230 



THE CANADIAN H0RTI0ULTUBI8T. 



metrical a shape as possible. In a 

 short time half a dozen new branches 

 will start for every one cut off, and by 

 fall we have compact, bushy plants, 

 well furnished with blossoming points. 

 We keep all buds picked off during the 

 summer and do not encourage a vigor- 

 ous growth. The aim is to keep them 

 as nearly dormant as possible, and in 

 order to accomplish this we give only 

 enough water to keep the soil moist. 

 A slow, healthy growth will result. In 

 fall, before taking them into the house, 

 we repot them, using a compost made 

 of garden mould, well-rotted manure and 

 sand. The light-colored varieties seem 

 to be the freest bloomers in winter. — 

 American Agriculturist. 



PEOPLE WHO LIVE IX TREES. 



In thinly populated districts of South- 

 ern and Central Africa, where lions, 

 leopards and hyenas abound, the natives 

 live in huts like gigantic bee-hives, 

 firmly fixed among the large branches 

 of the Baobab tree. On the approach 

 of night they ascend to their huts by 

 means of rude ladders, while the lions 

 roar about their camp-fires until the 

 approach of day drives them to their 

 lairs. 



As many as thirty families have been 

 found to occupy a single tree. In many 

 instances natives who till the ground 

 at any great distance from their tribe 

 build these huts for nightly accommo- 

 dation. In travelling through the 

 country one frequently sees these trees 

 alive with baboons and other kinds of 

 the monkey tribe, busy in collecting the 

 fruit and indulging in ceaseless gam- 

 bols and chatter ; for this reason it is 

 commonly called the monkey-bread tree. 

 When the tree is not occupied as a 

 habitation, the hollow trunk serves 

 the natives as a sepulchre for executed 

 criminals — the law of the people deny- 

 ing them the right of burial — inside of 

 which the bodies dry up, and to a great 



extent resemble mummies. To a Euro- 

 pean this tree is a marvel. Comingacross 

 one inhabited by monkeys, it is ex- 

 tremely dangerous to shoot any unless 

 one is with a party, for if any are 

 wounded the whole colony take up the 

 battle, and more than once I found that 

 a retreat in short order was necessary. 

 — Capt. Pinto, in American Agricul- 

 turist. 



THE HUCKLEBERRY. 



When Bartholomew Gosnold, in 1602, 

 discovered wild grapes growing in great 

 abundance in the swamps and low 

 grounds on a little islet near the New 

 England coast, he gave to it the name 

 of Martin's Vineyard, no doubt believ- 

 ing that he had found the home of the 

 wild grapes of the New World. But 

 that little islet, now known as "No- 

 man's Land," nor the larger island, 

 which bears the name of Martha's Vine- 

 yard, are considered favorable locations 

 for vineyards, although the wild grapes 

 do grow all along the New England 

 coast, and in swamps and low grounds 

 throughout these United States. While 

 it is true that the wild grapes of North 

 America are found more abundantly 

 in swamj)s and low grounds than on 

 high and dry soils, still no vineyardist 

 would think of planting a vineyard in 

 a swamp, because long experience has 

 shown that high, dry and well-drained 

 soils are far preferrable for such pur- 

 poses than those that are low and wet. 



There is another very valuable native 

 fruit, about which the same erroneous 

 ideas exist that were for a long time 

 held in regard to the indigenous grapes ; 

 it is our swamp high-bush huckleberry, 

 or blueberry ( Vaccinium corymbosumj. 

 It is found growing wild in the same 

 localities and under the same conditions 

 as the wild grape, not only in swamps, 

 but also on high and dry soils. Because 

 the plants are more abundant in swamps 

 than on hills and in dry soils does not 



