COLLEGEVILLE TRIAL STATION. 281 



Our spring was abnormally cool and much later than last 

 year; in fact, it was too cold for anything to grow till the middle 

 of May. The first tree to open its flowers was the Patten's pear 

 seedling on the 17th of May, which was followed by some plums 

 the next day, and by the 25th they were in full flower. At that 

 time a few apple blossoms were seen, too, but the trees only came 

 in full bloom by the first of June. This makes the season for the 

 growth, development and ripening of fruits rather short. 



We have to mention one other enemy to horticulture, the 

 Bohemian waxwings. It seems these birds had just been wait- 

 ing for the first leaves and flowers to appear on trees to get in 

 their work, for as soon as the Chinese and Patten's seedling pears 

 started to grow these birds were right there and picked off the 

 tender leaves and flowers entirely. Some trees are still without 

 leaves. To protect some of the blossoms on a Patten's pear we 

 covered them with cheese cloth. We don't know what these birds 

 are good for anyway. They only live on buds, leaves, blossoms 

 and small fruits all the year around and seem to keep shy of 

 insects. We also had a light frost on May 22d, but it did not do 

 much harm. We noticed, however, a few early blossoms in 

 strawberry No. 3 and a few buds on the grapevines near the 

 ground to have been frozen. 



With the advent of warmer weather and a good rain all 

 plants and trees started to grow vigorously, and the prospects for 

 a good crop of fruits are now not so gloomy as three weeks ago. 

 In fact, if nothing unforeseen should happen, we may get a very 

 good crop of apples and plums, strawberries and currants. The 

 tame grapes will bear well and the Alpha is out for a full crop. 

 We have changed our opinion in regard to the Alpha being a pure 

 native variety, for its whitish down, reddish buds and thicker 

 hairy leaves indicate it to be rather a hybrid than a native vine, 

 though it was found growing wild in the woods. 



Do Birds Return Year After Year to the Same Nesting Places? — 

 This question is probably hard to answer except in a general way; but occa- 

 sionally birds with peculiar markings are found and these can be identified. 

 For example, in West Chester there is a robin with a snow-white tail that 

 for four or five years has regularly appeared and spent the summer there. 



In the same place there is a maple tree, with a dead, dry, hard limb, on 

 the tip of which, for several years, a male downy wood-pecker has come, 

 with each spring, to rap, rap, rap, in the early morning, loud enough to be 

 heard by all the neighbors. The limb is so small, hard and dry that it can 

 contain little or no food. It is probably a freak of a single bird, that, for 

 some reason, comes from mere "force of habit," to his "old stamping 

 ground." — "Forest Leaves." 



