THE AMERICAN Bt^TANIST. 77 



little difference is noticed, whether the rule is kept or vio- 

 lated ; but, with the exception of a few of the hardier 

 varieties, the woods, if cut during the waxing moon, begin 

 to rot almost immediately, and also become infested with 

 a borer that riddles the outer sap-wood. The fact has 

 been noticed b}^ many observers doing work in the coun- 

 try. Mr. Woakes advances the theory that there is a 

 greater amount of sap present in the wood during the 

 waxing moon, and its fermentation and decomposition 

 hasten the decay of the wood when cut during this period. 

 Perhaps the most striking illustration of the fact is given 

 in the thatched-roof houses common in thecountry, where 

 the thatch is composed of of a species of palm-leaf. The 

 leaves cut during the first phases of the moon becomes 

 useless in fifteen days, being literally eaten up by worms, 

 while the same leaves, cut during the last quarter of the 

 moon, do good service as roofing for a year. Whatever 

 the cause, the facts are as stated, although the writer does 

 not expect anybody unaccustomed to the country to be- 

 lieve them. As an actual test is always sufficient to con- 

 vince the most skeptical, he hopes, for their own sakes, if 

 they are ever called upon to erect in this latitude timber- 

 structures of native wood, they will make some experi- 

 ments as to the influence of the time of cutting upon the 

 duribility of the wood before proceeding with the work." 



GoLDENRODS IN Late Autumn. — It is possible to have 

 goldenrods in bloom a long time after their usual season 

 is past by simply cutting down the early flower stalks. 

 Some may be cut as early as June and others later. In 

 this way a succession of blooms may be maintained. 



Passing of the Southern Pines. — We of the north 

 are helping to ruin the next generation of southern pines 

 by lavish use for decorations of the 3^oung trees of about 

 two feet high, crowded wnth the long drooping emerald 

 needles. The little cut off pine lasts a week or two in a 

 parlor — it took four or five years to grow ! — Getting' Ac- 

 quainted with the Trees. 



