is a small tree with leaflets which are slightly sensitive. It produces 

 an abudance of prettily shaped five-angled yellow fruits. The fruits are 

 acid, but make an agreable preserve, and are also used for making 

 pickles and curries ; the juice removes iron-mould from linen. Tho 

 dried fruit is given in fevers, and is also an antiscorbutic. 



A correspondent sends the following recipe for Carambola preserve : — 



Four tablespoonfuls of refined sugar to one doz. of the fruit. Peel 

 the fruit and put them together with the sugar in a covered stewpan, 

 without any water, on a slow fire. After a few minutes uncover the 

 pan and skim the fr th frequently. In about fifty minutes they will be 

 done, and ought to be of a bright amber colour. As a Tart, simply cut 

 across, and bake with crust. — ( Geraniacece ). 



Stifftia chrysantha. — This is a handsome Brazilian shrub. 



It has lanceolate-acuminate leaves, and terminal heads of showy 

 orange-coloured flowers, issuing from amongst the long, coloured 

 pappus- hairs. The flowers somewhat resemble a painter's brush in 

 shape. — ( Composite) . 



GRASS-FIRING. 



By mr. f. turner, f.l.s., in Australian Grassesi 



I have been often asked whether I favour the annual burning off of 

 grasses. Except in three cases, I am decidedly against burning off, 

 for the following reasons: — 1. It destroys millions of grass seeds 

 which occasional good seasons may have brought to maturity, thereby 

 destroying the only natural means for the reproduction of the grasses. 

 A fire also destroys many valuable salsolaceous and other plants. 

 2. After burning off, if favourable weather ensues, new growth is made 

 quickly, and sheep turned into such pasturage eat greedily of it, which 

 often gives them what is commonly termed the scours or diarrhoea, which 

 sometimes become chronic, and of course has such a weakening effect 

 upon them that many die. Nor is this all, for in biting out the young 

 growth from the heart of the grass, much of the latter is often brought 

 with it, which of course partially destroys it. If a fire should take 

 place, sheep should never be turned into the pasture until it has made 

 considerable growth, though cattle may be turned in without any se- 

 rious damage being done, for they never eat grasses so low as sheep. 

 I may here mention the fact that sheep destroy the natural grasses and 

 herbage in much less time than horses, and the latter much sooner than 

 cattle. 



I am in favour of burning off annually under such conditions as the 

 following : — (1st) Where grasses and other herbage are much diseased 

 with parasitic fungi ; (2nd) where there is a predominance of 'spear,' 

 'corkscrew,' ' wire' (stipa), and 'three-armed spear' grasses (a ns tida) ; 

 and (3rd) where rank growing grasses are abundant, which is generally 

 on wet or undr lined land, for along with this coarse growth many 

 noxious plants and fungoid pests are destroyed (very rarely good pas- 

 ture plants, other than grasses, will grow in such situations). Pas- 

 turage treated in this way becomes more healthy, the fire acting as a 

 disinfectant, and contagious diseases disappear. Grasses that grow in 

 low, damp situations are often a valuable stand-by for stosk during 

 protracted droughts. 



