568 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



except the snowy owl, and one unrecorded 

 species was seen. The flora is remarkably 

 uniform, and the influence of height has less 

 effect upon it than situation and season. 

 The species found on the mountain summits 

 in the middle of the summer were the same 

 as those observed on the coast at the begin- 

 ning of spring. As the season advanced, 

 the species first found in flower on the low- 

 lands and in sheltered valleys were succeeded 

 by another set ; but at any time it was only 

 necessary to seek exposed and barren posi- 

 tions, or to climb above the snow line, to 

 find the first flora still in flower. Spitz- 

 bergen offered better opportunities for geo- 

 logical than for zoological or botanical re- 

 search. One of the main temptations it 

 offers the geologist is a magnificent oppor- 

 tunity for the study of glacial action; for 

 there, says Mr. J. W. Gregory, of the expe- 

 dition, we may see marine and land ice 

 working side by side. The inland glaciers 

 are very different from those of Switzerland, 

 especially in having no neve fields. All the 

 snow that falls on the collecting ground at 

 the head of the glacier turns to ice on the 

 spot. Cases of the formation of typical 

 bowlder clay by land ice were easily found ; 

 so, likewise, were instances of the uplift of 

 material through ice. The glaciation of 

 Spitzbergen was solely due to a local ice 

 action. No evidence was found of a great 

 polar ice cap. 



Care of the Lawn. An interesting little 

 article in Garden and Forest on lawn and 

 grass infesting insects contains some valu- 

 able information for the suburban house- 

 holder. Land cultivated in one kind of 

 crop for many years successively tends to 

 attract all the different kinds of insects that 

 feed upon it. In some localities where 

 onions were grown in times past with ex- 

 cellent results the onion maggots now make 

 it impossible to raise a crop. In many parts 

 of New York State wheat culture had to be 

 abandoned for a time because of the rav- 

 ages of the Hessian fly. Farmers have long 

 known that after land has been in pasture 

 for a few years, or has been mowed, the 

 grass "runs out." They accept this fact, 

 and act upon it without much questioning 

 as to just what this running out consists of. 

 In many cases it is simply because the land 



has become so thoroughly infested with 

 grass-feeding insects that the roots are no 

 longer able to support a gi'owth. Insects 

 are not confined to farms or farm lands ; 

 they occur wherever plants are grown in 

 cities and villages, and are troublesome in 

 the back yard, in the kitchen garden, to the 

 shade trees, and even to the little patch of 

 lawn in front of the house. The more ex- 

 tensive the lawn and, in a general way, the 

 better kept it is, the more attractive it is to in- 

 sects. Insects of almost all orders are found 

 in grass lands, and, as there are few grass 

 plots in which there is not also some clover, 

 insects infesting this plant are also more or 

 less abundant. It is always a matter of in- 

 terest to determine what is causing the in- 

 jury, but, after all, the important question 

 is, What can we do to check it? On lawns, 

 where the object is to keep the grass as long 

 a time as possible, one of the simplest meas- 

 ures is frequent cutting and rolHng. This 

 has a tendency to drive off the lepldopterous 

 insects that may be among the grass, and 

 to prevent the laying of eggs. The grass 

 should be always kept well fed ; but no 

 barnyard manure should be used : all insects 

 do very much better in a soil containing 

 much vegetable matter, and are least at 

 home where mineral fertilizers are constant- 

 ly used. Lawns should be fed almost en- 

 tirely with mineral fertihzers, nitrate of soda 

 being used to furnish the necessary nitrogen, 

 and kainit or muriate to furnish the potash. 

 The fertilizer should be applied just before 

 a rain. Where land is badly infested and 

 there is poultry about, it is a good plan to 

 dig up the sod and turn the chickens in for 

 a few days. They will, if the soil is turned 

 over two or three times, pretty thoroughly 

 dispose of the bugs. A kerosene emulsion 

 is fatal to the insects and does not injure 

 the plant roots. 



The Advantage of Elective Courses. 



The Hon. T. W. Higginson, referiing in the 

 recollections of his life which he is now 

 publishing in the Atlantic Monthly to the 

 time when he was secretary of the College 

 Natural History Society at Harvard, observes 

 that " in looking back on the various reports 

 written by me for its meetings, it is interest- 

 ing to see that this wholly voluntary work 

 had a freshness and vigor beyond any which 



