FORE ST > AND V STREAM. 



45 



( seriously Imagine a, grouse exarninii 



g iu his accustomed haunts, until he finds 

 ollow," which he may beat "with Ms 

 lab ! The fact is, a grouse will drum wherever he 

 lie. 1 have repeal wily crawled within ten yards 

 [grouse as they were drumming. I have found them on 

 Hu pines or stump, or poles not more than six inches in di- 

 iitle of a knoll. As to how the pe- 

 d is made, the exact method was described some 

 in the Rod and Gun, by a writer whose name I 

 'he bird does not strike the log with his wings. He 

 , as all good grouse should, and. drawing back his 

 lugs, strikes out, beats the air, at first slowly, but rapidly 

 i lie blows until the eye cannot follow the swift 

 Ifjjtions. Every time a grouse takes wing he makes a sim- 

 ig sound. Our author also asserts that the grouse 

 [am only during the day. He (Mr. W.) evidently keeps 

 lod hours. 1 have heard a grt >use dram in tlie niglit, to wit. : 

 ;. one night in September. A. Mtjkdoch. 



Ohio. 

 iWhile Mr. Murdoch is correct iu the main in his criticism, 

 • (to not indorse the statement that the drumming of the 

 Iffed grouse is not a love call ; for if not wholly so, it cer- 

 Inly is in part, being intimately connected with the sexual 

 jHinct and function. The drumming heard late in the sen- 

 ilis almost if not always produced by a " bachelor bird " — 

 I^HB has not paired during the season ; or it may be that 

 I fttforiner is a young bird. "We once killed a female 

 lime in the act of drumming. — Ed,] 



Iftfo Questions. — Does the female squirrel ever leave the 

 lice iu which she wishes to bring forth her young after she 



1 ames pregnant ? In such case how does the old lady get 

 drinking water, or does she go without ? 1 have seen 

 Ireral accounts of a singular bird which had been found in 

 J"crent places, and propose to give you a short account of 

 Ijfi&picked up by a negro upon my place last fall in the hog 

 I'jHbfrtrieh were thick. It seemed to be in perfect health, 

 I fancy was overcome by heat, and came down into the 

 ■MJefrom which it could not, well fly out of . I have of ten 

 afthe Brazos River in Texas seen young swan which al- 

 •Bgh fully grown were so overcome by fat and heat as to 

 ill vast numbers in the cotton, unable until after a rest to 

 on. They then, until I saw fit to stop the havoc, were 

 led by the uegros with sticks, and you may believe me when 

 oyit, we had Una eating. Pardon me, let me return to my 

 ■i y Size, about that of the crow; color, that which is com- 

 ply known as "ashes of roses;" eyes, red, like those of the 

 aBg eon ; hill like that of a young squab (nearly grown) ; 

 I, Sport, very short ; legs, dark green and six inches long, 

 tyjreUy; feet with four toes, upon each side of the toes 

 jre.what I call ndlles. It was a cross bird and fought sav- 

 Htl placed iu the box where I kept it a day or two a 

 allow salad bowl of water, and at niglit he sought the bowl 

 Hra and roosted in it. Now tell me what it was. 



Bihd Shot. 



fiffiiirrels produce their young in the spring, and the female 

 *iag pregnancy is hibernating. Your bird was a coot, 

 fa$a anutricana), a well-known bird belonging to the family 

 the Ballidw. — Ed.] 



I^fe P. T. Barnum recently published a card in a St. 

 Journal offering $10,000 for a baby, or a full grown, 

 at born in America. He claims that elephants do not 

 while in captivity, and that all announcements regard- 

 American elephants result from a vivid disposi- 



ta to mislead the public. 



tpvdlmd, <ffnrm und $m&m* 



Bulbous Plants. — We have again been favored by Mr. P. 

 pam, of South Brooklyn, one of our most enthusiastic 

 atoms, with flowers of the following bulbous plants : Gladi- 

 f mmdtrsii, a very rare species. The flowers are bright 

 Inm being marked and spotted with white. This singular 

 tiety hears its flowers on one side of the stem only, and 

 y.JIOvc a valuable sort to hybridize with. Gladiolus pur- 

 te&htratus, a very curious species, with yellow flowers 

 jrked with purple; more of a botanical species, however. 

 mm speciosum (Syn. lancifoltum), rubrwm, roseum, puncta- 

 k, and album, with a number of seedlings from them, 

 Sed by him, the fruit of many years careful hybridization, 

 toy of them much larger in the flower, broader injhe petals 

 1 brighter in color than the types. We understand Mr. 

 nm intends to classify these and lay them before the 

 Itieultura! Society next season. He also sent flowers 

 (m& leitohldrdi, a beautiful lemon colored variety, and 

 nmhnmeiczii, orange scarlet with black spots ; the curious 

 wt ealif arnica, an Iris-looking plant, and a splendid spike 

 wSffl/lMs radiata, a perfectly hardy sort from Japan with 

 pink colored flowers, tipped with purple. This variety is 

 the more singular, as its lower petals spread, allowing the 

 liens and pistils to come between them as in A. formmsis- 

 & Mr. Hanson has had this plant in his possession ten 

 ffi, and it has flowered now for the first time. 



tKuw Condition op the Vinegab Plant.— At a meet- 

 of the Scientific Committee of the Royal Horticultural 

 tety, London, Mr. Worthington J. Smith, the eminent 

 iQacopist, stated that in some recent experiments on the 

 lit he had occasion to prepare the following mis- 

 naming agent (in place of pure acetic acid) for 

 development of negatives: Sulphuric acid, 3oz.; granu- 

 dziuc, 4 oz.; gelatine, 24 oz.; and distilled water, 41G oz., 

 whole being boiled in a closed vessel for three and a half 

 Is, For the purpose of the experiments seventy-five times 

 '"ilk of distilled water had to be added at the time of use. 

 Smith stated that the original mixture permanently re- 

 ed its transparency, but on the additional amount of dis- 

 idded, the invariable result was that the 



mixture quickly became turbid, and more or less filled with 

 minute feathery bodies. These feathery bodies appeared 

 within twenty-four hours and grew rapidly, at length tavers- 

 ing, by long and extremely fine threads, every part of the so- 

 lution. The fungus bore no sort of fruit while iu the dilute 

 mixture, but on being transferred to syrup it floated on the 

 top of the sugary solution and immediately formed a film, 

 which was the true Vinegar Plant. On the film being re- 

 moved from the syrup and allowed to dry, it formed JPenicil- 

 Uum ermine-nut.. Mr. Smith exhibited the plants in question 

 in the solutions, showing the different growth, — Gardeners 

 Chronicle, London, 



. Ailanthus— (T. B. Legare, Camden, 8, C.').— The smell of 

 the staminate variety of the Ailanthiis when in flower, is most 

 sickening, especially on a moist, close evening, and may poi- 

 son some peculiarly constituted persons, just as the exhala- 

 tions from the Poison Ivy {llhus toxico dendron) will poison 

 some persons, whi le others can handle it with impunity. Per- 

 sonally we have never known of any instance of Ailanthus 

 poisoning, but as the tree looks better when headed in, we 

 would advise doing so every two or three years to keep the 

 staminate variety from flowering. Tho pistillate variety is 

 most beautiful during summer and fall when in fruit. We 

 would be glad to hear of any well authenticated instance of 

 Ailanthus poisoning.— Ed. 



A question as to the native country of the Jerusalem artichoke 

 (LJelianlhus tuberoms) has lately arisen, the accuracy of its 

 previous reference to Brazil and Peru by authors having been 

 doubted by Professor Gray. The subject was referred by him 

 to Professor J. Hammond Trumbull, of Hartford, who 

 brought to bear Ins well-known philological and historical 

 knowledge in the solution of the inquiry. The result has 

 been an identification with the 11. doronilmdes of the Missis- 

 sippi Valley, and the conclusion that the II tuberosus is sim- 

 ply one of the varieties of form which the other wild species 

 frequently assume. 



Professor Gray is also inclined to think that the common sun- 

 flower (JT- annum) is a derivative by cultivation from the 11. 

 leMiculuTis of Douglas, itself only a larger form of the II. pe- 

 twlaris of Nuttall, a native of the Western plains, to and be- 

 yond the Rocky Mountains. 



The White Ash in New England.— In a note to the Mas- 

 sachusetts " Ploughman," Prof. Sargent says, " An intelligent 

 correspondent, much interested in the subject of tree planting, 

 writes us from the central portion of the State as follows : ' I 

 am fully convinced that those who plant and care for the ash 

 are sure of their reward. I am informed by experts that the 

 ash is more in demand and commands a higher price than any 

 other wood that is indigenous ; that the fibre of the ash grown 

 in the New England States is tougher and has more substance 

 than ash grown elsewhere, and that the demand is constantly 

 increasing! During the Centennial Exhibition, our woods 

 were closely examined by foreigners, and now foreign orders 

 are rapidly coming in, and every vessel leaving Boston for a 

 foreign port is taking out large quantities of ash and walnut." 

 The attention of New England land owners should certainly 

 be directed to the profits which the careful and general culti- 

 vation of this tree will give, and to the fact that at no distant 

 day the money value of white ash will be greatly enhanced, 

 the ever increasing demand for it having already rendered this 

 tree comparative!}' rare in the Eastern States." 



— Allow me to call pour attention to one more of the 

 good things for vegetable poisons: Tincture of lobelia, cue 

 ounce, and fluid extract of belladonna, two ounces; mix and 

 apply to parts affected. I have seen it used very many times, 

 and often wnh good results. C. A. B. 



Walerbury, Conn, 



A Game Pte.— The greatest pie on record was made at 

 Lowther Castle, Westmoreland, in 1702, as a present to Sitt '■ 

 George, and weighed three hundred and eighty pounds, 

 contained two turkeys, four wild fowl, two geese, four duel 

 one wild goose, six wild ducks, three teal, two starlings 

 twelve partridges, fifteen woodcock, two guinea fowls, three 

 snipe, sixteen plover, three water hens, six widgeon, one cur- 

 lew, forty-six yellow-hammers, fifteen sparrows, two chaf- 

 finches, two larks, three thrushes, one fieldfare, six pigeons, 

 four blackbirds, twenty robins, one leg of veal, half a ham, 

 three bushels of flour, and thirty-six pounds of butter. His- 

 tory does not say whether or not this pie was contemporane- 

 ous with the one made famous in Madam Anser's work : 

 " \\ lien Mie pie was opened, the birds began to sing," etc. 

 . ■»■ . — 



A Land of Wondebs.— Roraima is a great table mountain 

 on the borders of British Guiana, whose steep and inaccessi- 

 ble sides rise from the height of 5,000 feet above t] 

 level of the sea 20,000 feet sh er into the sapphire tropica 

 sky. This wonderful place is, in other respects, a marvel ol 

 the world. The highest waterfall known tumbles from its 

 summit at one leap of 3,000 feet, and then rushes impetu- 

 ously 3,000 feet more on a slope of forty-five "degrees down to 

 the bottom of the valley, broad enough to be seen thirty miles. 

 away. Only two explorers have yet even reached the base of 

 the table, which, it is estimated, is from eight to twelve miles 

 long. 



_- *♦— 



A Valuable Hint.— We read in a scientific journal: 

 " There is a method which I have adopted in my own house 

 to cool the temperature of any room during hot weather, and 

 that is to hang a sheet or blanket down outside windows upon 

 which the sun may be shining. This sheet is wet, and the 

 evaporation of the water produces a deliriously cool apart- 

 ment. The sheet is kept damp by having a vessel filled with 

 water above the top of it outside, and a piece of flannel ar- 

 ranged to form a siphon, and touching several portions of the 

 sheet. The water gradually empties out of the vessel, and 

 may be replenished if necessary. The window is, of coins ■, 

 open." 



It is strange that so simple and inexpensive a method 

 has not found favor here, more especially in sick rooms ; 

 a cylindrical-shaped tin vessel, with very fine holes, fixed 

 over the window, would easily supply the water. 

 ■ — ■ — '•■ 



Begonia Wei/ton iensis.— I wish to add my evidence to 

 yours as to the beauty and usefulness of Begonia Wei- 

 tonienms for planting out in summer. I first saw it so" 

 treated some years ago in the "Bennett" plot in Greenwood 

 and have used it very freely since. If the soil is made 

 tolerably rich with plenty of leaf mould or well decayed and 

 sweetened muck, it will grow and bloom magnificently until 

 frost. The contrast between the soft pink flowers and elegant 

 light green foliage is most pleasing, and the more exposed it 

 is the brighter the colors become. I consider it a most useful 

 addition to our summer bedding plants. P. J. 



The Artillebt Plant fob Window Gabdens.— A lady 

 friend of ours has a large specimen of this curious plant, which 

 she has grown since last fall in her kitchen window, and it 

 has given her more satisfaction than all her other window in- 

 mates. It keeps constantly green and growing, and as sun- 

 light increases, its mantle of miniature muskets thickened, till 

 now it represents a model umbrageous tree, with boughs so 

 succulent and heavy that a rough shake or breath would seem 

 to shatter them. Associated with Oxalises, Mahernias, Petu- 

 nias, Neirembergias and others, it made January look like May. 

 A great addition to this window in midwinter was the fes- 

 tooned drapery of the Madeira vine. — Tluts. Mehcm in Garden- 

 er's Monthly, Phila. 



Field Poisons. — I have read with pleasure the different rem- 

 edies for "ivy poisoning" my article of June 28 in yo ur paper 

 has brought out. I have tried most of them, such as sugar of 

 lead, sweet oil, copperas, butter, milk and cream tartar, 

 Pond's extract, strong salt and water, and I don't know how 

 many other different things, but I must say I never had any- 

 thing act as the "black spotted alder wasti." Some six years 

 ago I was told to try salt brine. I went to a butcher and had 

 a bottle filled with it and took it home— that is to say, to the 

 place where I was stopping. I went in the bar-room, had a 

 good stiff nightcap of cider brandy (good, you bet— I am a 

 judge of the article), lit a Reina, and went up-stairs to bed, 

 undressed and applied the brine. If some one had set 

 fire to me, I could not have felt worse. I never suf- 

 fered so much in my life; my dear man, it was fearful. I had the 

 whole house up-stairs and half the village come down to the ho- 

 tel to see what was up. I never had such a toast in my life, and 

 never want another like it. If I could have found the man 

 that toid me to use it, I would have filled him full i.f bird shot, 

 mustard seed, at that. After reading "Jacobstaff's" article, 1 

 am convinced his son was poisoned by sumach, or worse than 

 sumach, wild parsnip. I have seen cases of parsnip poisoning- 

 just like his son's case. Some people cannot walk 

 through a field where they are burning sumach without the 

 smoke blinding them. Thin-skinned people always Buffer the 

 most from these field poisons, audi think light complexions or 

 blondes are more liable to if than dark ones I see that Fred 

 Graham has tried my remedy and found it a great relief, 

 and doubtless before the summer is over you will hear of oth- 

 ers who will find it charming. I , P., A. 



— Indian famines are usually in consequence of a failure of 

 the water supply. Artificial" irrigation was in former times 

 extensively used under the' native princes, but mpst of the 

 old reservoirs and canals are now in ruins— a fatal neglect 

 which sooner or later must be repaired. 



n. — . 



— There is on free exhibition at the store of Peter Hender- 

 son & Co., No. 35 Cortlandt street, this city, a collection of 

 gladioli, consisting of 1,500 specimens and embracing at least 

 500 varieties. 



— » '♦> . . 



—Col. King's wheat crop at Lyndale, Minn., has been 

 threshed and gives a yield of thirty-three and a third bushels 

 per acre of plump No. 1 wheat. 



— W. P.— Yes. Now is a good time to plant strawberries, 

 though you must not expect much of a crop next season. Had 

 you layered them in pots, as described by Peter Henderson 

 in " Gardening for Pleasure " the young runners would now 

 have been fit to transplant without receiving the slightest 

 check, would have made good crowns this fall and given a 

 full crop next season. About two feet between the rows and 

 eighteen inches between the plants is about a proper distaiv 

 apart, as if your ground is well manured and thoroughly ] 

 pared to a depth of at least nine inches, you have a much L 

 ter chance of having fine fruit than if planted closer. Do no 

 neglect to cover your beds with a coating of from two to three 

 inches of straw or leaves on the approach of severe weather, 

 drawing it back from off the crowns as the growth starts in 

 the spring. It keeps the roots warm, the fruit clean, prevents 

 the growth of weeds, and acts as a mulch in dry weather. 

 Sorts vary much in different, soils, but you will find Triomphe 

 dec/und, dairies Downing, Seth Boyden, Champion and Wil- 

 son all good bearers and varieties that will do well in almost 

 any location. The new variety, President Lincoln, you speak 

 of, was shown in magnificent order at the June, meeting of 

 the Horticultural Society. It is very large, of good flavor ar i 

 bids fair to lake a high place among the many varieties ne 

 grown. — Ed. 



P. J. — Exochorda grandiflora next week. 



Stewart's Tackle. — This is a device little known. Man 

 of the oldest dealers in angling supplies have no knowledge 

 of it. It consists simply of three or four hooks arranged on r 

 single snell, one above the other, on alternate Bides ; and so 

 far as we can judge, is an excellent device for "threading" 

 a worm. Cholmondeley PenneU's device is a modification 

 consisting of but two hooks. The description of the first is 

 found in " Francis Francis' Fishynge," and the latter in Pen- 

 nell's ""Worm Fishing for Salmon, Trout and Grayling." 

 Many are misled, as we wero by the spelling of the name as 

 Stuart, when it should be Stewart. 



