1877.] 



AND HOBTIGULTURIST. 



179 



crippled bj' compression, large knots, and even 

 those of moderate size if they are numerous or 

 situate ring-like round the stick. Spar-timber 

 should be straight-grained. As planks, deals, 

 &c., depend for their usefulness upon both quali- 

 ty and manufiicture, the surveyor will not only 

 see that they are free from excess of sap, knots, 

 shakes, and shellines? upon their sides, but also 

 that they are evenly cut and fit for use of their 

 thickness. Bright looking timber is better in 

 quality than dull, and that which is smooth in 

 the working, better than the rough or woolly-sur- 

 faced. The heart of trees having the most sap- 

 wood is generally stronger and better in quality 

 than the heart of trees of the same species that 

 has little sap-wood. — LasIeU's Timber and Timber 

 Trees. 



A Tree Planting L.\w in California. — By a 

 law of California, approved March 30, 1868, the 

 Board of Supervisors in each county are em- 

 powered to authorize owners of lands to plant 

 and cultivate, along the public highways, shade 

 and fruit tree3,specif3ang thespecies to be planted, 

 at what age, at what distance from each other 

 and from the road-bed, and making the necessary 

 rules for their protection, &c. Four years after 

 the planting, upon receiving a duly certified 

 statement of the number then in a thrifty con- 

 dition, the Board is directed to pay to the cul- 

 tivator $1 for each such tree. In October, 1872, 

 the State Board of Agriculture called attention 

 of County Supervisors to this Act, and urged 

 them to do what is in their power to encourage 

 a compliance with its provisions. They advised 

 that the age be fixed from three to eight years 

 from the seed, and the minimum distance be. 

 tween tree and tree at twelve feet, and recom- 



mended the planting of the following varieties : 

 Black and honey Locusts ; black, white and fruit- 

 ing Mulberries ; Osage Orange, native and east- 

 ern black Walnut; American Chestnut ; Amer- 

 ican, European, and Cork-bark Elm ; the differ- 

 ent varieties of Maple ; Tulip tree ; Carolina, 

 Lombardy, and silver-leaf Poplars; the different 

 varieties of Ash ; Apple, Pear, Plum, Cherry, Al- 

 mond, and Fig trees ; the Eucalyptus or Aus- 

 tralian Blue and Red Gum tree ; Monterey, Su- 

 gar, Yellow, Spruce, and Scotch Pines; Norway 

 Spruce, Balsam fir, European Larch, Monterey 

 and Italian Ci'press, and California Laurel ; and 

 Redwood. 



Japan Paper. — The Scientific American saj^s : — 

 "Japanese paper is usually made from the inner 

 bark of the paper mulberry (Broussonetia papy- 

 rifera), which is grown and cultivated for the 

 purpose. The bark of the Passerina Gampi, and 

 of the Edgeworthia papyrifera, are also said to 

 be used. 



"Japanese paper is always made by hand, and 

 is thei'efore of a necessity made in small sheets; 

 the more common size known as kanshi, being 

 about nine and a half by twelve and a half 

 inches, though both larger and smaller sizes are 

 used to a limited extent." 



The Timber Line in the various Mountains. 

 — In the Himalayas, trees grow up to a height of 

 11,800 feet, and there are often forests just below 

 this line. In the Andes the growth of trees ends 

 at 12,130 feet; in the Alps it ends on an average 

 at 6,400 feet, but it is stated that specimens of 

 trees are found above 7,000 feet, but the pasture 

 grounds in Thibet are known to extend over an 

 elevation of from 15,000 to 16,350 feet. 



Natural Sistory and Science. 



GOMMUNICA TIONS. 



TUMBLE WEED. 



BY D. B. WIER, LACON, MARSHALL CO., ILL. 



I have to thank you for the only real good 

 hearty laugh I have had in a long time. Hav- 

 ing read the Gardener's Monthly from beginning 



to end this evening (I devour in one evening 

 what it takes you a long, weary month to get 

 up), the next to the last paragraph unset me 

 completely. Being a native of Illinois, I can 

 appreciate both Tumble Bugs and Tumble 

 Weeds, and we certainly would not have to in- 

 troduce the former to destroy the latter, as tve 

 have both bad already, though the " tumble weed " 

 is not near so common in this neighborhood as 



