218 



bers over 4,000 trees, 3,000 of wliicli are Duchesse 

 d'Angouleme. You noticed that a few of them 

 are larger than the others; this is the cause : when 

 I planted t em, fourteen j^ears ago, they were of 

 the same size and age, but a large portion of them 

 proving unsatisfactory, when they came to fruit, I 

 budded them over with the Duchesse, which had 

 prove entirely satisfactory, and hat set them back 

 five or six years. " 



You seem to be partial to the "Duchesse," Mr. 

 Yeoraans! . "Yes ; and were I to be restricted to 

 one pear, that is the one I should select for 

 cultivation. " 



."^i - 



Tom Thumb Arborvit/e. — Mr. M'Nab exhibi- 

 ted a plant of the new dwarf Arborvitse, described 

 and figured in the "Illustrated Farmer's and Gar- 

 dener's Almanac for 1867, " pp. 102, 103, and made 

 the following remarks regarding it: — "Lately pass- 

 ing through theextensive nursery grounds of Messrs. 

 P. Lawson & Son, my attention was directed to a 

 large quantity of a peculiar looking dwarf shjub 

 growing in one of their enclosures. On inquiry I 

 found that they had been recently received fiom 

 Messrs. Ellwanger & 'Barry, of Rochester, N. Y., 

 under the name of the Tom Thumb Arborvit^e. The 

 parent plant, of which the above are cuttings, is 

 supposed to be an accidental seedling from the 

 American Arborvit83, Thuja occidentalis. Although 

 most of the leaves are of a Heath-like appearance, 

 still several small shoots are here and there seen 

 which unmistakably refer it to the American Arbor- 

 vit£8. It is a curious fact that the Heath-like 

 leaves have a slight smell of the Juniper, while tlie 

 smell of the typical leaves is identical with the 

 American Arborvitje. This horticultural curiosity 

 has a compact, rounded habit. It is to be sent out 

 next autumn by the Messrs. Lawson under the name 

 of Thuja occidentalis ericoides. — Ag. Gazette. 



Raising Ferns from Spores.— Half fill a pot 

 or pan with pieces of broken pot«, and fill to the 

 rim with peat two-thirds, and loam one-third, ad- 

 ding one-sixtli of silver sand. Make the surface 

 smooth and firm, and give a good watering. Whilst 

 wet scatter the powder or spores of the fern over 

 the surface ; or, holding a frond with ripe spore- 

 cases over the pot, rub the hand against the back 

 or under-side of the frond, and the yellow or brown 

 powder-like spores will settle upon the surface of 

 the soil. Gently pat the surface with the hand 



and cover the pot with a bell-glass, its rim fitting 

 exactly within the rim of the pot and resting en 

 the soil. Place the pot in a saucer, and fill the 

 latter with water, always keeping it full, and put 

 all in a house with a temperature of from 60° to 

 65°, the house being shaded from bright sun, or if 

 not, a paper cap made to fit on the upper part ot 

 the glass, and put on during bright sun, will an- 

 swer every purpose of shade. The surface of the 

 soil mustalwaj^s be kept moist, and the glass should 

 be kept on closely until the soil becomes green ; 

 then tilt the glass a little on one side by night, and 

 increase the amount of air by day and as the sur- 

 face becomes more green. Continue the bell-glass 

 over the pot until the plants have formed two or 

 three fronds, and then gradually harden ofi" and pot 

 the seedlings when large enough to handle, keep- 

 ing them moist and carefully shaded. — Cottage 

 Gardener. 



Grasses in British Columbia.— The following 

 is an extract from the proceedings of the Highland 

 and Agricultural Society at the Monthly Meeting 

 of the Directors. 



The Secretary reported that in the spring of 1866 

 the Society had received three communications 

 from Mr. W. E. Cormack, New Westminster, 

 British Columbia, transmitting four samples of grass 

 seeds indigenous to that district. In the first let- 

 ter, Mr. Cormack savs : — 



"I beg to forward to you a little of the seed of 

 the inestimable Bunch Grass of British Columbia, 

 celebrated on account of its nutritious qualities for 

 strengthening and fattening horses and horned cat- 

 tle, and which, if introduced into some of the 

 Ilighltind districts of Scotland, might prove a valua- 

 ble acquisition. It grows only in the interior, not 

 at the sea coast ; and in those inland districts where 

 artificial provender is not yet produced in any 

 quantity, horses, mules and liorned cattle gain 

 strength and thrive upon it better than upon any 

 artificially grown food. The small quantity now 

 sentin a letter is merely a forerunnerof more which 

 1 7uean to send to you by some other mode of con- 

 veyance than by po^^t- The first object is to ascer- 

 tain if it will grow in Scotland. It thrives better 

 upon moist soil than upon dry. Its history has 

 been little attended to, and what is known of it is 

 from the experience of transient equestrian travel- 

 lers and cattle dealers, who supply the miners in 

 the district with meat. There are several varieties 

 of it in difi'erent districts, all equally valuable. It 

 grows in large bunches, about one and a half to 

 two feet in height, standing a foot or two feet apart. 



