SHOT A PANTHER 



These open into flowers before the 

 leaves and lill the wood with their pur- 

 fiune. 



The hobblebush bears l)uds in op- 

 posite pairs along- its smooth gray stem, 

 and a curious terminal l)ud sometimes' 

 described as a "minaret." The flowers 

 develop into flat, white clusters, fol- 

 lowed by grape-like fruit, dark purple 



33^ 



and luscious to look upon but not edible. 

 I he pink azalea is, perhaps, our show- 

 iest shrub in May and June. Its buds 

 are large, terminal, and look like pine- 

 apples. The plant may be made to 

 flourish in our garden, provided it has 

 plenty of sunshine. 



In this season there is some fun to 

 be had with dormant buds, if we gather 

 the twigs and keep them in the warm 

 house with their tips in water. The 

 buds will swell and open and burst into 

 bloom like Aaron's rod. 



The best and surest is the garden 

 l^orsythia, although many others such 

 as the apple, the dogwood and many 

 early bloomers will act as miraculously 

 In this w^ay we can set the clock ahead 

 and waken the flowers before their 

 time. 



PROPHECIES OF SUMMER. 



Shot a Panther. 



T. ,, ^,. Lynchburg, Virginia, 

 io the Editor: 



I have just been reading your ac- 

 count of the panther killed in 1875 in 

 VVardsboro, Vermont. You ask if 

 others have been killed in Vermont. 

 About 1885, as nearly as I can recollect 

 a beautiful specimen was &hot in the' 

 township of Barnard, about nine miles 

 from Woodstock. In November, at 

 thanksgiving time, a party of boys 

 roving around out of doors in Barnard' 

 observed in the light, recently fallen 

 snow the footprints of an animal like 

 those of a huge cat. They followed 

 the trail till it ended in a dense spruce 

 thicket Being unarmed thev went to 

 a farmhouse near-by and calfed out its 

 owner, who came with a shotgun with 

 which he presently dispatched the ani- 

 ma . It was brought to Woodstock 

 and placed on exhibition. I saw it 

 there. It was a handsome beast, the 

 coat of an auburn tinge, and the mus- 

 cles of its paws like twisted steel It 

 must have been a powerful creature 

 Its claws were like little crescents and 

 sharp as a razor. I shuddered to think 

 how the animal could have rent asun- 

 der Its prey, whether man or beast with 

 weapons of offense so formidable The 

 m;an that shot the panther claimed it 

 tor his own, refusing to recognize the 

 tact that the boys were instrumental 

 m tracking it. The boys protested but, 

 I think, without avail. 



Laura Fay Smith. 



