126 Notes on the ConifercB. [Sess. 



pushed their beaks sideways under the lid of the grease-box, 

 and, by a process of ingenuity rarely equalled by the feathered 

 tribe, were thus able to dine at the expense of the railway 

 company. 



There are few subjects of study more pleasing and interest- 

 ing to the genial and generous mind tlian that of natural 

 history, and few of our common birds more deserve a passing 

 notice than our sable ubiquitous friend, the rook. 



111.— NOTES ON TEE CONIFERS. 



By Mr HUGH FEASER. 



{ReadJan. 25, ISSS.) 



Among the many Orders into which the vegetable kingdom 

 is divided, it would be difficult, or probably impossible, to 

 name one more important, either from an economic or orna- 

 mental point of view, than the Coniferse. Their wonderful 

 diversity of habit, from the procumbent junipers of Europe, 

 whose stature is measured by inches, to the majestic Welling- 

 tonia of California, rising to the almost fabulous height of 360 

 feet ; the varieties of colour and tint which the foliage as- 

 sumes, and the uniform gracefulness and symmetry of growth 

 which characterise every member of the family, combined 

 with the fact that a large proportion of the grandest forms are 

 adapted to the soils and climate of this country — all render 

 them universal favourites as ornamental plants. The well- 

 known value, also, of many of them as timber-trees — of some 

 for their resin, and of others for their fruit — must always 

 ensure their extensive use in forest planting in this and every 

 other country over the world. 



There is no region or continent which does not produce its 

 conifers; and as they are usually found at high altitudes, a 

 singularly large proportion of the species are suitable for culti- 

 vation in our climate. China and Japan send us their quota 

 of Abies, Cupressus, and Pinus ; India, its magnificent cedars, 



