372 
PARK AND CEA\ETERY. 
should establish in their park or elsewhere, a col-p 
lection of greater or less extent, of trees and shrubs | 
suitable to their locality. Such a collection would ^ 
serve a double purpose. It would be an admirable 
adjunct of the public school, inculcating in the 
ROAD SIDE SHELTER HOUSE FOR WATERING TROUGH. 
minds of the young a love of nature, which above 
all things exercises that refinfng influence which is 
a necessary accompaniment of our development. It 
would also be of incalculable assistance in deter- 
mining suitable material for the natural adornment 
of the place. This is worthy of serious considera- 
tion and should be a labor of love to the lover of 
nature. 
But returning to a detail of improvement, and 
there are so many features of such work, we extract 
from The Coimtry Gentleman an illustrated contri- 
bution of W. D., which speaks for itself, but is 
entitled a Roadside Watering Place: 
“A community is ‘sized up,’ not only by the 
character of the farm buildings along the way, but 
by the character of the public highway as well, and 
one of the necessary adjuncts of a good highway is 
wayside watering places. If an effort is made to 
have these attractive, so much the better for the 
reputation of the community where they are situa- 
ted. It is easy to make an attractive watering-place, 
for one can call in the aid of vines and shrubs. A 
simple plan is shown in the illustration. A hogs- 
head contains the water that is brought to it by a 
pipe. The sides and top are boxed in, and a roof 
carried up over the whole. Over this, vines are 
trained until the little building is fairly hidden by 
them. It may be thought that this is considerable 
‘trouble to take for a watering-place, but everything 
'that enhances the beauty of a roadside enhances the 
lvalue of the property adjacent to it, and increases 
the respect of travelers for those who live adjacent. 
Well constructed roads, well kept roadsides, attrac- 
tive watering places and properly marked guide- 
posts indicate the vicinity of cultured, thrifty, up- 
to-date residents.” 
Food-Bearing Trees. 
The Eastern Soudan, which has recently been 
annexed by France to its East African possessions, 
is a land of strange animals and strange growths. 
Its capital is Timbuctoo, sometimes called the 
Sacred City, and its chief river the Niger, says the 
New York Journal. 
An explorer, M. Felix Dubois, has just made a 
very interesting journey up the Niger. This mighty 
river is in places so filled with huge aquatic plants 
that it has the appearance of being nothing but a 
great field under cultivation. There is, however, 
plenty of water for the native boats, and as they 
move through the vegetation they have the air of 
sailing on the fields. 
The most curious feature of the Niger countries 
is the supply of food growing ready for use on the 
trees. The happy African of these parts does not 
even have to scratch the soil; he merely picks his 
food off a tree conveniently provided by nature. 
The most important of the food trees is the 
karite, or butter tree. In appearance it somewhat 
resembles a pear tree. It attains, however, a much 
greater size. The branches grow in the form of a 
dome. The fruit from which the natives extract 
butter has a strong odor of chocolate. 
M. Dubois first made the acquaintance of the 
tree when he was approaching a village. He was 
greatly surprised to notice a strong smell of choco- 
late and presumed some European traveler had ar- 
rived in the village before him. In this he was mis- 
taken, but he followed the scent and arrived before 
a hut in which a brownish mass was boiling in a 
great earthenware pot. The natives were boiling 
karite nuts to extract butter from them. 
These nuts are covered with a fruity growth, 
which has somewhat the flavor of a peach, and is 
eaten by the natives. After this is stripped off the 
nut is left to dry. It then becomes hard, and by 
color, smell and taste is almost identical with cocoa. 
The Soudanese, who know nothing about chocolate, 
only use the nut to make butter. In the whole Sou- 
dan it is the only form of grease used for food pur- 
poses. It is kept in great blocks, and has the ad- 
vantage of never becoming rancid. It is a substance 
which in many respects is superior to anything 
known in civilization. 
