The standard book of recipes and housewife's guide, comprising as complete cook book

The geranium forms one of the most attractive of flowering plants from its rich hue and the fact that it keeps in bloom through a great part of the season. The cultivation of it is easy, almost any kind of soil answering the purpose. To set out a pot of geraniums, a small quantity of sand should be mixed with the soil, and some good manure added. The plant being well set in the earth, it should be watered, left for several days in a cool and shady spot, then put for a few hours in the light. In a short time it will become accustomed to the sunshine. When the warm season comes, the pots can be set out in the ground, being buried to their tops. A cloudy day or late afternoon should be chosen, so as to avoid too much sunshine at first. To keep the geranium in attractive condition, decaying leaves and fading flower-heads should be removed, so that the plants may look always fresh. Slips will root well if set in the earth where shaded from the direct rays of the sun. They should be set well down and the earth pressed compactly around them. In this way fine young plants can be got ready for the winter flower garden. Sweet Pea. This is one of the most beautiful of the summer-garden flowers, from its great variety of color and abundant bloom. It has also the charm of a sweet perfume. It supplies many shades of colored bloom — white, rose, scarlet, purple, and variegated. Bach variety should be planted separately, and several feet from any other plant. When support is required by the growing plant, a light rod will serve the purpose. The seed should be sown in rich ground in the early spring, the plant growing five or six feet high, and blooming from July to October. In city gardens, indeed, it often proves difficult to cultivate, it being subject to the attack of minute insects which are almost impossible to eradicate. While in some gardens it grows freely and blooms profusely, in others it sadly fails, all efforts to destroy its enemies proving without avail. Azalea. The azaleas are easily cultivated, being very hardy, and form very attractive plants. They come in many colors and also striped, spotted, or otherwise variegated. They need a light soil of sandy loam, to which leaf-mold should be added. The foliage requires showering once a week, but the roots will rot if over watered. Flower stems form in the new wood of each summer's growth, so that the amount of bloom is apt to depend upon the annual quantity of new wood. The plants are set out in May, and need to be taken up in early autumn. They do best in the house in a temperature varying from 40° at night to 70° in the daytime. Hyacinths and Tulips.