400 



CHIPS. 



[MARcn 1885. 



Barb -Wire Fence — Cruelty to 

 Anbials. — In a large district in the 

 neighbom-hood of Montreal, hunting 

 has almost ceased, as the barb-wire 

 lames the dogs. 



The grand old Elm Tree on Ham- 

 green, in the village of Holt, Wilts, 

 the pride and admiration of the neigh- 

 bourhood, was blown down recently in 

 a severe gale, and completely wi-ecked 

 a cottage, nearly killing the mistress, 

 who was engaged in lier household 

 duties at the time. 



Lime Avenues. — The limes growing 

 in the " Quarry " or public park of 

 Shrewsbury, are considered the finest 

 in Europe, and number over 300 trees, 

 all standing erect, and are of lofty 

 statm-e. There is also a very fine col- 

 lection of limes growing in St. James' 

 Park, London. 



Eearing Fish at Howietoun. — 

 Here trout require careful preparation 

 before they can be transported with 

 sjifety, the "time necessary varying from 

 three or four days in the case of year- 

 lings to as many weeks for large trout. 

 The hatchery has proved most suc- 

 cessful, and upwards of 10,000,000 of 

 trout ova are now annually incubated 

 at the fishery. All eggs are eyed on 

 glass grilles, experience having shown 

 the strongest embryos and healthiest 

 fry are obtained by this method. 



Small Holdings. — In Eomney 

 Mai-sh, a small farmer, holding about 

 fifteen acres, has been successful for 

 several years past in obtaining a good 

 return for the labour and capital he has 

 employed. He has used his land for 

 market gardening, and chiefly culti- 

 vated it with liis own labour, manuring 

 the soil liberally, and keei)iug it well 

 looked after. Thus he had raised very 

 heavy corps of first-rate quality, and 



has been able to sell his produce at 

 highly remunerative rates. In the 

 neighbourhood of Ashford, a farmer 

 with twenty acres has farmed ]jrofit- 

 ably for several years, cultivating 

 chiefly by his own labour. He has 

 grown hops lai-gely, and last autumn 

 his crops averaged 12 cwt. per acre, 

 which he sold at a good price. There 

 are several other instances of successful 

 small farming in the Weald of Kent, 

 where men who began life as farm- 

 labourers are gradually becoming 

 owners of the soil they till, notwith- 

 standing low prices and heavy rates. 



The Flower of the Season. — Ac- 

 cording to Argus, of Land and Il'nto-, 

 the heliotrope has gained such pre- 

 eminence. Heliotrope — nothing but 

 heliotrope, when the variety of per- 

 fumes is so great ! Sweet though it 

 be, even the dullest nose must feel the 

 inconsistency of recognising " fashion " 

 in a scent. One of the keenest jilea- 

 sures to the sense of smell is that de- 

 rived from a good, old-fashioned flower- 

 garden, and what is the reason of its 

 charm ? It is that the many varied 

 odours are so blended that it would be 

 almost impossible to award the palm to 

 any one flower — either the honeysuckle, 

 jasmine, carnation, lily, or the rose. I 

 can imagine the feelings of old James 

 Harvey — who wrote Reflect ions on a 

 Flower Garden, and delighted in tlie 

 balmy fragrance that " not oidy regales 

 the sense, but cheers the very soul " — 

 were he here now to know that a par- 

 ticular scent should be the "fashion." 

 But the heliotrope, whose jierfume, by 

 the way, I do not wish in the least to 

 depreciate, is also to set a scale of 

 colour. Ball dresses, tea gowns, and 

 dinner dresses, in a great variety of 

 materials, have taken its hue, and very 

 delicate it is combined with such con- 

 trasts as gold embroidery, gold orna- 

 ments, white satin, or leaves of rich- 

 toned brown. 



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