respecting a wild goose wounded and car¬ 
ried home by a Mr. Platt, a farmer on 
Long Island. “ Ifc was a female, and turn¬ 
ing it into his yard with a flock of tame 
geese, it soon became quite tame, and in a 
little time its wounded wing healed. In the 
following spring, a flock of wild geese 
passed over Mr. Platt’s barnyard, and 
their leader happening to sound his bugle 
note, our goose remembering the well-known 
very hardy and free-growing plant in the 
gardens about Paris.” 
The Erianthus Ravenna, when we con¬ 
sider its rich claims to take a first rank 
among the grasses, is slow in winning the 
appreciation we feel confident it is soon des¬ 
tined to receive. It resembles the favorite 
Pampas grass, having hard, narrow leaves 
that curve from the middle to the tips with¬ 
out ever being broken by winds or storms. 
The slender but strong flower stems dart up 
here and there bearing plumes a foot long of 
a steel-like brightness that will endure when 
out off from season to season, as Immortelles. 
Bat its perfection is wrought in its extreme 
hardiness, which withstands our coldest win¬ 
ters without protection. 
As a center piece we commend, of all 
grasses, the formidable Arundo don ax. This 
reed is perfectly hardy, and attains here in 
the vicinity of New York t he great hight of 
from 12 to 15 feet, with ordinary culture. 
Its culms, about six inches in circumference, 
grow a little ohliquely, so us to make the top 
two or three times the size of the stole, and 
the leaves, at every node or joint, broad at 
the base and tapering to a point, are about a 
foot in length. It cannot be praised for its 
grace, but it presents a robust, military ap¬ 
pearance that, in the center of large groups, 
points it out at once as the Commander-in- 
chief. 
Arundo donux versicolor, though it adds 
the diversity of variegation, is a pigmy be¬ 
side itB majestic relative. 
The well known Pampas grass ( Oynerium 
argentium), so called from its habitat in the 
plains of South America, need not be de¬ 
scribed. It is unisexual, and t.ho female is 
sought, in cultivation for its feathery stigmas. 
If it, were hardy, we should prefer it to any 
other grass. But as it is not hardy, even with 
protection, wo should award the first prize 
to Erianthus Ravenna. Qymnothrix latl- 
folia closely resembles Oynerium, and like 
It is not hardy enough for this locality. 
The Arundo phragmitis, or Phragmitis 
communis rises to a hight of about eight 
feet, with loosely-expanded, silvery terminal 
plumes and broad leaves. We know not 
why this showy, hardy grass should not be 
held in high esteem, except that it may be 
found in most of our marshes and is, there¬ 
fore, like many other splendid plants luxuri¬ 
ating under our noses, little known or cared 
for. 
Bambusa nigra is a low, compact reed 
with reddish stems that turn black. 
Of the smaller grasses, suitable for borders, 
edgings or for graduating beds, we may 
mention Stipa pvnvala, Feather grass, as one 
of the finest, blooming the second year from 
seed, with narrow leaves and paniculate 
flowers. The long awns, twisting or untwist¬ 
ing as the atmosphere is moist or dry, have 
been considered as rendering them some¬ 
what reliable hygrometers. S. degantissi- 
ma is line but tender. 
Phalaris arundlnacea, variegated with an 
infinite variety of white and green stripes, is 
the well known, very common and very 
beautiful Ribbon grass—a fixture In the gar¬ 
dens of every old-fashioned country home. 
(N. B.— Recherche and distingue homes will 
not be scandalized by copying.) Ave.ua ster- 
ills, or Animated oats, grows 2)4 feet high 
with nodding spikes upon slight stems. 
Chlorts radiata and Regans, two feet, fas¬ 
cicled, spicate inflorescence and abundant 
foliage. Agrostis nebulosa and plumosa, 
about one foot, are exceedingly beautiful 
and graceful. 
There are many different species of Briza, 
including the large (maxima) and small 
minima or gra-. ills) Quaking grass, which are 
neat and e'egant, varying from fi to 12 inches. 
A ndropogon bombycinus is a new hardy 
perennial grass from Persia, with silken 
gray flowers. Avena, Chloris, Agrostis and 
Briza are hardy annuals. E. S. Cabman. 
AMERICAN GAME BIRDS.-IX 
ORNAMENTAL GRASSES 
THE WILD GOOSE (AHSER CAHAOEMSIS). 
The Wild or Canada Goose is well known 
in all parts of the United States, as a bird 
of passage. Its breeding grounds are far to 
the north within the Arctic circle, and 
Wilson says, “It is highly probable that 
they extend their migrations under the very 
Pole itself, amid the silent desolations of un¬ 
known countries, shut out since creation to 
the prying eye of man, by everlasting and 
insuperable barriers of ice. That such 
places abouqd with suitable food we cannot 
doubt while the absence of the great de¬ 
stroyer, rain, renders such regions the most 
suitable for their purpose.” 
The bill is moderate, stout; tongue, thick, 
fleshy, fringed on the sides, feet stout, webs 
entire ; wings, moderate, acute; quills, 
strong ; tail, rounded. Head, greater part 
of neck, primaries, rump and tail, black ; 
back and wings, brown, margined with 
paler brown ; lower part, of neck and under 
parts, whitish-gray, a largo kidney-shaped 
patch on throat, upper and under tail coverts, 
white. The female is rather duller in color. 
The Wild Goose lays six or seven grayish- 
white eggs, in a nest rudely made upon the 
ground. Its food consists of sedge roots, 
marine plants, berries and herbage of most 
kinds. 
This fowl is known to the inhabitants of 
all parts of our country, both inland and on 
the seaboard, and throughout the Northern 
States the sight of their V shaped flights, 
and the sound of their wild sonorous “ houk- 
ing” as they wing their way toward their 
Arctic breeding grounds, are welcomed as 
certain indications of the speedy approach 
of real spring weather, as is their flight 
southward, in autumn, of the coming of 
winter. 
At both seasons they sometimes linger for 
many days about some favored locality and 
often resort regularly, every day if undis¬ 
turbed, to some stubblo-field to feed on the 
scattered grain. In snow-storms and fogs 
they frequently lose their bearings, and 
after flying wildly about for a while, alight 
on the ground, and await a clearing up 
before resuming their journey. 
Inland, in the Eastern States, but com¬ 
paratively few are killed and the shooting 
of a wild goose is a talkcd-of event in a 
neighborhood ; but on the coast, and on the 
great grain-fields of the West, great numbers 
are killed every year. On the coast, they 
are shot mostly from a concealed boat or 
from a battery, which is a box about 7 feet 
long; 3 feet wide, and 2 feet deep, with a 
broad rim or platform about G feet wide, 
running all about it. This being anchored 
at some favorite resort of the fowl, is bal¬ 
lasted with stones, till the platform rests on 
the surface of the water, and this is disguised 
by a light covering of weeds and sedges. In 
this contrivance the gunner lies, with his 
decoys moored near by, and awaits the 
coming of the flocks of geese, which attracted 
by the wooden decoys and the imitation of 
their “houking” by the concealed gunner, 
come close upon him before discovering the 
deception to which many of them fall vic¬ 
tims. 
At the West, a common device for getting 
within range of these wary fowls, when 
they are feeding, is to drive u yoke of oxen, 
slowly towards them, drawing a sled on 
which the shooter lies hidden in a heap of 
com stalks. Sometimes a gentle horse is 
employed for the purpose, the shooter walk¬ 
ing in a crouching position at his shoulders 
and leading the animal in range of the geese 
by gradually narrowing circles. 
At Hudson’s Bay, wild geese are much 
depended on as a means of support, and in 
favorable years, 3,000 or 4,000 are killed and 
barreled for use. It is a regular business of 
the employes of the Fur Co. and of the 
Indians to shoot these birds on their passage 
and it is done from huts or “ bough houses,” 
aet in a long line about a gun shot apart, 
across the marshes, and each of these stands 
is occupied by a single person. 
The geese are enticed near the stand as 
they are passing, by a simulation of their 
cry by the concealed hunter, who never 
shoots till the eyes of the bird are visible. It 
is said that in a good day one hunter will 
kill as many as two hundred. 
In its form and motions the wild 
It is only within the past few years that 
ornamental grasses have engaged a thought 
in the adornment of pleasure grounds. The 
introduction and extensive cultivation of the 
large and showy leaf plants appear to have 
suggested a place not before apparent, into 
which the grasses fit most charmingly. 
The broad and showy-leaved Gannas and 
Caladiums are certainly magnificent addi¬ 
tions to onr gardens ; but while they are 
bold, dashing and showy, they lack the 
graceful outlines and delioate tracery which 
the ornamental grasses supply. Indeed, the 
foliaged plants combined with the grasses, 
blend beautifully, and either supplies a 
needed relief to the other. But a bed devot¬ 
ed exclusively to grasses carries with it a 
characteristic effect as distinctly its own 
as do those plants to which we have given 
the name of Sub-tropical. The London Gar¬ 
den gives au illustration of the Grayish 
Bamboo ( Bambusa viridi glance scans), of 
which the accompanying sketch is a copy. 
We find substantially the same cut in 
Hooker’s Le Maout and Decaisne’s System 
of Botany, page 890, under the specific name 
sound, spread its wings, mounted into the 
air, joined the travelers and soon disap¬ 
peared. 
“ In the autumn, Mr. Platt, happened to 
be standing in his yard, when a flock return¬ 
ing from the Northward, passed directly 
over his bam. At that inHtant he observed 
three geese detach themselves from the rest, 
and after wheeling arouud several times, 
alight in the middle of the yard. Imagine 
his surprise and pleasure when, by certain 
well-remembered signs, he recognizod in one 
of these three geese, his long-lost fugitive. 
It was she, indeed ; she had traveled many 
hundred miles, had hatched and roared her 
offspring, and had returned with her little 
family. Some time after the birds were all 
living and had shown no disposition to leave 
him,” 
The wild goose readily pairs with the 
common goose and the offspring are said to 
be larger than either. The accompanying 
FLORICULTURAL NOTES 
Achyranlhus Qillsonii. —We saw, a few 
days since, two beautiful specimens of this 
fancy leaf plant trained as standards. The 
larger was over five feet high, with a head 
three feet in diameter, resting upon a circle 
of wire horizontally tied to a heavy stake. 
It was a little over one year old from the 
cutting. The stem was perfectly straight, 
the top thickly foliaged and the plant unique 
and attractive. Lantanas may be thus 
trained with less trouble. They need no 
wire to support the head. 
Clematis, “Mrs. Quilier.”—“A magnifi¬ 
cent flower of eight petals—the largest, 
smoothest and purest of all the whites—a 
free bloomer with strong habit.” 
THE WILD GOOSE. 
drawing was made from a fine domesticated of Thouarsii. Its slight but strong, clean 
Canada goose, one of a small flock owned stems, growing to a hight of 12 or 13 feet, 
by my neighbor Mr. Joseph Bibkitt. bending with delicate grace from the weight 
Ferrlsburgh, Vt. . k. e. r. of their arboresceut top of a yellowish-green 
-» « » color, would render it to us an enviable ac¬ 
quisition if it were to prove hardy in this 
section. Doubtless it would so prove further 
South, since the Garden speaks of it as “a 
_ goose 
has none of the ungainiiness and awkward¬ 
ness of the common, domestic goose, and is a 
truly beautiful bird. It is not unfrequently 
domesticated, but never quite abandons all I English Sparrows are complained of in 
“***«“« traits of the wild state. I England, because they attack and injure 
ilson gives an interesting anecdote early peas and lettuce. 
