310 



THE GARDENERS MONTHLY 



[October, 



The English Sparrow. — It is a remarkable 



fact that although the English sparrow has been 

 the companion of cultivators for centuries, the 

 agricultural and horticultural papers of that 

 country are discussing as warmly as we are 

 whether he is more friend than foe. If they 

 don't know, we may as well give it up. 



Native Californian Tobacco. — Prof Rothrock 

 is of the opinion that the early natives of Cali- 

 fornia smoked the leaves of Nicotiana Cleve- 

 landii, A. Gray — a species only quite recently 

 described. It is a small plant with small flowers, 

 and it was found by Prof. Rothrock only in asso- 

 ciation with the shell heaps which occur so 

 abundantly on the coasts of Southern and Cen- 

 tral California. He states that perhaps of all 

 the remains of extinct races so richly furnished 

 by that region, none were so common as the 

 pipes, usually made of stone resembling serpen- 

 tine. The Tobacco of N. Clevelandii, Prof Roth- 

 rock found by experience to be excessively strong. 

 — Gardenfr's Chronicle. 



Change of Habit in Creatures. — It is not 

 as often recognized by naturalists as it might 

 be, that any living thing will change its 

 habits when it becomes its interest to do 

 so. Insects generally have preference for 

 some particular species of plant, and are often so 

 associated therewith that naturalists are incred' 

 ulous when told of a certain si^ecies attiicking 

 other things. Yet we know how the Colorado 

 potato beetle has taken to Solanum tuberosum 

 when the stock of Solanum rostratum failed, 

 and surely numerous such instances must be 

 common. While in the Iron Mountains in Ten- 

 nessee recently, the writer saw a species of Scut- 

 ellaria which had every leaf skeletonized pre- 

 cisely as the elm is. Looking for the insect, he 

 found what appeared to him to be a species of 

 Galereuca, closely resembling the elm beetle. 

 Not considering himself an entomologist, he 

 mentioned his suspicions to a distinguished stu- 

 dent in that branch of science, but was told " it 

 was impossible it could be that beetle, as it fed 

 only on the elm." Yet it seems unlikely any 

 insect would starve. If some found themselves 

 in a region like this, where there were no elms, 

 why should they not look up something else to 

 feed on ? That there is a change of habit con- 

 tinually going on in animated nature is beyond 

 question. Besides the case of the potato beetle, 

 we often see it in birds. There were no chim- 

 neys in America once for swallows to build in, 

 and the English sparrow is another illustration. 



In the Country Gentleman of Aug. 12th, a corres- 

 pondent says : — 



"The English Sparrow will not build in the fo- 

 liage of trees, as most birds do, but quite often 

 builds in holes in old trees. A dead tree is pre- 

 ferred, but they will build in a hole in a large 

 tree, even though full of foliage. I have often, 

 when a boy, found several nests in an old tree. 

 Ivy seems to be their especial delight for an 

 abode, and to breed in. Many houses overgrown 

 with ivy, seem literally alive with sparrows." 



This is true enough of the sparrow in England 

 but it is not true if the "will not" is intended to 

 mean " under any circumstances." In the pub- 

 lic squares of Philadelphia, they have taken to 

 building in the foliage of the trees. There are 

 thousands of these nests through the city 

 squares. They make fearful bungles of nest 

 building it is true. They use as much straw to 

 make one nest as other birds do to make a 

 dozen, and so ungainly, too ! They look like 

 huge wisps of straw stuffed into a crotch after 

 having been used to wipe a pair of muddy boots. 



The changes going on in nature are wonder- 

 ful. Not only changes in habit, but changes in 

 form and changes in every character. The man 

 who believes that everything in the world has re- 

 mained just as it was in the beginning, scarcely 

 uses his eyes as he might do. 



Germination of Seeds. — It is a well-known 

 fact to all who have had experience in sowing 

 tree seeds, that the period required for germina- 

 tion is of the most uncertain character. Some- 

 times seeds sown will germinate the same season, 

 and then again in another season, they will 

 remain in the earth until the next before they 

 sprout. But even when they do sprout a large 

 lot will remain over until the succeeding year, 

 and it is not uncommon for some to appear sev- 

 eral years after the first seedling appeared. The 

 why of all this has been a puzzler. The following 

 from the Scientific American indicates that the 

 least mature are the first to germinate. It does 

 not strike us as a satisfactory solution, as, in view 

 of the facts we have given, it would seem as if 

 the vast majority were the least mature. But 

 we give it as recording the current views of the 

 day :— 



" Many instances have been put on record by 

 different observers of unripe seed germinating, 

 and several botanists have conducted extensive 

 series of experiments in raising plants from 

 seeds in different stages of development. At first 

 sight it seems rather surprising that an imper- 



