THE V SA V. 



689 



hand, cloth which has received two coats of ni70 linseed 

 oil will be both air and water-proof, and still remain 

 soft and pliable indefinitely. 



Paper saturated with ni7v linseed oil is nearly equal 

 to glass. It admits the passage of light quite freely, 

 more so I think than heavily whitewashed glass. 



When boiled oil is used, the paper is always more or 

 less sticky, and in a year's time it becomes so rotten as 

 to be worthless. 



Such, at least, is the result of my experience in this 

 climate. — W. C. Steele, S-i'it:t'i/ir/!</, Florida. 



A Parable. 



When youth's fair dawn before us lies, 

 With untried paths and sunny skies ; 

 How oft the sage's lore we mourn — ■ 

 "There is no rose without a thorn." 



Still, when 'lis gained, the knowledge sought, 

 Proves often wisdom dearly bought ; 

 Fain would age turn to youth's bright morn — 

 " There is no rose without a thorn." 



And so with riches fond friends smile, 

 Yet do we doubt their faith the while ; 

 'Tis thus, to all, the truth is borne — 

 " There is no rose without a thorn." 



Too brief this life for sadjrepine. 

 Cherish whate'er of good is thine ; 

 To perfect peace man ne'er was born — 

 " There is no rose without a thorn." 



— J.ToRREY Connor. 



Stumps. — "Get out the stumps, that is the first step 

 towards improvement !" Yes, get them out of the 

 ground, but not off the grounds if you have a cultured 

 mind and eye, for both will be gratified by a right use 

 of them. Let me suggest a few modes of disposing of 

 these cumberers of the ground. If you have much space, 

 gather the stumps together in cones or pyramids, rising 

 in successive steps from two to three feet each and a 

 couple of feet in width. Care should be taken to pack 

 the stumps well, placing one with roots up, the next down, 

 and so on. The roots can be left as they came out of 

 the earth or trimmed down to some degree of uniformity ; 

 the finest effects are sometimes obtained by the roughest 

 work. Upon each step lay a good foundation of turf 

 and loam, and plant ferns and fill in with brilliant an- 

 nuals and perennials. The rough dark foundation will 

 throw out the delicacy and colors of the flowers to 

 perfection. If some regularity is desirable, each step 

 can be planted with flowers of one tone only. Other 

 stumps can be left in statu quo and covered with ivy i 

 this will make a most effective background for delicate 

 vines, such as the feather, coral, and segar vines or 

 dwarf morning glory ; they will add grace to the other- 

 wise rather heavy effects of the ivy. A clematis grow- 

 ing over a stump is beautiful. Or if the stumps be 

 simply hollowed out and planted with wild violets and 

 ground ivy, a very charming effect will be obtained- 

 Most comfortable seats can be made from large stumps 

 if well dug out with back, arms and foot-rest. The 

 bark should be entirely removed or insects will destroy 

 it as well as the peace of the occupant of the chair. — J. 



Wild Flowers and the Schools. — One of the local 

 papers of Santa Cruz offered last spring a prize for the 

 best collection of wild flowers made by the pupils of any 

 one of the public schools of that county. Sixteen of the 

 54 public schools competed for the prize. The contest 

 resulted in sending in no less than 3,542 specimens. 

 Some of these were new to botanists. The collection 

 was so rich and extensive that Dr. C. L. Anderson, a 

 well-known botanist of Santa Cruz, was moved to make 

 a complete catalogue of the flowering plants of the 

 county. It was well known that this coast county had 

 a very extensive flora, but until the catalogue was made 

 very few were aware of the actual wealth in this respect. 

 This is probably the first complete catalogue that has 

 ever been made in a scientific way for any county in the 

 state. The good work in this respect was begun by 

 school children, stimulated by the prize offered by The 

 Surf. It was further perfected by the editorial com- 

 pilation of F. L. Clark. 



What has been done in this instance could be done 

 largely by the pupils of the public schools in all the 

 other counties of the state. There would be little diffi- 

 culty in finding public-spirited citizens who would offer 

 prizes for the best collections, or, what is better, a num- 

 ber of them. The experiment was so great a success in 

 Santa Cruz county that the promoters of that enterprise 

 have suggested that a collection of all the wild flowers 

 of the state might be made by the schools of the several 

 counties, and that these should be catalogued and, with 

 the specimens, be made one of the exhibits of California 

 at the World's Fair in Chicago. — San Francisco Bulletin. 



The Lilac. — This old-fashioned shrub, which was 

 once found in almost every front yard, is not often 

 called for now, and I do not think it is very generally 

 known that there are a great many new varieties which 

 are very desirable. The first of these to come into 

 bloom is a double one. This has rather small flowers 

 and the clusters are small, but it blooms several days 

 earlier than any of the others and has a decided blue 

 shade. Giganteais indeed gigantic when compared with 

 other varieties, in both plant and flowers, and is of a 

 dark purplish lilac color. Virginalis, which is white, 

 with a yellowish center, has larger and more compact 

 clusters than the old white. Persian is a much more 

 slender shrub, and the single florets are smaller, but the 

 clusters are often extremely large. White Persian pro- 

 duces small clusters of small delicate flowers of a pear- 

 white, and is one of the best and useful for cut-flowers. 

 I have also another which I bought for White Persian, 

 but which proved to be like the common Persian, except 

 that the color verges more toward red than any other I 

 have seen. It is among the best. A hedge-row made up 

 of the foregoing and some other varieties, the names of 

 which have been lost, is a very attractive object. The 

 lilac produces seed freely, and as the dry seed vessels 

 disfigure the bushes and diminish the crop of flowers 

 for the succeding year, they should all be carefully re- 

 moved as soon as the flowers fade. All the lilacs are 

 very fragrant. — Wm. F. Bassett, Hamniontoii, N. J 



