658 MISCELLANEOUS. [Feb. 



found in the leaves of plants. The number varies in different 

 plants, for which variation a reason may be found in the different 

 conditions of growth to which they are subjected in their several 

 natural habitats. In the back of the leaf of the apple tree there 

 are about twenty-four thousand stomates to the square inch. In 

 the leaf of the lilac there are a hundred and sixty thousand of 

 them to the square inch. In the leaves of the cherry-laurel there 

 are none on the upper surface of the leaf, but ninety thousand have 

 been counted on the lower surface. 



Speaking of American Forests, Eev. F. H. Eggleston, of the 

 Forestry Section of the Department of Agriculture, in relation to 

 our forest area, gives much valuable information. From his report 

 we find that the national domain, omitting Alaska, contains 

 1,85 6,070,400 acres. Of this large territory, 440,990,000 acres 

 are covered with forests, and 295,650,000 acres are devoted to 

 agriculture, or about five acres to each inhabitant. The unimproved 

 and waste lands, including fallow fields, amount to 1,115,430,400 

 acres. 



To traverse this domain 150,000 miles of railroad are employed, 

 which have required 392,000,000 ties for their construction. 

 Supposing that these ties require renewal once in every six years, 

 and that 10,000 miles of new road are built annually, if twenty- 

 five years be taken as the average age of trees fit for ties, it 

 would require 15,000,000 acres of standing timber to supply the 

 annual demand for ties, or an area equal to that of Vermont, New 

 Hampshire, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. 



The annual supply of timber consumed as fuel alone amounts to 

 145,778,137 cords of wood and 74,000,000 bushels of charcoal, 

 which would clear the forests from 30,000,000 acres, or an area 

 equal to that of New York and North Carolina together. To this 

 estimate must be added the purely wasteful consumption of timber 

 in the great forest fires which are a recognised feature in the 

 year's catastrophes. This would add 10,000,000 to the grand 

 total, and possibly more. The timber cut for lumber, though an 

 immense drain, is comparatively small when the other statistics are 

 considered. Altogether, then, it appears that the forest area in 

 America is subject to an annual decrease of over 50,000,000 acres. 

 These figures, taken in conjunction with our total forestry, furnish 

 material for very serious reflection. 



EuKOPEAN Lakch AND SEEDING. — The veteran horticulturist, 

 Eobert Douglas, of Waukegan, in answer to the question. Does the 

 European larch perfect its seeds in America ? says : — " I have 

 grown hundreds of European larch cones on our own trees, and so 

 far have never found a perfect seed in them. Some years ago a 



