BUD-S, BLOSSOMS, FRUITS. 



753 



Free Mail Delivery in the Country. — Much could 

 be said in favor of the movemen,t now on foot, asking 

 that mail matter be delivered free in the country as in 

 the cities. This course would be more popular and 

 operate vith greater justice to all our citizens than the 

 reduction of letter postage to one cent. Just think of 

 the time spent by country persons in successful and un- 

 successful trips to the post office, in rain or shine, over 

 roads good, bad and indifferent ; and how the efforts of 

 the fifty or a hundred receivers of mail matter could be 

 saved by the employment of one man to make the rounds^ 

 delivering the mails directly and expeditiously as soon 



the foreground are seen two fine specimens of the golden 

 elder (^Sambiuus nigra var. aiirea), which illustrate 

 the fine proportions this comparatively new ornamental 

 shrub attains in time. Besides being a fine grower, 

 the peculiar value of the shrub is found in the remark- 

 able golden color of its foliage, which may be said to be 

 as handsome as it is rare among hardy trees and shrubs. 

 There is, in fact, nothing of its color that really equals 

 it. The color of the leaves may be described as being 

 of a golden green, with the growth, at some stages, of a 

 brilliant golden hue. Unlike some hardy growths of 

 colored foliage, this one retains its brilliancy in a marked 



Golden Elders in Buffalo Park. 



as they arrive ! It would be a great thing for country 

 persons thus to have the same privileges of informing 

 themselves of the doings in the outside world now en- 

 joyed by city persons. A course like this could not fail 

 to make that class closer readers, more frequent writers 

 (thus increasing the receipts to the department), greater 

 thinkers, and better farmers. Let us have the free 

 mail delivery, at least in all portions of the country 

 reasonably well populated. 



Two Golden Elders. — The view here given is from 

 a photograph taken in Buffalo Park last summer. In 



degree the season through. For enlivening a collection 

 of shrubs and trees after midsummer, when the bloom 

 season is almost wholly over, there is nothing in its line 

 that can excel this shrub. It is sold at a moderate price 

 in the nurseries. 



At the World's Fair. — Mr. Thorpe's active brain is 

 devising one marked attraction after another for giving 

 interest to the horticultural department of the coming 

 World's Fair in Chicago. One of the features is an ex- 

 tensive rock and Alpine garden under the central dome 

 of the horticultural building, to reach the dimensions of 



