The Chestnut In Canada

Mr. P. E. Bucke says that all attempts to get the sweet chestnut to grow at Ottawa have failed.

Blue Gum Charcoal

The Spanish newspapers tell us that the wood of the Eucalyptus makes charcoal of a very superior quality.

Planting A Forest In Scotland

A correspondent of the Rural World gives the following account of the way forests are started in Scotland,-that is.

Poison Lily

Prof. Lemmon tells the Rural Press that a horse sickness of the Pacific, which ends in diarrhoea and often death, is caused by feeding on the "Poison Lily," Zygadenus vene-nosus. Yet hogs eat and thrive on the roots.

The English Sparrow In Pennsylvania

By a recent act of the Legislature any person is left free to use the sparrow as may seem fitting. Those who want them, to eat insects and thin the fruit, may protect them, while those who have a fondness for sparrow pie are left free to kill as many as they choose.

Chinese Paper

The commonest of Chinese paper is made of the paper mulberry Broussonetia papyrifera; but a finer quality, known as rice paper, is made of Aralia papyrifera-the pith, we believe.

The Season In Long Island

Mr. C. E. Parnell, under date of December 10th, says: "The weather continues to be very mild so far. Pansies are in bloom in the open air, and on lawns and roadsides many dandelions are to be seen - which is something unusual for this vicinity".

Double Spathed Calla

Mr. E. D. Sturte-vant, of Bordentown, N. J., sends a very perfect specimen of Richardia Ethiopica, the "calla" of gardens, with two spathes. Sometimes they have three, but this is rare. The explanation is simple to those who have studied vegetable morphology.

They would say that a calla flower-stem was a bundle of consolidated leaf stalks, and the white spathe was a leaf-blade changed to imitate the corolla of an ordinary flower.

The Berne Convention

The London Gardeners Chronicle says: "The question whether this country ought or ought not to become a party to the Phylloxera Convention is well worthy of: careful consideration by our nurserymen. In the meantime we do not deserve the castigation administered by the Gardeners' Monthly, who assumes that this country has entered the Convention. The Gardeners' Monthly ought to know that no one has been more outspoken as to the folly and futility of the Phylloxera laws than ourselves".

Information Regarding The South

Col. M. B. Hillyard, so well known in connection with successful efforts to introduce and foster industrial enterprises through the South, has opened a Bureau of information at New Orleans, where any one desirous may address him.