496 



The Country Gentleman s Magazine 



Malvaceae are numerous. One of the most 

 remarkable and interesting is the gigantic 

 tree, Adansoni digitata, or Dina, the Baobab 

 of Western Africa, belonging to the tribe 

 Bombacete. This abounds in all the low 

 valleys of the interior, especially in the valleys 

 of the Tacagzze, where it attains enormous 

 dimensions. The diameter of its trunk is 

 out of all proportion to the height of the tree, 

 being from twenty to thirty feet, with a height 

 of fifty to sixty feet. The wood is soft and 

 spongy, and of no particular value ; but the 

 bark is' utilized in various ways, such as cord- 

 and net-making, and in the manufacture of 

 cloths, &c. There is only one other species 

 known, A. Gregorii, a native of N. E. 

 Australia. 



Cotton is frequently seen in cultivated 

 s:round : but I have not been able to ascer- 



tain whether it is made use of by tlie natives, 

 though most likely it is to a certain extent. 

 Dwarf prickly shrubs of Zygophyllege and 

 Capparideffi are common on sandy soil and 

 volcanic hills. Menispermace^ and Anon- 

 acece present nothing particularly worthy of 

 notice, which brings us to the end of our 

 epitome. 



From the foregoing notes and extracts a 

 tolerable idea of the flora of Abyssinia may 

 be formed ; but in a sketch, necessarily short 

 and fragmentary, much of interest has been 

 omitted. The details of the preparation of 

 vegetable substances either for food or 

 medicine, and for the manufacture of various 

 articles, would have occupied too much space 

 in a paper devoted to the general aspect of 

 things. 



DESTRUCTION OF SMALL BIRDS. 



AT a recenf meeting of the East Lothian Agricul- 

 tural Club, Mr Scot-Skirving read a paper 

 on "Small Birds in connexion with Agriculture." 

 In introducing the subject, he said that with 

 regard to the small birds of the farm there was 

 very great difference of opinion. In France, 

 some time ago, the people had waged such an 

 exterminating war against them that the caterpillars 

 had increased enormously, and in consequence the 

 blossom of the fruit was very much destroyed — so 

 much so, that it had been found necessary to introduce 

 the small birds again into those districts where they had 

 been rooted out. He did not think they were going 

 to fall into that error. He knew there were many 

 gentlemen in the county who liked the spar- 

 rows, but they congregated during the period 

 approaching the harvest when the oats were in the 

 milk, and going from one ear to another did a vast 

 amount of injury. He calculated that he almost lost 

 2% acres of his farm in that way. He was aware 

 that the sparrows did some good to the fruit in the 

 garden by picking the green fly, but that fly could be 

 got very readily away, and he thought it would be 

 admitted that the sparrows did a great deal of injury to 



the gooseberry buds. He also believed that crows 

 did a great deal of mischief, more than was generally 

 known, because they made their ravages during the 

 whole year, and they also incurred a great expense 

 in consequence of watching. As to the wood 

 pigeons, it was well known that they did a vast 

 amount of harm, and he thought they should wage 

 as great a war as possible against the wood pigeons, 

 who were most destructive animals. In regard to 

 the rook, he thought it did more good than harm ; 

 but he thought care should be taken not to allow 

 its numbers to become too great in any one place. 

 He had examined rooks in all jjarts of the year, and 

 had always found insects in their stomachs. After 

 remarking on the great good done to agriculture by 

 such birds as starlings, plovers, and gulls, he said that 

 although sparrows did some harm, yet as their food 

 consisted principally of insects they must also do great 

 good. 



An animated discussion followed the reading of the 

 paper ; but the speakers, while differing in the amount 

 of good and evil done to agriculture by various 

 birds, all concurred in the mischievous nature of 

 the wood pigeon. 



