160 EDITOBAL NOTES. [Jan., 



required information we shall be glad. Our artist has been painting 

 tlie glories of the Beech, the Birch, and the Scotch Fir, but he is 

 especially desirous of ascertaining the whereabouts of 'a good 

 picturesquely-placed Spruce Fir wood, not more than a hundred miles 

 irom Liverpool.' He says : ' It seems to me that there is scarcely 

 any colour in nature in such a gloriously rich mellow key of sub- 

 dued gold as that in a Spruce Fir wood. There seems an undertone of 

 bronze or copper running right through everything (seen in the in- 

 terior of the wood), yet with continual variation both of the hue and 

 the- tone, and, over this, the variety and the gradation of the low, 

 dusky, green-grey tones produce a harmony that is a continual delight 

 to me even to think of, for it is two years since I saw more than a few 

 of these trees together.' 



* 

 Mr. John Wood, of Penistone, has sent us a little box containing 

 some decided novelties in the shape of Christmas and New Year's 

 Cards. They consist of cards with different-coloured grounds, 

 on which are gummed actual plants — ferns, mosses, ivy heather, &c., 

 and very prettily grouped. Each card, with its green and elegant 

 freight, is pasted on to a threefold wrapper, which encloses it secure 

 against injury. With the growing love of plants — the real things — 

 there should spring up a large demand for these pretty cards, and we 

 trust Mr, Wood will have his reward in the substantial success of an 

 excellent experiment. The only thing that we fear is, should the 

 desire for these plant cards become a ' rage,' very serious and destructive 

 raids might be made upon the smaller and rarer species of plants 

 which are chiefly required for purposes of this kind. Still, we trust 

 that the fern collectors who may ply this new trade to cater for the 

 requirements of the public will observe moderation, or otherwise many 

 plants might be exterminated. 



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