1879. 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



and living in Orange County, New York, about 

 1837 to 1840, I suddenly came upon a snake 

 known as the speckled and striped, or garter 

 snake. It was disposed to fight as I thought, 

 showing much excitement and alarm. 1 was 

 surprised at its demonstrations, remained quiet 

 and watched it ; when to my astonishment a 

 number of tiny snakes rapidly approached her 

 and began running into her mouth. It was only 

 the work of a minute or two when all were 

 stowed away, within the body of the parent snake, 

 and she attempted to slowly crawl away and 

 get out of danger. I placed my foot on her 

 head, with a forked stick held the body at length, 

 and with my knife ripped her open and counted 

 twenty one young snakes taken out of her. I 

 have known a species of the black snake do the 

 same thing. The rattlesnake, Crotalus horridus 

 also swallows its 3'oung at the approach of 

 danger 



Some people who have captured these rep- 

 tiles, and afterwards the young came out of them, 

 were lead into the erroneous belief that they 

 are viviparous instead of oviparous. I may 

 have something further to say about the anat- 

 omy of these reptiles before the year closes, 

 that is not to be found in any Natural History I 

 have seen. 



ABOUT THE HARDINESS OF TREES. 



BY T. T. FORFAR. 



I have often wondered why our nurserymen 

 or horticultural societies have not supplied us 

 with complete lists as to hardiness of the differ- 

 ent varieties of fruit and ornamental trees, 

 shrubs, etc. I am well aware that there is a 

 great variation of climate and soil in the same 

 latitude, but this can be taken into consideration 

 by the tree planter and acted on. Of apple 

 trees we have partial lists, but there are still 

 many varieties of apple that are comparatively 

 hardy that are not given in these lists. Of pear, 

 plum, peach, cherry, and nearly all of our in- 

 troduced ornamental trees, we can learn little 

 or nothing except by personal experience. Now 

 it appears to me that with a little observation 

 by our nurserymen and horticultural societies, 

 lists could be made out giving the comparative 

 hardiness of all the different varieties cultivated. 

 They could be corrected one with another until 

 they were entirely revised and complete. Until 

 this is done tree planters in the Northern States 

 and Canada will be at a great disadvantage, 

 having little or nothing to guide them except 



their own experience. We know that trees are 

 killed by frost in different ways, but never when 

 the wood is properly ripened. There must be a 

 superabundance of sap in the trunk or branches 

 before frost will cause any ill effect. Now it 

 would ])e an easy matter for nurserymen to 

 make a note of the time of ripening of the wood 

 of the diflerent varieties cultivated, and the per- 

 centage killed of each variety by frost. 



The high state of cultivation in a nursery 

 will generally cause trees to be later in ripening 

 their wood than where they only receive an or- 

 dinary orchard cultivation ; consequently notes 

 taken on nursery rows would be of the greatest 

 value in a season in which all varieties ripen 

 their wood well. The comparative earliness 

 could then be seen. Here iir Canada the effects 

 of frost are generally seen in three different 

 forms : 



First — A sudden severe frost setting in early in 

 the season will expand the outside of the trunk 

 while the heart is still unfrozen, and split the 

 tree. The split is always on the side most ex- 

 posed to the wind. 



Second — The 'tree being expanded by frost, 

 when the heat of the sun becomes great enough, 

 through the course of the winter, a strip on the 

 south or southwest side becomes thawed and 

 contracts, splitting away from the part that re- 

 mains frozen, or bursting the sap vessels, there- 

 by retarding or entirely stopping the circulation 

 in that part. 



Third — The young shoots having more sap in 

 proportion than the trunk or old wood, and 

 being easier and more frequently thawed and 

 frozen, the sap vessels become completely 

 clogged, in which case the sun and air will soon 

 dry them up. 



So far as my observations have gone, this 

 action of the sun on frozen sap vessels appears 

 to me to be the true cause of the pear and 

 apple blight, the sap vessels becoming partially 

 clogged. So long as the strong upward flow of 

 the sap continues, no effect will be seen ; but as 

 soon as the leaves have attained their full 

 growth and the circulation becomes weaker, 

 then a portion of the sap will remain stationary 

 at the partially clogged point. Warm weather 

 setting in, fermentation takes place, and we 

 have blight. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Bees and Passion Flowers.— A writer in 



