500 The Jotirnal of Forestry. 



nection with other interests, from ■which we condense the following state- 

 ment : — Austria, minister of agriculture ; Hungary, agriculture, industry, and 

 commerce; France, commerce and agriculture; Prussia, agriculture; Italy, 

 commerce and agricultui-e; Roumania, public works, trade, and agriculture ; 

 Brazil, public works, agriculture, and commerce ; dominion of Canada, agricul- 

 ture ; Belgium, agriculture and manufactures ; Japan, agriculture and 

 industry ; Spain, agricultural bureau ; Victoria, lands and agriculture ; United 

 States, agricultural department. 



The Fobesteks' Grindstone. — There is no tool so essential to the forester 

 as a good grindstone ; it is therefore necessary that every forester should 

 have one and know how to take proper care of it. A geindstone should always 

 be kept under cover, as exposure to the sun's rays hardens the grit and 

 injures the frame. The stone shoud not be allowed to stand in water, as 

 this causes soft places. The water should be allowed to drip from some 

 vessel placed above the stone, and the drip should be stopped when the stone 

 is not in use. All greasy or rusty tools should be cleaned before being 

 sharpened, as grease or rust chokes up the grit. The stones should be kept 

 perfectly round and level on the face. 



Hafting an Axe. — Get your blacksmith to make an iron wedge to fasten the 

 handle in with. It will cost but a few pence. It should be about two and a 

 half inches long, and about two in width, and the head of the wedge should be 

 large enough to cover the eye of the axe. It is much better than the wooden 

 one generally used for such purposes, as it can be easily knocked out with a 

 cold chisel and hammer. The usual method of burniag out a helve after 

 it has been broken softens the steel of the axe. Another advantage is that 

 sometimes an axe is broken, while the handle remains good, then the iron 

 wedge can be knocked out, and it is ready to be put in another axe. — Western 

 Sural. 



Ballochbuie Fokest. — The following, with reference to the rumoured pur- 

 chase of a Scotch forest by the Queen, says a contributor to Mayfctir, reaches 

 me from a source which guarantees its authenticity: — "The Queen has not 

 bought the forest. She has not wished to buy it. But it has been offered her 

 for something like a hundred thousand pounds, and she may bay it to keep it 

 out of other hands. The forest is, however, entailed, and Colonel Farquharson, 

 the owner, must obtain a private Act to enable him to sell. This is likely to 

 be opposed by maternal relatives of his heir; but he hopes that the influence 

 of her Majesty and the Prince of Wales will remove danger of defeat. 

 The Queen is, meanwhile, lessee of the forest. She pays an annual rent of 

 £1,500 — not £15,000, as stated in the Times and other London papers. She 

 became lessee to prevent Farquharson from cutting down the wood, which is 

 the finest of its kind in Scotland. Eleven years of her lease have yet to 

 run, so that there is no particular reason why she should buy just at 

 present. The name of the forest is not Ballochbine, as you say, or Ballock- 

 fiae, as the Times said, but Ballochcowie — which is fearfully Scotch. The 

 forest includes the Mountain of Lochnagar, which has been made classic 

 ground by Byron. [This paragraph has lately been going the round of the 

 public papers, and appeared in our June number. We only insert it to again 

 emphatically contradict it, as we have since learned on the best authority that 

 no such transaction has ever been entered into. The erroneous spelling of 

 the name points the origin of the report. Ballochbuie, the proper name, is 

 excellent Scotch. — [En. J. F.] 



