348 Notes and Gleanings, 



Ficus ELASTICA PROPAGATION. — Ficu'i elastica is by no means difficult 

 to propagate, and the present moment is very suitable for the work. Cut the 

 well-matured portion of the stem into lengths of two inches each, with a pair of 

 leaves to each, then split the stem down the centre, and lay the pieces on the 

 green-house shelf for a few hours. Insert them singly in pots filled witJi light, 

 sandy soil ; bury a portion of the stem about an inch below the surface, and 

 secure the leaf to a short stake to prevent its becoming loose. The cutting pots 

 should be placed in a warm corner of the green-house, unless you have the con- 

 venience of a cucumber or melon frame ; the frame is preferable, but they will 

 strike in an ordinary green-house at this season of the year. Although Ficus 

 elastica is valuable for the decoration of in-door apartments and conservatories 

 during the summer season, it requires a temperature rather higher than that of 

 the ordinary green-house during the winter to keep it in good health. In win- 

 tering it in the green-house, it is essential to keep the plants rather dry at the 

 roots. Floral World. 



Cockchafers. — It is stated in " Nature " that the cockchafer has been in- 

 troduced into New Zealand ; but the erremy to the cockchafer, the rook, has 

 been left at home. Would not it be well to introduce some rooks into this coun- 

 try to eat up our cockchafers or May bugs ? The larvae are, however, greedily 

 eaten by crows, and both larvae and beetles by fowls. The skunk also destroys 

 large quantities of the beetles. 



The Aberdeen Strawberry Trade. — While we are boasting of the mag- 

 nitude of the strawberry trade at Norfolk, Delaware, and other places in this 

 country, the Gardener's Magazine has something to say of Aberdeen strawber- 

 ries. That city has long and justly been famed for producing strawberries of the 

 finest quality, and the last season appears to have been one of the most success- 

 ful on record for the market gardeners there. Besides the large quantities used 

 by private families, in the town and district, and the still greater quantities 

 manufactured in the local preserving establishments, the exports of this fruit 

 amounted to about forty tons. 



Dates in Persia. — Owing to the famine in Persia, the authorities have 

 prohibited the exportation of dates from Bussorah, as they are of great use for 

 food in that country. From twelve to fifteen thousand tons per annum are 

 usually received in England from Persia. 



Drying Ferns. — Lay them flat between paper — bibulous paper is best, but 

 even old newspapers will do ; the greater the bulk of paper between the speci- 

 mens the better ; there should be at least several layers. Then press closely 

 with a heavy weight. If you use lattice-work frames between every few layers, 

 you need not change them till dry ; if not, they should be changed two or three 

 times into dry paper, at intervals of a day or two, according to the amount of 

 dampness in them. Gardener's Chronicle. 



