326 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



mushrooms contain a common deleterious alkaloid which 

 he has named ** muscarine," the effects of which are neu- 

 tralized by the alkaloids atropine and daturine, which are 

 now sold by Italian pharmacists in those districts in which 

 poisonous mushrooms are commcn. 



Wheat from Calcutta.— The Calcutta Wheat trade 

 has grown into enormous proportions. In 1870 the exports 

 amounted to only 2,000 tons, and during the first nine 

 months of the present year 120,000 tons had already been 

 shipped. It is grown chiefly in the Punjaub, and is much 

 valued in the English markets, especially on account of its 

 dryness. 



Smoky Stoves. — There is a very simple way of avoiding 

 the disagreeable smoke and gas which always pours into 

 the room when a fire is lit in a stove, heater, or tire place, 

 on a damp day. Put in the wood and coal as usual ; but 

 before lighting them, ignite a handful of paper or shavings 

 placed on the top of the coal . This produces a current of 

 hot air in the chimney, which draws up the smoke and gas 

 at once. Not one person out of fifty ever thinks of this 

 easy expedient. 



Weight op Cattle by Measurement.— Multiply the 

 girth in feet by the length from the bone of the tail imme- 

 diately over the hinder part of the buttock to the front part 

 of the shoulder blade, and this product by 31 when the 

 girth is more than seven or less than nine feet, and by 

 twenty-three when less than seven or more than five feet, 

 and by sixteen when less than five or more than three, and 

 by eleven when more than three. A deduction of lib. in 

 twenty must be made for half-fattened cattle, and for cows 

 that have had calves. 



Cattle Disease m New Brunswick.— A correspond- 

 ent writing from Cumberland Bay, Queen's County, says: 

 — "A disease has made its appearance among the cattle of 

 this place which bids fair to be very destructive- Mr. 

 Joseph Reese has lost four animals already, Mr. Hector 

 McLean, three, and Mr. Algee, of the same place, one- 

 all within the last few days. The disease takes hold of the 

 best conditioned animals, and they only live a few hours 

 afterwards. The only thing visible after the carcasses are 

 skinned is a red ring around the neck of the animal which 

 looks like jelly. The disease is causing much alarm 

 among farmers, and when once it takes hold there seems* 

 no way of checking it.— St. John News. 



Brazilian Flowers.— Travelers in Brazil speak of 

 Fuchsias fifty and sixty feet in height, blooming from top 

 to bottom ; of large bushes of abutilon venosum, bearing 

 a profusion of orange bilk streaked with crimson ; of huge 

 Daturas, with hundreds of white trumpet shaped and 

 sweet scented blossoms some sixteen inches in length ; of 

 Orchids and Ferns ; huge Arums, with shield like leaves, 

 large enough to cover a man ; brilliant red and yellow 

 Bromelias and Tillandsias ; Epiphytes and Parasites of all 

 descriptions; Camellias, large enough to climb on to to pick 

 the topmost blossoms ; and Poinsettias, large bushes, on 

 which the crimson star-like floral btacts measure two feet 

 in diameter.— "Tlie Garden" London. 



Decay of Fruits.— Recent experiments by Dr. Brefield 

 in Germany, have shown that decay in apples was caused 

 by fungi. Mucor stolonifera, M. racemosus, Bolryiu cinerea 

 and Penicillum >glaucum. But the spores of these fungi 

 would not germinate on sound apples. WJien moistened 

 with apple juice, however, and placed on sound fruit, they 

 germinate rapidiy, or when placed in bruises or artificial 

 wounds ; showing that sap escaped from the cells and ex- 

 isting in their interstices was necessary to the germination 

 of the fungi. The obvious lesson is, keep the fruit free 

 from bruises, by carefully handling, and, other conditions 

 favorable, we may expect the fruit to keep well. A lesson 

 learned by practice, but this is a nice explanation of it. 



Salt for Sick animals.— One of our most skillful veter- 

 inary surgeons says the best remedy for very many kinds 

 of sickness by which domestic animals are afflicted, is a 

 good dose of glauber salts (sulphate of soda); while, at the 

 same time, it is a remedy decidedly inexpensive. The 

 usual dose, as a purgative, is as follows: Horse, one to two 

 pounds; cattle, one half to one pound; sheep and hogs, 

 three to five ounces; dogs, one to two ounces. In these 

 doses it is always necessary to give it as a drench, dissolv- 

 ed in two or three times its weight of water, but when 

 given to horses in smaller doses, as a condiment, diuretic 

 or laxative, it is generally readily taken dissolved in part 

 of a pail of water. 



Language of Sheep.— Both ewe and lambs recognize 

 each other's voices, and, amid the most deafening sounds, 

 run to meet one another. There are few things more 

 amusing than a sheep shearing. We put the flock into the 

 fold, set out all the lambs to the hill, and then send the 

 ewes to them as they are shorn. The moment that the 

 lamb hears its dam's voice it rushes from the crowd to 

 meet her, but instead of finding'the rough, well-clad, com- 

 fortable mamma which it left an hour, or a few hours 

 ago, it meets a poor, naked, shivering— a m»st deplorable 

 looking creature. It wheels about, and uttering a loud, 

 tremulous bleat of perfect dispair, flies from the frightful 

 vision. The mother's voice arrests its flight— it returns- 

 flies, and returns again generally from ten to a dozen times 

 before the recognition is perfect. 



Lumbering in Maine.— The Boston Journal's corres- 

 pondence says the Maine lumbermen have commenced 

 their winter's operations in the woods . Tl e prospect is 

 that nearly the same amount of new logs will be cut, as 

 plenty of men can be hired at cheaper wages than have been 

 paid for several years, and supplies are also less in value. 

 There is also every reason to believe that prices for lumber 

 next year will rule higher. The cut of the Kennebec 

 lumbermen will probably be some forty millions. The 

 Penobscot lumbermen will probably cut some sixty mil- 

 lions, and the Androscoggin lumbermen some thirtv or 

 forty millions. Quite a number of mills will winter over 

 but few logs, but there are sufficient stocks of manufac- 

 tured lumber on hand for the opening of business next 

 spring. The past year has been a dull one for the lumber- 

 ing interests. On the Penobscot business fell off at least 

 one-third as compared with fast year. There was an in- 

 creased demand tor lumber as cold weather approached, 

 and prices ruled better. 



*" The Areca Nut.— Not only do our canine friends profit 

 by this vegetable growth, but also the natives of the coun- 

 try it is indigenous to. An eastern correspondent says:— 

 "A very useful head-dress is worn by the inhabitants of 

 u Ti tract of countr y between Mercara and Mangalore, in 

 the Madras Presidency. A skull cap is made of the leaf of 



the areca nut, which is so hard that any weight can be car- 

 ried on it without the head being injured, while it effectu- 

 ally protects the wearer from the sun. Inside the cap the 

 owner keeps a store of betel leaf and areca nuts, and when 

 hungry, shakes his head and lets his larder drop into his 

 hand. In the evening the treasured head-piece fans the 

 fire for cooking, makes an excellent drinking bowl, and is 

 finally used as a substitute for a tureen." The idea of a 

 tureen is somewhat appalling in such a connection. We 

 have been obliged to camp in the mud and eat in extremely 

 aboriginal fashion, but neither the dire necessity nor the 

 resort are to be commended — when they can be avoided. 



Trees Vegetating Afresh After a Fire.— A singular 

 phenomenon is recorded in the German journal Der Natur- 

 forscher, as having happened in an orchard near the village 

 of Bruchelheirn. A large fire occurred in the village in 

 the beginning of September, and four weeks after it numer- 

 ous trees in the orchard that had been singed by the fire 

 began to vegetate anew, putting forth tender green leaves 

 and blossoms, often by the side of fruits which the fire had 

 spared. On examining the wood with a microscope.it 

 was found that the content? of the cells were transformed 

 into a pulpy mass. Sugar was found to be present both in 

 the singed and unsinged trees . 



Farmers' Friends.— The swallow, swift, and night- 

 hawk, are the gfcardians of the atmosphere. They check 

 the increase of insects that otherwise would overload it. 

 Woodpeckers, creepers, and chickadees, are guardians of 

 the trunks of trees. Warblers and flycatchers protect the 

 foliage. Blackbirds, thrushes, crows, and larks, protect 

 the surface of the soil; snipe and woodcock the soil under 

 the surface. Each tribe has its respective duties to per- 

 form in the economy of nature, and it is an undoubted 

 fact that, if the birds were all swept away from the earth, 

 man could not live upon it, vegetation would wither aud 

 die, and insects would become so numerous that no living 

 thing could withstand their attacks. The wholesale de- 

 struction occasioned by the grasshoppers, which have 

 lately devastated the west, says the Dirigo Rural, is un- 

 doubtedly caused by Uie thinning- out of the birds— such as 

 grouse, prairie-hens, etc.— which feed upon them. The 

 great and inestimable service done to the farmer, gardener, 

 and florist, is only becoming known by sad experience. 

 Spare the birds and save your fruit; the little corn and 

 fruit taken by them is more than compensated by the vast 

 quantities of noxious insects destroy ed. The long-perse- 

 cuted crow has been found, by actual experiment, to do 

 far more good by the vast quantities of grubs and insects 

 he devours, than the little harm he does in the few grains 

 of corn he pulls up; he is one of the farmer's friends.— A. 



WONDEEFUL ADULTERATION OF SEEDS— The GERMANS 



cultural Experiment Station at Middletown, brought over 

 some samples of seed adulterations largely practiced in 

 Germany, which can be seen at the Station by any one 

 interested. The process consists in grinding up quartz- 

 rock, carefully sifting out the particles of proper size, and 

 dying them to the color of the seeds to be adulterated. 

 Here are artificial specimens of various clover seeds, for 

 example, so perfect, that only a practiced eye would detect 

 from one-fifth to one-third of the adulterated seeds mixed 

 with the genuine product. These artificial imitations of 

 clover seed are supplied at one to three cents per pound, 

 to be mixed with seeds worth fifteen to twenty cents per 

 pound. Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Warnecke, who also brought 

 over several samples of the adulterations in grass seeds, are 

 now investigating the seeds of this country, not only to 

 see how far such adulterations are introduced here, but 

 also to test the percentage of vitality in those sold in our 

 markets. It is well known by the initiated, that some un- 

 scrupulous dealers buy up and mix old lifeless seeds, car- 

 ried over from year to year, with the new crop, selling all 

 as fresh seeds. This is an additional important work 

 carried on by the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment 

 Station, which will be decidedly useful, not only to Con- 

 necticut, but to the whole country. Mr. Warnecke, now 

 chemist at the Connecticut Station, has had much experi- 

 ence in the German Stations, with Prof. Stohmann, in 

 Leipsic, with Pros. Knop, of Tharandt, etc. We are well 

 aware that our leading seedsmen take every precaution to 

 have their seeds of the best quality, and such will be as 

 much interested as any in the exposure of frauds in im- 

 ported and other seeds.— Agriculturist. 



Spanish Moss as a Paulor Pl^nt.— The long gray 

 mossy-looking article which grows so abundantly over trees 

 in the south, and which, from its appearance, takes the 

 name of Florida or Spanish moss, is often brought north 

 by travelers, who try to grow it and make it come into use 

 as a winter ornament for rooms. It generally dies in the 

 winter season, and hence an idea prevails that it is a para 

 site— that is, a plant that takes its nourishment from living 

 trees, in which case of course it would be next to impossi- 

 ble to cultivate it. 



It is, however, not a parasite, but what is technically 

 called an epiphyte, or that which is simply borne on and 

 nourished by another. It is simply supported in the air by 

 the branches, and a dead tree, or even a telegraph wire, 

 serve the purpose of a support as well as a liviug tree, and 

 travelers testify that they grow equally as well on all. 



That this is really the case, is proved by the experience 

 of a friend who cultivates it perfectly as a window or room 

 ornament. Short pieces of stout branches were obtained, 

 and cut into lengths of about a foot. On this moss was 

 tied, or rather wired, to the thickness of an inch or so, and 

 on this th.e Spanish moss was lightly tied. It was hung by 

 a wire attached to each end of the little truncheon, and 

 during the summer is suspended from the branches of trees 

 or any other half-shady place. The moss would be watered 

 every day or so, just as and at the same time that other 

 plants are watered. It grows well in this way, and through 

 summer blooms profusely. The flowers are small and 

 green, and exhibit their beauty only to very close observ- 

 ers. In winter the blocks with the moss are hung in win- 

 dows in rooms with other window plains, watered as regu- 

 larly as they are. 



It is complained by many who have brought this curious 

 plant from the south, and have tried to grow it, that it al- 

 ways dies; and as we have already said, this is the reason 

 why it is supposed to be a parasite; but wc fancy it is only 

 those who cannot grow plants in rooms ai all that fail wi.h 

 the Spanish moss. Its hard, grayish look suggests perhaps 

 that it ought to do well under hard treatment; and it is 

 only because it resents this that there is reason for the 



talk about it being very difficult to grow. It is much more 

 easy than the average of plants. In its native places it 

 prefers to attach itself to trees that grow in swampy ground. 

 In such places there is always a little moisture in the atmos- 

 phere, more so than in upland or dry places; and as this 

 plant has to get all its food from the atmosphere, the hu- 

 midity is of course grateful to it. In cultivation this humid 

 atmosphere is imitated in some degree by the evaporation 

 from the moss about the block. It is really one of the 

 most interesting things for a parlor plant, and we are glad 

 to know that some one can grow it and that its cultivation 

 is so simple. — Germantown Farmer and Gardener. 



fachting znd^miing. 



All communications from Secretaries and friends should be mailed no 

 later than Monday in each week. 



HIGH WATER. FOR THE WEEK. 



Date. 



Dec. 28.. ., 



Dec. 29 



Dec. 30.. .. 



Dec. 31..... 



Jan. 1.. ... 



Jan. 2 



Jan. 3 



Boston. 



H. 



n. 



3 



57 



9 



57 



U 



2 



11 



58 



eve. 



55 



1 



44 



2 



31 



New York. 



H, 



5 



6 



7 



M. 



42 

 45 

 45 



8 43 



9 41 



10 .50 



11 17 



Charleston 



H. 



4 



5 



7 

 7 

 8 

 9 

 10 



« 



57 

 5? 

 2 

 58 

 54 

 <i 

 3 



— A Nautical Reception will be given on New Year's 

 Day by the Seamen's Protective Association at tke resi- 

 dance of Dr. William F. Thorns, the President of the New 

 York Nautical School for the Education and Advance- 

 ment of Young Seamen, 92 Madison street. 



—The largest sail in the world has been made in Dublin. 

 It is rectangular, and measures 180 feet by 60. It is to be 

 used in raising sunken vessels. 



Crdise Along the Florida Coast.— The schooner 

 Alabama, that discharged her cargo here, from New York, 

 some two or three weeks ago, brought a small boat, 

 the Rover. It was rather an odd looking and con- 

 structed craft, and its purpose here was for a long time a 

 mystery. It was finally ascertained, however, that it was 

 the property of a party of sportsmen, who would soon ar- 

 rive and rig the boat for a prolonged cruise south, along 

 the east coast. A large quantity of provisions, <fcc, accom- 

 panied the landing of the boat from the schooner, and were 

 stored in the store of J. W. Allen & Bro. On Friday of 

 last week, four gentlemen registered at the Marion House, 

 that proved to be the party in question. The Rover was 

 rigged and thoroughly equipped for the long cruise, and 

 yesterday left with the hunting party for Matanzas. The 

 boat measured 25 feet in length, 9 wide and 3 deep, and 

 was built at Wesport, Mass., by C. C. Brings, for this 

 special purpose. She is flat-bottomed, full sloop rig, with 

 every imaginable convenience for a pleasure and hunting 

 party. The gentlemen comprising the party were Capt- 

 Cornelius W. Springer, of New Bedford. Mass., Alex. 

 Seabury, Henry Smith, and Harry Smith, of Brooklyn, N . 

 Y. They will be absent three months, and go as far south 

 as Cape Florhla, via the Matauzas, Halifax, Hillsborough 

 and Indian rivers, and return north by the St. John's river.— 

 St. Augustine Press, Wh. 



AN OLD OARSMAN'S VIEW. 



Siena, Italy, November 9th, 1870. 

 Mr. Editor:— 



I am inclined to enroll myself among those w T ho think 

 that an undue prominence is given to the muscular, as 

 compared with the intellectual, in our universities. As- 

 suming, however, for the present, that they are wrong, and 

 that a "stroke oar" is a more enviable man than a "sdmma 

 cum laude," let us examine the question on the principle 

 that what is worth doing at all is worth doing well. 



Rowing, as practised to-day, is a science, and must be 

 studied as such. Crews may differ from year to year in 

 bone and muscle, but these are differences over which we 

 have but little or no control. The energies of Harvard's 

 leading boating- men should, then, be directed to the man- 

 ner of rowing, or to what the English call "form." Much 

 has been said and written about the famous "Harvard 

 stroke." I do not hesitate to brand such trash with the 

 i.ame of buncombe, and I earnestly beg Harvard's aquatic 

 chiefs not to be beguiled by like nonsense. There is 

 but one good way to row; all others are bad. Why did Ox- 

 ford beat Harvard? Because she was stronger? Not a tit 

 of it. Caim and unprejudiced critics have never held but 

 one opinion, namely, because she rowed better and with 

 more judgment. Why did Yale beat Harvard last year? 

 For precisely the same reason. Nothing can be farther 

 from me than to be personal in my remarks. The anguish 

 of defeat is too great to be augmented by harsh words; but 

 defeat, though unpalatable, is often salutary. Had Ameri- 

 cans, and especially Harvard men, instead of deluding 

 themselves with patriotic excuses, taken a wholesome les- 

 son from their plucky and honorable defeat on the Thames, 

 more silk flags would adorn to day our Alma Mater. 



As I have already said, rowing is a science, and must be 

 studied as such. Now, if a man wants to acquire a profes- 

 sion, does he not go to the headquarters of that profession, 

 be they at home or abroad? Oertaintly he does. Where 

 are the headquarters of rowing? Decidedly in England. 

 (Even if in America, the principle would hold good.) Was 

 not Cook, the captain of the Yale crew, shrewd enough 

 to see that, by visiting the Mother Country and studying her 

 oarsmanship, he could eventually whip any American col- 

 lege? The rowing of Yale was much admired by Eng- 

 lish critics at the Centennial Regatta. The Field says:— 



"Taken as a whole, the rowing of the American four- 

 oared crews could not compare with that of the English 

 in finish, ease, and elegance, whatever it might do in brute 

 strength, the class of competitors being so utterly dissimi- 

 lar. No heed appears to be paid to coaching or to form, 

 except in the College crews,-— Yale, in particular, being a 

 marked exception to the rule. This has been brought 

 about by the captain of the College Boat-Club, who not 

 very long ago paid a visit of some duration to England, 

 and studied the rowing of the University crews, after 

 which he returned to America and put in successful prac- 

 tice what he had learned in this country; and there can be 

 no gainsaying the manifest superiority of the oarsmanship 



