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THE CANADIAN HOBTICULTDRIST. 



LITTLE MISS BRIER. 



Little Miss Brier came out of the ground ; 



She put out her thorns and scratched everything 'round. 



" I'll just try," said she, 



"How bad I can be ; 

 At pricking and scratching there's few can match me." 



Little Mis.s Brier was handsome and bright, 

 Her leaves were dark green and her flowers were pure 

 white ; 



But all who came nigh her, 



Were so wtn-ried by her. 

 They'd go out of their way to keep clear of the Bi-ier. 

 Little Miss Brier was looking one day 

 At her neighbor, the Violet, just over the way ; 



" I wonder," said she, 



"That no one pets me. 

 While all seem so glad little Violet to see." 

 A sober old Linnet, what sat on a tree, 

 Heard the speech of the Biier, and thus answered he 



" Tis not that she's fair, 



For you may compare 

 fn beauty with even Miss Violet there :" 

 " But Violet is always so pleasant and kind, 

 So gentle in manner, so humble in mind. 



E'en the wornis at her feet 



She would never ill-treat. 

 And to Bird, Bee, and Butterfly always is sweet." 

 The gardner's wife just then the pathway came dnun, 

 And tlie niiohievous Brier caught hold of her gown ; 



" Oh dear! what a tear ! 



My gown's spoiled, I declare ; 

 That troublesome Brier has no business there ; 

 Here, John dig it up ; throw it into the fire." 

 And that was the end of the ill-natured Brier. 

 In, The Little Christian. Mrs. Anna Bachf. 



COAL ASHES. 



The following extract is from the 

 bulletin of the New York Agricultural 

 Experiment Station ; E. L. Sturtevant, 

 Director. 



Oftentimes careful observation may take 

 the place of experiment, and such observa- 

 tions have a specLal value when the results 

 of the observation have been uniform for 

 a long series of years. The question as to 

 the value and the use of coal ashes has 

 been for a long time an interesting one 

 and is getting to he more and more of a 

 (juestion as the use of coal extends. 



One of the most desirable tises for coal 

 ashes is to place around the stems of cur- 

 rant bushes, of quince trees, and the 

 Mountain Ash, in order to check the rav- 

 ages of the borer. In the garden of Mr. 

 Robert J. Swan, of Geneva, are extraord- 

 inarily thrifty currant bushes, to which 

 coal ashes have been apj)lied for many 

 years, and which have not onlj^ been free 

 from the borers, but also from the attacK 

 of the ctu'rant worm. There ai'e also 

 quince trees of equal thriftiness, which 

 have been under like treatment, and in the 



lawn are a number of Mountain Ashes, some 

 of which have been treated with coal ashes 

 and the others have not, and the differ- 

 ence in vigor is extremely well marked in 

 favor of those to which coal ashes liave 

 been applied. The ashes for this purpose 

 are heaped up about the stem to a lieight 

 perhaps of six to eight inches and extend- 

 ing about two feet from the trunk. The 

 explanation offered is, that the ashe.s afford 

 mechanical protection and also are of ad- 

 vantage as a mulch in maintaining moisture 

 and cool temperature for the soil. 



Coal ashes may als<j be found desirable 

 for use in ameliorating heavy clay soils, 

 the intermixture preventing to some ex- 

 tent the baking which is so apt to occtir 

 after rains in eai'ly summer. The chemical 

 value of coal ashes where wood kindlings 

 have not been used is of very little account, 

 and we can say that there is no doubt but, 

 that field experiments in general, with coal 

 ashes, have proved quite conclusively their 

 uselessness. In analyses of coal ashes from 

 j the Pennsylvania white-ash coal, examined 

 by Froi. Storer, 0.05 per cent, of phos- 

 phoric acid and 1.47 per cent, of potash 

 was found, but these quantities, as Prof. 

 Storer well says, are inferior to what 

 would have been found in good pit sand 

 from eastern Massachusetts. 



Savoy Cabbage. — The Savoy cabbages 

 are almost as tender as the cauliflower, 

 have a distinct flavor, and a marrowy 

 consistence of their own, which some pre- 

 fer to caidiflower. These being as easily 

 raised as the common cabbage, are within 

 the reach of all. Those who have culti- 

 vated Savoy cabbages need no advice ; to 

 those who have not, we say, by all means 

 try the Savoys. The English authors of 

 works on gardening regard them as so 

 different that they class them by them- 

 selves, under Savoys, and not among the 

 cabbages. When we first knew them 

 there was but one kind, " the Savoy," 

 now there are a dozen or more Savoys, in- 

 cluding early and late kinds. Perhaps 

 the " Improved American Savt)y " will be 

 best for those who try Savoys for the first 

 time. Afterwards they will be glad to 

 test the early and late kinds 'J'he seeds 

 are to be sown and the plants treated ex- 

 actly as those of the ordinary cabbages.^ 

 A merican Agriculturist. 



fRINTBD AT THE STEAM PliBSS ESTABLISHMENT OF COPP, CI.ARK t CO. COLBORNB STREET TORONTO. 



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