RECREATIVE SCIENCE. 



151 



to the spring of 1859. For many weeks 

 vegetation was a month in advance of ordi- 

 nary seasons, yet one week's cold, at the com- 

 mencement of May, was sufficient to cause 

 the growth of plants to be checked to an ex- 

 tent so great, that the month previously 

 gained was lost in a few days. 



Observations, to be comparable with each 

 other, require recording year after year, in 

 the same place, and on the same individual 

 plants. It is by no means an uncommon oc- 

 currence to find two trees of the same species 

 (whose boughs actually cross each other) vary 

 as much as a fortnight in their time of leafing 

 or flowering. It would be useless to say, the 

 elm lost its leaves on a certain day, without 

 particvdarizing the particular kind of elm 

 meant ; thus, the broad-leaf elm is the first 

 tree to become leafless, which it frequently 

 does in September, whilst the Siberian elm, 

 on the contrary, will retain its leaves after 

 all others have been denuded of them ; some- 

 times this plant is in leaf as late as December. 

 The age of a tree or plant will cause some 

 difference. 



Migratory birds will arrive at one fipot 

 much earlier than they wiU at another, even 

 when so contiguous that a single minute on 

 the wing would enable a bird to reach the 

 other spot; however, this they never attempt 

 untn the proper time has arrived. Swallows 

 and martins are seen near the Trent for days 

 before they are found on the hiUs only a mile 

 from this river. 



Different kinds of lilacs and laburnums 

 will have a range of some days in their period 

 of coming into bloom. 



Amongst herbaceous plants, those which 

 have been transplanted during the year 

 should either be avoided, or a special record 

 made regarding them. Annuals are only 

 worthy of secondary note, as the time of 

 sowing must be taken into account, unless the 

 seed is self-sown. Again, amongst such ob- 

 servations as the ripening of fruit, the dif- 

 ferent kinds require specification. As an 



instance, the strawberry known as Black 

 Prince will ripen before Kean's Seedling, 

 Kean's Seedling before British Queen, and 

 British Queen before the Elton Pine ; and 

 again, one-year-old plants of Black Prince 

 will ripen sooner than those on two or three- 

 year-old plants. 



In recording the flowering of plants, it is 

 advisable to give the dates when the first 

 blooms are expanded, as weU. as those when 

 in full glory of bloom, and when the bloom- 

 ing is over. Wheat and other grasses should 

 have the dates when the ears are first visible, 

 when the flower-spikes are above the leaves 

 (in full ear), and when in flower. 



As the objects are so multifarious, it is 

 requisite to pay especial attention to a certain 

 list (which has been compiled with much 

 care), in order to insure a comparison between 

 two or more observers. The nature of the 

 soil, the geological formation, and the geogra- 

 phical position of the place of observation are 

 also essential in these investigations. 



Such a series of observations as the above, 

 carried on for a course of years, and more 

 especially by meteorologists (who have the 

 additional opportunity of comparing them 

 with the weather records), cannot fail to be 

 productive of much good to science, as, 

 when brought together, they would form a 

 valuable collection of facts for the naturalist 

 and meteorologist to generalize upon. 



OBJECTS WOETHY OF ESPECIAL NOTICE. 

 1. — Leafing of Teees. 



Narrow-leaved elm (Ulmus 



campestris). 

 Elder (Sambucus nigra). 

 Sycamore (Acer pseudo- 



platanus). 

 Crab (Pyrus malus). 

 Mountain ash. (Pyrus au- 



cuparia). 

 Hawthorn (Cratsegus oxy- 



cantha). 

 Aspen (Populus tremula). 

 White poplar (Populus 



alba). 

 Hazel-nut (Corylus avel- 



lana). 



Birch (Betula alba). 



Elm (Ulmus glabra). 



Elm (Ulmus montana). 



Pear (Pyrus communis). 



Plane (Platanus occiden- 

 talis). 



Plane (Platanus orien^ 

 talis). 



Tulip-tree (Liriodendron 

 tulip ifera). 



Lime (Tilia Europaja). 



Apricot (Armeniaca vul- 

 garis). 



Ash (Fraxinus excelsior). 



Oak (Quercus robur. 



