276 



CHirs. 



[Aug. 1885. 



Chips. 



Pasadena Flower Record. — The 

 following record of the varieties of 

 wild-flowers gathered each month for 

 the year 1884 by the children of Mr. 

 Thomas Nelmes, is of interest as a 

 matter of curiosity as well as for its 

 botanical value : — 



In January, 65 varieties were gath- 

 ered ; in February, 68 ; March, 70 ; 

 April, 73 ; May, 87 ; June, 70 ; July, 

 60 ; August, 54 ; September, 50 ; Octo- 

 ber, 45 ; November, 48 ; December, 56. 



Lanarkshire Rents. — Land rents in 

 upland parishes vary from half-a-crown 

 to five shillings an acre, while in other 

 places agricultural rents reach to £6 

 an acre. Near towns value increases. 

 In the Parliamentary return the owner 

 of one acre gives its value at ^'132, and 

 the Airdrie Gas Company hold the 

 same amount valued at £700 a year. 

 In Glasgow an acre yields an income of 

 i/'6923, 10s. a year. From three acres 

 there Sir James Campbell of Stracathro 

 has £12,912, 5s. of yearly income ; and 

 other pi'oprietors of a single acre have 

 from £1000 to £3000 of yearly income. 



New Poplars and Willows. — Pro- 

 fessor J. L. Budd describes in the lovxi 

 Homestead two new varieties he has 

 been distributing amongst settlers in 

 the prairie. 



The Norway willow is known to 

 botanists as Salix fragilis. Its most 

 common name in North-east Europe is 

 " Red AVillow," this name being derived 

 from the salmon-red colour of its wood. 

 It is found on the sides of the military 

 roads in Central Russia as landmarks 

 in winter over the steppes, and larger 

 plantations are common, in the thinning 

 and clearing out of which the bark is 

 used for tanning the famous Russian 

 upper leather, while the wood has 

 hundreds of economic uses, not the least 

 of which is in boat-building. The wood 

 is much used for flooring, house-fur- 

 nishing, and even for dimension luniber. 

 It finishes better under the plane than 

 the willows we know, and does not 

 warp, shrink, or check, as do the wil- 

 lows with light, spongy wood. In all 

 res])ects it is superior to the White 

 Willow, not the least one of its merits 

 being its ability to grow on high, dry 

 land, and to maintain healthy foliage 

 in a dry interior climate. 



Fopulus certinensis is a rapid-grow- 

 ing upright species of the poplar from 

 Central Asia. Its leaves are jjeculiarly 

 large and thick ; hence it will thrive 

 and make rapid growth on dry upland 

 jjrairies in North-west lowaand Dakota, 

 where the Cottonwood fails on account 

 of leaf rust. Its wood is heavier, 

 closer grained, and better adapted to 

 many economic uses than any of our 

 American poj^lars. 



How TO GROW THE LiLAC. — Ever}'- 

 body knows the lilac ; and thanks to 

 its easiness of propagation, one meets 

 with it oftener than any other shruli. 

 Common as it is, who does not love 

 the shrub at lilac-tide ? As commonly 

 seen, there are a few branches of an 

 older growth, with here and there a 

 flower scattered over them, with a 

 wilderness of undergrowth of all ages, 

 from the sprouts of a year's growth, 

 to that of the age of the bush in its 

 present position. To be seen in per- 

 fection, they should have clean stems, 

 either as a single plant, or, if a bush, 

 three, or any number desired. Every 

 sign of a sucker is to be kept away. 

 The result is, that the bush or tree 

 exerts its strength in forming a head 

 to the stems left to grow, instead of 

 exhausting itself in a mass of sprouts 

 of all ages, Avith nine out of ten too 

 weak to furnish a flower-bud. Trained 

 to single stems, the whole head should 

 be a mass of flowers every year. To 

 attain this, it is necessary, as soon as 

 the flowers have dropjaed, to go over 

 them and cut out all the old flower- 

 stems ; otherwise seed-pods will form 

 and the bush exhaust itself forming 

 seeds, instead;,pf prejjaring flower-buds 

 for the coming spring. This is the 

 I'eason that, as mostly seen, the great 

 mass of flowers come every other year, 

 instead of every year, as they will do 

 if given a chance. — Prairie Farmer. 



We see that " Spratts Patent,'' of 

 London, S.E., have recently been 

 awarded First Class Gold Medals at 

 the New Orleans and Antwerp Inter- 

 national Exhibitions, and at the Paris 

 and Arnliem Dog Shows, for the 

 superior excellence of their Patent 

 Dog Cakes. 



