THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. 85 
more than half of its limbs were dead, but it still bore leaves and 
what remained was quite healthy. It will soon disappear, but 
the record of its existence will remain. 
There were numbers of interesting herbaceous plants, but the 
least known are all I need give. There were Loosestrife (Zythrum 
lineare) and Conobea multifida, the latter not hitherto recorded in 
Canada. Of shrubs, the climbing Prairie Rose (fosa setigera) 
deserves particular attention as it is quite common, produces 
multitudes of flowers, is a climber and should be cultivated. Another 
climber, the Trumpet Creeper (Zecoma radicans), was growing wild 
‘on the sand at the southern extremity, and doubtless was an im- 
migrant from further south. I may mention in this connection that 
this species attains wonderful luxuriance in and around Chatham, 
and when seen in full flower climbing amongst conifers, and other 
trees, its orange-scarlet flowers make a series of beautiful pictures that 
have only to be seen to charm the mzna’s eye ever after. 
By a judicious system of ditches or canals much of the marsh- 
land at Pelee Island has been drained and very soon all will be fit for 
use, and then, if we get closer trade relations with the country to the 
south, the dwellers on the Island will supply vegetables at a nominal 
price to the cities on Lake Erie. Apparently market-gardening has 
not reached the Island, but it surely will, and then the almost 
inexhaustible soil will be put to a better purpose than it is at present. 
The future of the Island is not bound up in the making of wine, but 
better trade relations will convert the Island into a big vegetable 
garden and its trade will increase a thousand times. 
I wish now to say a few words concerning the rare or peculiar 
plants found at Amherstburg, Windsor, Sandwich and Chatham, and 
to remark that in my opinion a summer could be well spent by an 
experinced botanist along the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair, and 
that much valuable information could be gathered that would be of 
use to all classes. Geologically the river and lake are not barriers to 
the distribution of species, and it is not surprising to find many 
prairie species, conspicuous for their size, at home on our side of the 
river. It is a surprise, however, to find the more humble in- 
dividuals wanting, and a cause should be looked for, if this statement 
be true. 
On the eastern bank of the Thames, in Chatham, just where the 
Erie and Huron Railway crosses that river, may be seen two ex- 
