1880.1 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



123 



Some laying down are of great size, the frag- 

 ments measuring eighty-two feet in diameter, 

 and comparable to the giant Sequoias. The 

 •series of sand stones and conglomerates in which 

 the trees are imbedded are more than 5,000 feet 

 thick, forming a vertical mile of fossil forests, 

 the woody structure well preserved, but where 

 •cavities have been formed in the trunks of the 

 Totting wood, they are lined with crystals of 

 amethysts and quartz. Would not such infor- 

 mation as the above, for instance, be more ac- 

 ceptable than the nauseous notices of suicides 

 in the papers ? 



Herbaceous Plants. — We must keep some beds 

 for color, but not carry this to excess. Spring 

 flowers are the loveliest of all, and the art of the 

 gardener is shown in securing a regular succes- 

 sion, from the early Crocus to the Chrysanthem- 

 um, (Japan's emblem), in the dying days of 

 autumn. Mr. Bright regrets, as we do, the ab- 

 sence from our gardens of many plants known 

 and admired by our grand-parents. Who can 

 show a bed of the Christmas Rose, or Helleborus. 



/. T. asks why sulphuric acid must be used to 

 make phosphates useful as a manure ? Simply 

 that the substance may be dissolved for nature 

 to use it. The manufacture of this cheap acid 

 is extensive in this country, and in England, 

 •832,000 tons are annually made. Cheap glass 

 and cheap soap depend on the cheap produc- 

 tion of oil of vitriol, — a sour substance to con- 

 tribute to our light and cleanliness. 



Flies and mosquitoes are so troublesome in the 

 warm weather that various contrivances are re- 

 sorted to, to abate the nuisance. Catching the 

 former by a glue that their wonderfully formed 

 feet cannot escape when once they are in it, is 

 very effective ; and now we want a mosquito 

 curd that will be more effective than the wire 

 and the curtain. Cannot an American inventor 

 di.scover an attractive bait, and thus make a for- 

 tune? 



How to make a living. — It should be one of the 

 missions of the press to give encouragement to 

 «nterprises that are calculated to supply uuvsup- 

 plied wants, for there are many people who feel 

 that they could earn a living if they knew of 

 something that was wanted. There are wants 

 unsupplied. Some years ago a barber seeing 

 the scarcity of leeches, made a pond in his gar- 

 den and commenced the raising of these useful 

 creatures, with little success, however, for he did 

 not know how. A Baltimore man undertook to 



supply the market with terrapins, brought to 

 him in thousands from every quarter. He sup- 

 plied a great want and succeeded. Thus com- 

 menced the canning of oysters, now grown to 

 immense dimensions. A Delawarean cans tur- 

 keys successfully, a New Yorker has a crawl 

 for sea turtles, and succeeds. Soup made from 

 green turtles and terrapins are now sold in cans. 



Fossils of South Carolina.— Few persons are 

 aware of the importance attached to the South 

 Carolina fossils, especially those of Ashley river. 

 These are now being worked largely, and the 

 product exported for manures. Sea fowl in 

 myriads have had something to do with the de- 

 posits. Besides the phosphatic nodules, the 

 Ashley beds present a remarkable mixture of 

 the remains of marine and terrestrial animals, 

 consisting of bones, teeth, coprolites, shells, etc., 

 derived from formations of various ages ; of re- 

 mains of vertebrates, those of fishes and ceta- 

 ceans prevail, especially of teeth of sharks, and 

 the vertebrae of whales. 



It is said, no doubt with truth, that shells are 

 now exported from Florida to Chicago for the 

 purpose of making roads, and we know it to be 

 a fact that the products of the slaughter-houses 

 at Chicago are brought to the Delaware for ma- 

 nure. Steam and railroads have produced won- 

 ders. 



Drainage. — England may in some senses thank 

 herself for the ruin of her late crops. She has 

 for many years drained her land to such an ex- 

 tent that all the rain-falls flow immediately into 

 drains, not stopping long enough to penetrate 

 the earth. The result is a quick filling of her 

 little rivers and water courses ; these overflow 

 their banks immediately, hay is set afloat and 

 ruined; grain is damaged either when cut or in 

 the ground \ sheep are drowned, and not infre- 

 quently cattle. Drainage in certain cases is very 

 valuable ; but the English in their over zeal have 

 carried it too far, and are now obliged to ask 

 food of their once despised cousins. 



, EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Editorial Letter. — A few days at Sara/- 

 toga cannot but impress the lover of gardening 

 how slow the beautiful art progresses. Here 

 where so many of the most intellectual come for 

 rest and recreation, one would suppose that one 

 of the most intellectual and refined of all arts, 

 and one more intimately connected with beau- 

 tiful leisure than any other, would show consid- 



