52 
FOREST AND STREAM 
gjjoodlmd, ^farm mid (garden. 
The Pomegranate. —The pomegranate is one of the most 
profitable fruits grown. The trees bear fruit in three years 
from the cuttings, ail'd will grow on the most ordinary 
soils without irrigation. The pomegranate is a delicious 
fruit, and possesses mediciaal qualities of great ■value. It 
will bear shipment better than any other fruit. It may bo 
barreled up and sent around the globe in good order. The 
padres of California made their hedges of pomegranates 
and “tunas," or the high-growing prickly pear, which were 
not only cattle proof, but “things of beauty.” The flow¬ 
ers of the pomegranate are a beautiful crimson in color, 
and look as though made of wax. This fruit, however, 
reaches the greatest perfection in China, where the trees 
attain considerabe size—as large or larger than a dwarf 
apple or pear. 
--*••*--- 
List op Ornamental Shrubs. —As this is the proper 
time for planting shrubs for decorating pleasure grounds 
in the Southern States, we append a select list. Shrubs 
once planted will yield an ample reward in the 
shape of flowers for an ordinary lifetime. As they bloom 
on the wood of the preceding year, therefore, to secure a 
good bloom, they should be well sheaved in, or pruned, as 
soon as the bloom is over. Then they push out plenty of 
young wood to bloom the following year. If left until 
Spring, and then pruned, you loose much, if not all, the 
bloom. We now give the list- All of them can be pro¬ 
cured of any good nurseryman, and cost but little 
more than bedding plants, and require no protection in 
Winter, and no renewing:— 
Dwarf white and pink flowing almond corchorus, deut- 
zias daphne mezereon, forsythia hydrangeas, previt, corn- 
nelian, cherry, wiegela rosea, Missouri ami other cur¬ 
rants, dwarf pavias, Persian, white, and common lilacs, 
spirceas, guelder rose or snowball, magnolias, conspicua and 
grandiflora, jasmines, (yellow and white), mespilus, fringe 
tree, fly, and Tartarian honeysuckle, pyrus, japoniea 
creeping plants, gelsemium nitidum honeysuckles, passi- 
flora jasmines, climbing roses, mist tree, or rhus catmus, 
bladders senna, and many others. 
Although the above list embraces the most desirable free 
bloomers, the common crab apple tree (Pyrus coronavio) 
that grows wild all through the Southern States, is highly 
spoken of as an ornamental shrub, aud will also probably 
make a good hedge plant. In can be propagated from 
seed, and from cuttings of the root about au inch long, 
planted in a hot bed. The pyrus japoniea and pyracan- 
tha can be propagated in the same way. Let our Southern 
friends begin the year by endeavoring to make their homes 
more attractive by planting, painting, good carriage drives, 
etc., with fine avenues of live oak or tulip, poplars, or ce¬ 
dars of Lebanon. 
Lula Bean Seed.— Many gardeners Lave been annoyed 
by their lima bean seed failing to vegetate, and attribute it 
to the seed rotting by too much moisture. We are of opin¬ 
ion that the most frequent cause of failure is from planting 
immature seed. Mature seed is while and plump; imma- 
sure is greenish and shrivelled. Good seed should be al¬ 
lowed to ripen on the plant; if picked green it can never be 
relied on, 
Acorn Food.— The Indians in California make a whole¬ 
some food from acorns by shelling them, and pounding 
them iu a mortar to a tine powder, and pouring water on 
it until all the bitter taste is removed. It is then dried for 
future use, or baked in cakes, or parched, when it tastes 
like chestnuts. 
--*•*-- 
Flower Pots in parlors and sitting-rooms are rather un¬ 
sightly unless kept very clean or painted. Our better tioo- 
thirds gets a roll of dark green wail-paper, and pastes it 
over the pots, and with care in watering, it lasts all winter. 
California Radish. —A new variety attains a large size. 
Iu Illinois one weighed seven pounds, and they averaged 8 
to 12 inches Jong, and 8 to 10 inches in circumference, and 
were as solid and crisp as early spring radishes. 
Cauliflowers. —If you want large cauliflowers water 
them well and frequently In summer, or better still, plant 
in rich swampy ground not too wet. 
Horticulturists in Council.— At the last regular 
monthly meeting of the New York Horticultural Society, 
at Cooper Institute, tkirty-flve new members were ad¬ 
mitted, and Messrs. Marshall P. Wilder, of Boston, Charles 
Downing, of Newburg, and Thomas Hogg, of Yokohama, 
Japan, were chosen honorary members. Mr. Bennelt, of 
the Committee on Plants, reported that a large number of 
valuable specimens bad been received for exhibition. A 
firm on Bay Ridge sent several beautiful buds of the new 
tea-rose “Duchess of Filin burgh." This x’romises to be a 
great acquisition to the present stock of tea-roses, the color 
being very beautiful, and the plant rare. An exquisite 
group of violets, grown in pots, came from the gardens of 
the President. L. B. Parsons & Sons, of Flushing, Long 
Island, exhibited several specimens of the Juniperus Japon¬ 
iea aurea , a member of the red cedar family. This plant 
is of moderate growth, and keeps its golden lint under the 
severest trials. The present samples were sent from Japan 
by Mr. Thomas Hogg, who also forwarded the following 
additional rarities: the Oryptomervca Japoniea pygmea, a 
dwarf conifer, peculiarly adapted to both open ground and 
pot culture, especially the latter. It is very hardy, con¬ 
trary to the nature of the ordinary Cryptomerica, and is 
comparatively unknown. The Athyrinum Japoniea tarie• 
gala, a very permanently variegated fern from Japan, is a 
very hardy and handsome plant, and has also been hereto¬ 
fore unknown in this latitude. Several samples of the 
Oymnogramina decomposita, a rare golden fern, coming orig¬ 
inally from the Few Gardens, were likewise on exhibition. 
On motion, a committee of five was appointed to represent 
to members of Congress the propriety of abolishing the 
duty on plants. Mr. Lynch, of the Committee on the June 
Exhibition, reported progress. Arrangements had been 
made to seeure the Twenty-second Regiment Armory, on 
Fourteenth-street, near Sixth Avenue, a building which 
would furnish them over ten thousand available feet of 
space, and afford ample opportunity for a horticultural dis¬ 
play of the largest proportions. Mr. William Elliott, of 
New York, called attention to the species of plant swind¬ 
ling which had been carried ou for years past in certain lo¬ 
calities on Broadway, and which it behooved the honest 
members of the profession to put a stop to. A few days 
ago he called, in company witli a brother member, at a 
shop kept by a foreigner, and asked to see his latest novelties. 
He was shown a "strawberry tree,” and was told that the 
fruit produced on it was almost as large as a man’s fist, and 
of a flavor equal to the best cultivated strawberry. Rose 
plants, whicli the French dealer affirmed would grow 
striped, scarlet, yellow, black, and blue roses, of nearly six 
inches diameter, were offered at ridiculously low prices. 
Asparagus, which ordinarily takes three years to mature, 
was sold at the same place, warranted to produce a crop 
within six weeks. Seeds of this vigorous plant, which 
usually retail at fifty cents per pound, were offered by these 
Continental horticulturists at five cents a piece, or over one 
hundred dollars a pound. The gladiolus, which is known 
to horticulturists only in pink and white, is offered for sale 
by these enterprising gentlemen, in blue. A blue gladiolus, 
a plant never before recorded, would be worth $1,000 as a 
mere curiosity, and yet these French and German dealers 
on Broadway, were selling plants which they termed “blue 
gladiolus, at $1 a piece. Ou motion, a committee of five 
was appointed by the President to examine into the matter, 
and ask of Mayor Wickham that respectable horticultur¬ 
ists and the public he protected against this species of im¬ 
position. After transacting some further business the so¬ 
ciety adjourned.— Times. 
—The forest trees in Winthrop, Me., are found to con¬ 
tain immense numbers of caterpillar eggs upon their 
branches this season. Unless some providential destruc¬ 
tion overtakes them, there will probably be an abundance 
of caterpil! ara next year in that section. 
Batumi gistorg, 
[this Department is now under the charge of a competent Naturalist, 
Indorsed by the Smithsonian Institution, and wilt henceforth be made a 
special feature of this paper. AU communications, notes, queries, re¬ 
marks, and seasonal observations will receive cartful attention.] 
Notes from Our Correspondents. —A. B. Covert, 
collector for the University at Ann Arbor, Mich., describes 
the capture, last October, of a while song-sparrow, the tail 
and wings of which had cream-colored shaft linos. He 
also tells of a white robin which for five successive years 
built her nest in the door-yard of Prof. A. J. Edgaton at 
Three Rivers, Mich. None of the young, however, were 
while_Mrs. E. J. writes that she was surprised to see a 
very lively phosphorescence in the wake of the steamer, 
during a voyage up Long Island Sound about Feb. 1st, 
and asks if it is not somewhat unusual to observe the light 
of large phosphorescent animals so late in the winter.... 
“Senex,” (Stratford, Conn.,), commenting on the mildness 
of the Reason, mentions that frogs were seen and heard 
piping in his vicinity on New Year’s day-Fred Mather, 
(Uoueoye Falls, N. Y,,) tells us that on Feb. 21st he saw a 
crayfish (AsfdfiES Barloni ) with young in the tail appenda¬ 
ges. The young were about one-fourth of au inch long. 
The writer never saw them so early in the season before. 
He proposes to feed the mother, and note when the young 
feed, and their rate of growth. 
BIRDS RESIDENT AT NEW HAVEN. 
The birds which remain in the vicinity of New Haven, 
Conn., during the entire year, and their comparative 
abundance, 1 have observed to be as follows.— 
Red tailed hawk. Uommon in summer; rare In winter. 
lted-shouldered hawk. Uommon In summer; rare In winter. 
Great horned owl. Rare at all times. 
Mottled owl. Common summer and winter. 
Barred owl. Common at all times. 
Downy woodpecker. Common summer and winter. 
Golden winged woodpecker. Uommon in summer; rare In winter. 
Kingfisher. Common in summer; rare in winter. 
Robin. Common in snmnicr, and not rare lu winter. 
Blue bird. Not rare in winter, and common duriug the summer. 
C’blck-a-dee. Rare in summer; common In winter. 
Cedar- bird. Common throughout the year. 
Purple Ouch. Rare In summer; common In winter. 
Yellow-bird (Ohrysomitru) . Common enmmer and winter. 
Song sparrow. Uommon in summer; rare in winter. 
Meadow lark. Rare in winter, but common during the summer. 
Crow. Common both winter and summer. 
Blue jay. Commonly found all tne year. 
Wild pigeon. Rare in summer; rare in winter, 
Ruffed grouse. Common summer and winter. 
Quail. Common throughout the year. 
Dusky duck. Rare in su tuner; common in winter. 
Possibly there may be one or two more species, but hav¬ 
ing carefully observed the habits of our birds, I am in¬ 
clined to believe that all are included in the above list. 
Speculator. 
Animals of North Amerioa. —In his recent disserta¬ 
tion upon the geographical distribution of animals in the 
Nearctic Realm, published in the Bulletin of the National 
Museum, No. 1, Prof. E. D. Cope gives the number of 
species of vertebrates found in America, north of Mexico, 
as follows: Mammalia. 310species, 130 of which are rodents; 
birds, 756 species, nearly half of which belong to the 
“singing birds”; reptiles, 257 species, 132 of which are 
serpents, and 82 lizards; batruchiuns, 101 species almost en¬ 
tirely of the frogsand toads and the salamanders; fishes, 825 
species, making in all 2,249 vertebrates, which is probably 
less than the truth, for many fishes, both of the ocean aud 
of fresh waters, remain undescribed. Probably 50,000 is 
below the mark as an estimate of the number of species 
of insects, and 1,000 species are to be added for the 
myriopods, spiders and crabs, besides the worms. The 
number of mollusks of North America is about 1,824, of 
which 400 are marine, 1,034 live in rivers and lakes, and 
400 are terrestrial and air-breathers. The Iiudiata include 
about 275 species, and the Protozoa, which are well-rep¬ 
resented in our waters, perhaps as [many more; but these 
have not been enumerated. 
The Coming of the Birds. —The Times says that Major 
W. H. Spera, of Ephrata, Pa., has prepared the following 
notices of the time that the various migratory birds arrived 
in Lancaster County, Pa., last year, it will be interesting 
to compare it with the dates of the arrival this year: 
Robin, February 3d, large flocks seen February I7tli; blue 
jay, February llth; blue bird, February 17lb; meadow 
lark, March 10th; red-winged blackbird, March 17th; crow 
blackbird, March 18lh; flicker, March 18th; pewee, March 
15th; thrush,(?) March 17th; kill-deer. Marcli 19th; Whip- 
poor-will, May 2d; chimney swallow, May 9th; barn 
swallow, May llth; house wren, May 1st; night hawk, 
May 4th; pigeon, large flocks May 31st and April 1st. 
Hedgehog’s Coat. —-In the bristles of the common 
hedgehog we find a very curious bit of mechanism. The 
hedgehog has no horny studs, either fastened into the 
skin, as in the armadillo, nor yet has he a bo'ne formed 
dome, covered with horny scales as in the tortoise. In¬ 
stead of this his horny covering assumes the forfii of 
spines, or bristles, each set firmly into the skin at one end. 
These bristles the owner can erect in groups, with all the 
points outward, presenting a most formidable array of 
weapons; but the hedgehog has also power to lay back all 
these sharp pointed spines in one direction, viz., from his 
head backward. In ibis position they form a carpet, 
which, if smoothed the right way with the hand, is as soft 
as velvet. In order to find out how all this mechanism 
was carried out, I have dissected a hedgehog, and was sur¬ 
prised to find how very slight are the muscles which com¬ 
mand the spine. They are fine strings of fibre, very similar 
to the corrugator supercilii, or frowning muscle in our own 
forehead; in fact, when a hedgehog curls himself up, he 
begins to work with a tremendous frown as he tucks his 
head inwards. The muscles that work the spines are 
attached to prominences which project from the backbone; 
and especially do they spring from the ribs, which I find 
to be of unusual strength and abnormal width for so small 
an animal. * * * Being anxious to settle the point 
mentioned by White, as to whether the spines of the hedge¬ 
hog at birth are soft, I obtained a hedgehog from my 
brother-in-law, the Rev. II. Gordon, nartiug Rectory, 
Petersfield. To my great delight I one morning found, 
among the straw in the box, one baby hedgehog just, born. 
There had been probably a large family born, but the 
mother had ealenlhem all except this one. Here is a life- 
sized picture of*him. White was correct. The spines 
were soft and flexible at the birth'of tbe little beast ; they 
were little dumpy spikes, much resembling tbe incipient 
feathers of a young bird. Even in the few hours the 
hedgehog lived these bristles grew considerably .—Prank 
Bucktand's nmo edition of White's “ fielborne.’’ 
Boston, February 18th, 1870. 
Editor Forest and Stream : — 
When, In 1827,1 was living In Ayreshire, Scotland, a mulatto boy, 
who lived near us, brought me. one April day, a young sparrow (Pyrgita 
domeslica) which I gave into the care of iny good mother, who named it 
Philip. For two weeks I fed the little fledgling; it was then ablo to 
provide for itself. Every fly or spider which escaped the searching 
besom fell a victim to her (she was a ben-sparrow); and we never caged 
her—she roamed at liberty. When my mother wished her company she 
would go to the door and whiBlle, or cull ‘'Philip!” and theiittlecreature 
would issue from a hedge or hawlhorne near by, and perch upon her 
head or shoulder. When winter came she would sit ou the wlndow- 
sasb and listen to the howling wind, turning her head from one side to 
the other, with that knowing air peculiar to some birds- Ihen she would 
fly to my mother, and nestle down at the back of her neck, in the white 
cambric neck-handkerchief she always wore, nud remain there for 
hours. Philip wub onr guest at table, hopping from One person to 
another, grateful for any crumbs, if my father drove her off, she 
would fly upon his bald head and peck at his scanty hairs. When 
winter fairly set in she took a fancy to a pitcher in my bedroom, which 
stood on the shelf which my mother ornamented with old china and 
antiquated goblets. In this pitcher the little Indy built her nest, collecting 
straws, feathers, and threads for the purpose, and here she retired every 
night. Philip not otdy claimed the pitcher for her own, but the shelf ou 
which it stood. As her fame spread, for paragraphs appeared in onr 
Gazette noticing the remarkable bird, strangers from miles around wonld 
come to Bee her; and if they put their flegers on the shelf or pitcher she 
would peck at them with the fierceness of a Scotch terrier. 
In one of her rambles she found a mate. He every evening escorted 
her home, and left his fair lady at my bedroom window, which 1 left 
open for her entrance. Every morning he came to the window aud 
called her. She always answered while flying from the pitcher to the 
window, and if It happened not lo he upen she would perch on my 
head, and pull my hair tUi I woke and let her ont. Wo soon discovered 
that the pair were building n uest abroad. After this we saw no more 
of Philip for three months, and we all feared she hud fallen a victim to 
some gnnnc-r: bnt at tbe expiration of that time, to the joy and surprise 
of us all, particularly of my mother, she flew info the bouse, hopped on 
to the tea table, and seemed perfectly at home aguln. She then ex¬ 
amined her uest In the pitcher, widen appeared to want some repairs, as 
she busied herself about it, and then took possession of it for the winter, 
living in the family as before. The next spring she left us. and again 
returned as winter approached. This she continued doiug for live years. 
Finally she did not come hack, and we could only conjecture that she 
died the death of a spanow. J. C. K. 
A LETTER OF PROMISE, 
Ann Abbor, Mich., February 20th, 1876. 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
Your issue of February 17tli la at hand, I shall at range my notes on 
the arrival, breeding, aud depirmre of the birds of lowor Michigan, 
taken about here, and send them so that they will reach you March lsl. 
Iu regard to the idea that birds are able to perceive coining weather, 1 
find the following among iby notes: “Ann Arbor, April23d and 24th, 
heavy fall of suow; find many bine-birds and song spanows frozen in 
tbe woods aud fields.” bow, if birds are able to loresee the coming 
weather, why had they not departed, and escaped death? I expect the 
birds to arrive this spring much earlier Ilian usual. A few blue-birds are 
here, and are singing merrily about the house this morning. 
A. B. COVKBT- 
Recent Arrivals at the Central Park Menagerie.—Two 
monkeys (Macacos cynomotgui); one ocelot (Felis pardulis); two badgers 
(Taxus Americanos); one red deer (Vermis Vlrginionus); one ilve- 
horeed sheep (Out aries), from ihe Atlas Mts., northwest Africa, pre¬ 
sented by Mr. S. E. Martin, Morocco, Africa; one herring gull (Larus 
argentalus), presented by Bamuel W. Francis, M. D. r Newport, R. I.; 
tv?o bullfinches (Pyfrhula rubrioitta): two black caps (Syhitf atriaipilto). 
W. A. COkruh, Pireclor, 
