The J\"atiiraUsts’ Companion. S 
Mahwa Flowers. 
have tried to reel the silk from the co¬ 
coons, but never succeeded. The silk 
is strong, but coarse, and would make 
good fabrics; but owing to the difficulties 
in reeling, it will probably never be 
utilized for any other purpose than as a 
curiosity. 
The Ruby-throated Hummingbird. 
(trochilus colubris.) 
BY FALCON. 
This, the smallest of our northern 
feathered beauties, is about three and a 
half inches long. His plumage is gold¬ 
en green above, golden red about the 
throat, purple-brown on the wings and 
tail, and white beneath. All these hues 
have a brilliant metallic lustre, which 
changes with every movement. Although 
he is small, he is very brave and has no 
fear of any larger bird. He has even 
been known to alight on the head of 
an eagle and pull the white feathers out 
in mouthfulls, while the royal bird goes 
screaming through the air in unsuccess¬ 
ful attempts to get rid of his small tor¬ 
mentor. The nest is very small, being 
about an inch and a half in diameter. 
It IS usually placed on the top of a bough 
and rarely at the sides of the trunk, 
the outside is so nicely covered with 
lichens and bark that it resembles very 
closely a knob of the tree. The inside 
is composed of vegetable down, such as 
that of the downy thistle. The nesting 
place varies; sometimes an old apple 
tree is selected as a place of residence, 
and then again, a low shrub in some 
garden. The eggs, two in number, are 
pearly white. 
What do you think of the appearance 
of this number ? 
A SUGAR-PRODUCING BLOSSOM. 
BY G. D. STORY, CARTERVILLE, MO. 
Attention has been publicly drawn of 
late to ‘‘Mahwa flowers”—the corollas 
of BASSiA LATiFOLiA —as a cheap source 
of cane-sugar. This species of bassia 
is a tree attaining to a height of forty to 
sixty feet, and common in many parts 
of India, especially in Central Hindoo- 
stan. It has oblong leaves of firm text¬ 
ure, five to six inches long; these fall 
in February, March and April, and are 
succeeded in March or April by the 
flowers. These last for two or three 
weeks, and then begin to fall. The 
falls take place at night and continue 
sometimes for a fortnight. The fruit, 
which resembles a small apple, ripen in 
three months ; the seeds, one to four in 
number, yield an edible oil on being- 
pressed. It should be added that the 
trees aie self-sown, and that they flourish 
in very poor and stony soil. When the 
Mahwa tree is in bud, the ground be¬ 
neath it is cleared of weeds, sometimes 
by burning. A single tree may yield as 
much as 500 to 700 pounds of flowers; 
even a ton is asserted to have been col¬ 
lected froiii one tree. These flowers 
have a luxurious but peculiar taste when 
fresh; wiien dry they resemble in flavor 
inferior figs. They form a very import¬ 
ant addition to the food of the 
poorer classes in those districts w’here 
the tree abounds, particularly in the 
neighborhood of woodlands and jungles. 
They are especially useful in economiz¬ 
ing cereals in seasons of famine and 
drought. It is not, however, as a direct 
article of food, nor as material for the 
pieparation of a rough spirit by fermen¬ 
tation that Mahwa blossoms are now re¬ 
commended. It has been affirmed that 
they may be employed as an abundant 
and very chea]3 source of cane-sugar. 
