evils which we manage to endure and live, but which generally prove too much for the plants. A small greenhouse may be built, including furnace and flue complete, for about $6 a running foot, that is, a house eleven feet wide and thirty feet long will need an outlay of $180, but if the owner is handy with tools and does some of the work himself, the cost will be materially lessened. Locust or cedar posts six feet long are put two feet in the ground, at three feet distance between each ; to these rough hemlock boards are nailed, then a layer of tarred paper, and the whole covered with weather boards. The rafters are now put on, at what carpenters term onethird pitch. Now we are ready for the roof. The furnace room is shingled, and the greenhouse will receive seven sashes on each side, each 3x6 feet, laid on in such a way that each of them covers one-half of the width of the rafter. The first and each alternate sash are screwed down, but the others must be left to allow ventilation when necessary, by putting a block of wood under them. The interior is divided in equal portions by a twofoot walk running its entire length, so that we get two benches on each side four and one-half feet wide. Such a house will be best heated by a flue made 7x7 inches inside measurement, starting from a furnace in

The household (of the Detroit free press)