THE GLORY OF THE SNOW. 



117 



Bell-flowered Australian Fuchsia (C 

 ventricosa). — A very distinct and pretty plant 

 of elegant habit, bearing flowers of bright 

 crimson, green at the tips, and the flowers in- 

 flated or bell-shaped instead of rigidly tubu- 

 lar. It is still a favourite in collections for its 

 beauty and daintiness of form. 



UNDERWOODS AND GAME. 



[To the Editor of Flora and Sylva.] Sir, — 

 I have been very much interested in reading the 

 article on page 1 of the October number of Flora 

 and Sylva, dealing with the management of wood- 

 lands. If at some future time you dealt with the 

 same subject from another point of view, I think 

 others would be benefited besides myself. I refer to 

 the point of view of the game preserver. I have not 

 yet discovered how to combine the improvement ot 

 my woods from the economic standpoint, and the 

 improvement of them as pheasant holders. In East 

 Anglia the value of a property depends in a great 

 measure on the quality of the shooting, and it is of 

 the greatest importance that the coverts should be so 

 planted and maintained that they fulfil the following 

 conditions : 1 st, that they give shelter from cold and 

 persistent winds ; 2nd, that they should provide 

 covert for the game ; and 3rd, that they should be 

 planted to a certain extent with berry-bearing trees 

 and shrubs. This last is not very often done, I 

 think, and yet it is obvious that pheasants will be 

 more likely to stay at home if they get the kind ot 

 food they like. — Yours truly, Enquirer. 



(1.) In good planting there is nothing 

 against giving shelter to birds from cold winds. 

 There must always be a certain amount of 

 evergreen planting in the best work, and some 

 of these things give good shelter, the most ra- 

 pid growth, and the greatest increase of tim- 

 ber, apart from beauty. (2.) In planting even 

 from the economic standpoint, there may be 

 sufficient covert for game between the under- 

 wood and the various young woods, which 

 in any well-managed estate should be planted 

 yearly. This should certainly, in woodlands of 

 any account, give all the covert that is neces- 

 sary. (3.) We have several hundred acres of 

 covert land and our experience is that native 

 berry-bearing things, such as the wild Bram- 

 bles, are as good or better than anything else. 

 Where coverts are large it would be a serious 

 labour to plant with exotic shrubs, save in 

 patches. In many districts the best berry- 

 bearers — the Blackberries — come of them- 

 selves. * * * 



THE GLORY OF THE SNOW 



[Chio?iodoxd). 

 If somewhat clumsy for common use, 

 few names are more suggestive than this 

 of brightness and purity, and conspicu- 

 ously bright and pure are the hardy little 

 flowers it represents, flowers vyingwith 

 the Snowdrop, the Crocus, and the 

 Winter Aconite for first honours in the 

 frost-bound garden, and glowing with 

 a beauty and richness of colour second 

 to none of them. The first of this little 

 group was reported by a French travel- 

 ler in Asia Minor, but not until thirty- 

 five years later was it re-discovered in 

 quantity and brought into cultivation 

 by Mr. George Maw, who lighted upon 

 it when exploring the mountains around 

 Smyrna in search of Croci. The plant 

 was found upon the mountain side at 

 heights varying from 3,000 to 4,500 

 feet, but (being then May) at the lower 

 levels was already out of flower. Not 

 until nearing the summit was it met 

 with in full beauty, when of a sudden 

 a wide stretch spangled with flowers 

 revealed itself, mostly blue and white 

 with the densely clustered Chionodoxa, 

 but mixed with a rich profusion of Tu- 

 lips, Fritillarias, Snowdrops, Scillas, 

 Colchicum, and Gageas, the whole 

 spreading in one bright carpet away to- 

 wards the whitened summit until they 

 mingled with the melting snows. Even 

 such a botanist and traveller as Mr. 

 Maw declared it to be one of the grand- 

 est flower-pictures he had ever seen. 

 Bulbs brought away by the finder first 

 flowered in England in March 1878, 

 proving their value as a plant hardy in 

 British gardens where to-day its beauty 



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