14 A NEW ZEALAND NATURALIST S CALENDAR. 



in that worn-out reduced condition in which they were 

 very liable to be attacked by the fungus which proved so 

 disastrous, and whose attacks they were utterly unable 

 to resist. 



Generally, in dealing with vegetables and fruits, we are 

 apt to consider the old well-known kinds to be the best, 

 but this is not really the case. Some of the well-known 

 forms are no doubt still full of vigour and productiveness, 

 and may continue so for a very long time, but the new 

 varieties, which arise by the intercrossing of vigorous 

 forms, are most likely to be strong with the strength of 

 youth. Hence those new varieties which meet us so 

 temptingly each year in the nurserymen's catalogues are 

 almost certain to be vigorous. In no respect has this fact 

 been better shown than in the many new potatoes which 

 have come on the market of late years and which have 

 been raised from seed by intercrossing. 



All this applies with equal force to that numerous 

 class of plants which is perpetuated by cuttings or slips, 

 and it would be interesting for anyone who had special 

 opportunities of doing so to find out, as far as possible, 

 the age of some of our common trees and shrubs. For 

 instance, it is probable that all the willows in New 

 Zealand have been grown from cuttings brought out 

 from Europe, or, as some believe, in the case of the 

 weeping willows, from those growing over Napoleon's 

 tomb at St. Helena, Our purple and copper beeches and 

 most of our poplars are similarly reproduced by cuttings. 

 These are suggested as examples ; there are no doubt 

 many others which mvist be known to cultivators, and 

 it would be worth while to examine more closely into 

 the accuracy of my statements. 



Though I have spent the greater part of this day in 

 the garden, I have not seen nor heard a single humble 

 bee. What has come of them of late? They have been 

 very late about Dunedin. Many of us remember the 

 interest with which we first learned of the appearance 

 of Immble bees here. Within one week in February 1888 



