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--RURAL NOTES. . .
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RURAL NOTES. By Mr. J. Muir, Marram Abbey, Glamorganshire, ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. Vnless in special cases, no replies will be sent to readers by post, but all inquiries will have prompt and careful attention under this heading, and ive invite notes and questions on ALL rural subjects. tUlGF. CHRYSANTHEMUMS. — Bagwig." The early or late blooming, as well as size of bloom, depends a good deal on culture. Four good ones, with mop-head-like flowers, are:- "Etoiler de Lyon," "Miss M. Weigi itinan," 11 Fimbriatum," and »'Sunflower. See remarks in present isaua. BOOK ON FARJlfING, J. P."—" Farming and Farming Economy" would be useful to you. Price 5s. Publishers: Crosby, Lockwood, and Son, 7, Stationers' Hall-court, London, E.G. VAFtious.-I, (i. S."—You will find your various luestions dealt with in the present issue. FOWLS FAILING TO WIN PRIZES.—"Cheshire."— ft is no doubt very disappoiuting to give £ b a pair for fowls and then fail to win more than a 11 com- mend" at Birmingham, but as you do not give me any details, excepting relating to your disappoint- ment, I cannot say anything on their merits or deficiencies. Anyone that gives a big price for fowls should always be certain that they possess qualifications, and if the buyer cannot judge for bimself, he should try and get an expert's opinion. I have known fowls bought for pouads when they were only worth shillings, RHODODENDRONS GBOWING IN LOAM.—"T. W. S." ;-Rhododendrons very often grow,,aiid grow well, in loam. If they have been reared in peat and then transferred to loam they are apt to be checked, but if raised in loam they may always be planted in it again with success. Some of the choicest kinds are all the better in peat, but where many are planted it is impossible to supply all with this material. They will not grow well in n light gravel or sandy soil, but in loam they are quite at home. The rhododendron "Pollticum" you think of planting is not a choice sort. It is the most common and least expensive. The named varieties are the best, but what are termed Beedling hybrids are generally very good, and make a fine display. CAMELLIA BUDS FALLING OFF.—"K^te."—They are not well ripened this season, and are apt to drop off prematurely. Keep the soil at the root always nice and moist, and do not put it in a higher tempeiature than 55 degrees. A slightly moist atmosphere is the best for it, while exces- sive drought in the air or at the root will always Cause them to fall before opening. CAn ROTS FOR HORSES. Royal Ho'el."—Horses are extremely fond of carrots, and will often eat. them and refuse other good food when sick. They should not be given daily, but a few twico or so a week will be greatly relished, and prove highly beneficial. I do not know anything of the quality of foreign hay, but report does not give it an over- good name. LILIBS GROWING AT PBBSENT. "A Ltdy Gardener."—I have frequently had lilium candidum and others of this class die down in September and October and a young growth immediately spring up again and attain a height of 2in. or 3in., but it did not grow more all the winter. 1 do not thiuk yovura will increase at pre- sent. You will also find the growth very hardy, and capable of existing without protection, yet, it will be benefited by a littlo. If you put a layer of stable manure round each growth to the depth of 3in. they will be all the better for it. RENEWING VINE BoitDER.-H. Gardner.—I do not spprcrve of renovating vine borders in April. The vines would be in a tender stage of their growth then, and would receive a check from which they would not recover all the summer. They may be very successfully renovated in September, and, failing that, in winter. Begin at the outside of the border and dig away the soil very carefully. Preserve all the roots you can, and when you come near the stems keep a ball of soil round them, Do not remove this. See that the drainage is effective before putting in any new soil. Do not make the border more than 3ft. deep, and let it be composed mainly of sound loam or fibrous soil and half inch bones. Put a thick layer of the soil all over the drainage over a foot deep; then spread out the roots in the position they occupied in the old border, and make up with more new soil. Let this be done in dry weather, when the soil is not sticky. Do not start the vines into growth until April, and if they are shy in coming into growth place a hot bed of fermenting manure on the surface of the new border. I have beard of several cases of Buckland sweetwater failing pf lat e, and advise its place being filled up with bhck Hamburg. Thanks for your recom- mendation of my notes. PRUNING GOOSEBERRIES AND RASPBERRIES.—" L. G. W." (Isle of Man).—It was too early to cut the tops of the gooseberry shoots in June. Had you not done so .until August they would not have emitted young shoots again. As it is, these will mot be of any use for fruiting next year, being too weak and immature. You should cut them in to from lin. to 2in. from the main growths from which they spring, as it is on the spurs produced in this way that gooseberries always fruit best. You can do this in January or at once. The end shoot, which is always the strongest, should bs shortened back to 6in. The short raspberry canes should be cut out altogether if you have aufficier,t long ones to furnish the rows. The long ones should be allowed to remain from 4ft. to 5ft. bigh. See remarks in last week's notes on rasp- Jjerrics. HJ-NS NOT LATING.—"Anxious Inquirer.I will gladly assist you if I can, but you have omitted to inform me on a very important point—the breed your aunt keeps. Some varieties will lay at five monthfl, others at six or seven months, while others do not do so for eight or nine, or even ten. Three or four eggs a day from 60 hens is a poor result. With the same number of pullets you should be collecting several dr>z» a eggs daily. You would do so from Minorcas, Leghorns, and Ply- mouth Rocks. Your houses and arrangements are correct. A change of food would be beneficial. Let their first meal in the morning be barlev meal mixed with very warm water, and given to them then. In cold weather you might also give them the same at mid-day, wi, li grain at night. Indian meal is also good at times in cold weather, especially if mixed with mashed potatoes. Please tell me the kind. PIUTET HFDGB.—" Stibscrib;)r.Ctit the privets you planted last year down to 18in. from the ground. This will cause the hedge to become vlry thick at the bottom, which is always desirable. Next, summer let them run up as far as they will, find in autumn or winter cut them square over at 3ft. from the ground. By doing this annually you will soon have the kind of hedge you desire. If it is inclined to be weak in growth you may place a layer of manuro along the sides of the plant*. GLADIOLUS AND LILY. II R. H. K.Flom a deficiency of sun in summer many bulbs have made a second growth this autumn. It would be better if they did not. Your gladiolus will not Suffer from being taken up and planted again, or if they are good bulbs they would not be injured by the young growth they have formed being allowed to wither. The little side bulbs you re- moved will not bloom next summer, but if you plant them in goed soil then and let 'them devalop tor Hnother year they will flower the following season. You should dry off the Lilium Qarrisii" gradually. Let it rest for three months, and it will be more luxuriant afterwards. VRNTILATINGFoWL HOUSE. M. Barnos.— Jliey are frequently ventilated by hav- ing ft grating or piece 01 wire netting fixed in the door or some of the windows. This answers the purpose very well, but the best of all places for a ventilator is on the roof, and at the highest part of it, when every particle of bad air can readily escape. The ventilator should be fixed in such a way that no rain can find its way in. As to the temperature of fowl-houses, they bave been heated occasionally to keep it at a given figure, but this is unnecessary, and si long as tho interior is quite dry, the temperature need only be a few degrees above that of the open air, or such as is secured in the interior of a. good bouse, without any attempt to produce artificial beat. SHRUBS FOR SUNLESS BACK GARDENS.— Bris- k>iian."—All the green ivies will grow well in a lunless back garden, but shrubs that will thrive under these conditions are not plentiful. If good bushes are planted they will remain green without growing much. The best to grow are aucuba japonica, privet, cotoneaster Sinoonsii enonynms of sorts, especially the green leaved -mycrophyllus, Some of the best plants to bear gm, ke., in rooms are the palm Seaforthiaelega"8. Aftucaria excelse, aloes of sorts, and nspidistra lurida variegata. The latter is especially useful. BLACk MINORCA FOWLS FOB SHOW.—" A. E ''— Fowls lor showing do not require different feeding to others not Intended for that purpose. Sound sweet moaj and OT&Itl are thA train stuffs. By giving meat to such heavy combed fowls as Minorcas it has a tendency to make their combs too large. They do not require to be washed before showing, but the combs should be sponged over with a little sweet oil, and if placed on a good layer of clean straw for a weak before showing they will turn out in fine condition. Their feet shouid be washed clean before showing. TREATMENT OF MAIDENHAIR FERNS IN WINTER. Some readers who possess the choice and favourite maidenhair fern are anxious about its health in winter. When properly treated this fern makes much growth in the early spring or summer months. At that time the fronds are very pale green and deli- cate, but by exposure they become a dark green colour, and so hardy that they may be kept in a room or window a long time without being injured. It is very desirable that they should be of this hardy character by the beginning of winter, as it enables them to pass through the short days in full vigour and beauty. When the fronds are tender at this time they will decay if the slightest damp settles on them. They will also shrivel up in a very dry atmosphere, but nothing of this kind occurs with hardy grown ones. The best thing to do with a very weakly fern is not to try to force it to grow in winter, but allow it to go to rest. and start it into growth again in spring. Those, however, moderately well furnished with fronds should be kept in a very slightly moist atmosphere. They must never be watered overhead. All water given them should be applied by turning the fronds a little to one side by the hand from the rim of the pot, and putting the water on the soil quietly, so that it will soak in without flooding over the orown. If it does this in a rather low temperature the fronds will soon decay and the whole become siokly. The soil must always be kept moist, but not soaking or saturated, the objeot being to keep the plant! fresh without giving it that amouut of water required when in full growth. No manure water or stimulant should be given to ferns at this time. They will not beat frost, but they will do very well in a low temperature, say! 45deg. or 50deg., if not excessively supplied with moisture. At the present time, as oare i is being taken in watering, a look- out should be kept for any fronds that may. be incliued to decay. Immediately these are seen remove them at once. Do not pull them away, but take a pair of scissors and clip them out from the crown. As a rule, maidenhair and other ferns are injured in winter by over attention. In favourable weather there is no harm in allowing a little fresh air to reach them, but not a strong ourrrent. CUTTING DOWN CHRYSANTHEMUMS. Unfortunately, ohrysanthemums are now well over. I have been asked how they should be out over when the flowers have decayed. This is a simple process. When the flowers have withered the foliage is also decaying, and the stems should be out over a few inohes above the soil in the pot. Where a number of plants of one sort are grown, probably there will be sufficient young sucker- like shoots growing up from one or two to furnish as many cuttings as will be required for next year's supply. In such a case do not retain all the old plants, but only those with the best cuttings, and throw the others away, as this will reduce the accommodation and attention they require. A cold frame or some place slightly protected is the best place for plants after they have been out down. Only sufficient water should be given them to prevent the young growths withering. They should not be kept in heat or a close atmosphere this would cause the cuttings to become long, and break. WHEN TO PROPAGATE CHRYSANTHEMUMS. Those who have bean charmed with these grand flowers this autumn are anxious to know when they should begin to root outtings for next year's display. I am pleased to hear of this, but there is yet plenty of time to propa- gate. A few put their cuttings in during December, but those inserted in January or even February are quite early enough. Any- one unable to propagate until then may still have the finest of blooms. How TO PROPAGATE CHRYSANTHEMUMS. Now that I am on this subject I may as well give a few hints on this matter. When the old plants are out down they have fre- quently a number of shoots coming up from the root. If these are not very tall at the time of cutting down they will grow thicker afterwards. By January almost every old stool or root will be furnished with young shoots, and these cannot be too strong and dwarf. Each one, or as many as is re- quired, should be cut off with a sharp knife at a distance of three inches or so from the top. Tall cuttings are no advantage. A few of the lower leaves should be carefully re- moved, and the cutting is ready for inserting. A. somewhat sandy soil, free from manure, but with a little leaf soil in it, is a good root- ing mixture. The best growers only put one outting in the centre of a 2in. or 3in. pot, while others put them into larger pots in groups of from three to nine or ten. In the former way they can be potted into larger pots without any check, while in the latter they have to be divided, but they soon reoover from this. A cool greenhouse, or olose, not overdamp frame, is a good place to root them in. Finer little plants are often turned out ot these than from a hothouse. They require a few weeks to root, and the soil must be kept moist all the time, but a great deal of mois- ture is not required, as growth is not rapid at that stage. I regard ohrysanthemums as being amongst the easiest rooted of all plants, and no one need fear failure with them. It is plants that are bought in after being raised in a streng heat that are most likely to fail. PROFITABLE TREATMENT OF PIGS. Y orlrshireman writes "I wish to let you know the result of follow- ing your advice in regard to pig feeding. Some time during last spring you advised tha regular washing of pigs. This took my fancy and I tried it, with the result that I shall always follow it in future. I bought a pig nine weeks old on the last Monday in April, and killed it during the first week in November, the weight being 19st. lllb. I think this was very good, as I have a good many m ore ,nouttis be*ide-tha pigs' to fill, there being eleven of us depending on 23s. 6d. a week. You will understand that the pig could not receive any extra high feeding, but I attribute the good result in a great measure to the weekly washing. I cleaned out the stye once a week, and at tha i-amo time gave the pig a good scrubbing with a brush and water andj afterwards rubbed it down with straw, which kept the skin clear and healthy. The price of the pig was 16s. and the cost of meal, corn, and potatoes bought for it amounted to £3 15s. 9d., the total expenditure being jM Is. 9d." THE DECAY OF PLANTS FROM DAMP. In ordinary winters all kinds of plants are much inclined to decay from damp, but at present, when the rainfall is so excessive, they are still more so. Great precautions will have to be taken to prevent many of them deoaying altogether. The best way of preventing this is to remove any decaying leaves or growth as quickly as it oonurs. This is important, as nothing generates decay sooner than an aooumulation of such matter. All plants inclined to damp should be kept somewhat dry at the root. In this way they should be treated as if they were resting and not grow- ing. It is astonishing how much this will prevent damping. On damp, muggy days windows, lights, or ventilators should be 1 kept quite closed, but on fine days, or when he outside for is dry, they should be opened wide to admit the dry air to pass amongst the foliage. I have never found these simple precautions fail to prevent decay from damp. FOUL BROOD IN BEES. I am obliged to Signalman for the fol- lowing very practical remarks on this pest of beekeepers:- II" In your answer to Breconaiiire I in reference to bees dying you advise him to remove dead bees, clean and dry the comb", and use them next year. I wish to recommend care in seeing that the bees have not dwindled or died from foul brood. If I Breconsliire' is a baginner he may poseibly not know what foul brood is, but it is very easily detected by the flattened, wizened appearance of the sealed-over brood cells and the putrid and coffee-coloured hue of the contents. Let me tell you of the experience of a man near here on such a case, when beginners may be ab!e to judge of the danger of putting bees into old combs. He commenced keeping bees in the summer of 1890 during the winter follow- ing he lost one stock, and, as the stores were full, ho could not tell the cause. He retaiued the combs, and early this summer two of his swarms came off at the same time. Both went together and were put into the hive with the old combs. Thus united, he thought he would have a good stock, and when the time came for taking the surplus he asked me to go and see him. We examined the iliv, s aud found many busy carrying, but when we came to the united hive he told me he did not know how it was, as they appeared to get weaker and weaker, and he bad taken no honey from them. I replied the hive must be either queenless or something worse. On looking in I saw at once what was the matter. It was suffering from foul brood; We took the combs out, and the parts containing brood were a mass of stinking matter. I pointed out the diffe- rence between foul and healthy brood, and recom- mended him to destroy the hive completely by burning. This is the course I advise all to take who have any bees suffering from foul brood." The sample of comb forwarded to me by Breconshire did not contain foul brood. I fully approve of the above recommendation.
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Christmas. Christmas. THE CHRISTMAS NUMBER OF THE "WEEKLY MAIL," Which will be on Sale on THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24TH, Will, as usual, be full of SPECIAL AND INTERESTING FEATURES. In addition to the usual Budget of Serial Hovels and Miscellaneous Lite- rature, there will be the. folloioing, amongst other Seasonable Stories and Articles "THE LAST KING OF LEINSTER" (A Humorous Story), By F. M. ALLEN (EDMUND DOWNKY), Author of "Through Green Glasses," "Captain Lanagan's Log," &c. A MYSTERIOUS ADVENTURE," By ANNIE FIELDS, Author of "A Son of Adam," "A Sacrifice to Honour," &c. » VERILY, HIS NIECE A LOCAL STORY. "A. TRUE GHOST STORY" (LOCAL), BY FitED. J. WARREN ("GWYNFAHDD DYFED <' THREE CHRISTMAS EVES," BY "P. R. L." « SWEET CHRISTMASTIDE (A POEM), BY MAGGIE GRIFFITHS. CHILDREN'S CHRISTMAS HAMPER, EDITED BY « UNCLE WILLIAM." AND CHRISTMAS COOKERY, CONUNDRUMS, GAMES, ILLUSTRATIONS, POETRY, PUZZLES, WHEEZES, &c., &c. THE CHRISTMAS NUMBER OF THE "WEEKLY MAIL." THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24. PRICE ONE PENNY.
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POWELL'S BALSAM OF ANISEED—World-wide is the reputation of this old and tried remedy for Coughs, Asthma, aud Bronchitis. It assuages tlia distressing piroxysms of asthma, promotes a free expectoration of mucus in bronchial disorders. removes the sources of throat irritation in a night cough, takes away hoarse- ness, and relieves oppression of the breathing. Powell's BAlaam of Aniseed has no proximate, and is unique as a remedy for all pulmonary and bronchial ailments. Ask for Powell's Balsam of Aniseed, with the imprint of the well-known trade-mark, Lion, Net. and Mouse," on the bottle wrapper, and see you get it. Established lb24. Sold by Chemists and Doalers in Medicine throughout the world. In bottles, Is. l|d. aud 2s. 3d. Family bottles, lis. Laboratory, 4, Albion-place, Black- friars-road, London, E.G. Kefuse spurious imita- tions. Lc898 GROCER'S SCALES, Canisters, Mills, Machinery Counters, Fixtures, Sunrlries, and Shop 1<'iU,ill¡?;s ofevery description.—Pumal! and ,)1J3. 21 and 22, Narrow Wina- street Bristol. 9781c PARRY AND ROCHE'S Welsh Yarns are the es*
NATURAL HISTORY NOTES. .
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NATURAL HISTORY NOTES. A SLOW BBEEDEH; Darwin says that the elephant is reckoned to be the slowest breeder of all known animals, and be has taken some pains to esti- mate its probable minimum rate of natural increase. It will be under the mark to assume that it breeds when 30 years old, and goes on breeding till ninety years old, bring- ing forth three pair of young in this interval. If this be so, at the end of the fifth century there would be alive 15,000,000 elephants descended from the first pair. FnoGs AND THE BRIMSTONE BUTTERFLY. The brimstone butterfly (according to a correspondent of Nature) is not at all liked by frogs. This dislike is due simply to the inedi- bility of the butterfly. A frog will eat almost anything in the shape of an insect, but it draws the line at the brimstone butterfly. The beautiful primrose yellow of this insect (" primrose would be a much more poetical name for it than "brimstone") is really caused by unpleasantly tasting secretions in the wings. The refuse of the body is there stored up, and gives a colour to the wings which one would, perhaps, rather set down to some mysterious capacity for absorbing the hues of the primrose flower upon which the butterfly settles. Accordingly, it is not sur- prising that frogs (and other insect-eating creatures) do not oare about these butter- flies. WHAT INSECTS DO FOR MAN. While insect products are not numerous in comparison with the number of insects, of which there are nearly 300,000 species known, there are several of great commercial value. The silkworm is the most useful of insects, furnishing the world with an annual product valued at over £ 40,000,000. The annual value of the cochineal produced runs to millions, while many of the gums brought from the East are produced by the insects piercing the barks of certain trees, and thus causing the exudation. The quantity of honey annually stored up by bees amounts to many millions of pounds, and the wax is almost equally valuable. Gall- nuts, from which a valuable kind of ink is made, are caused by insects, while more than one kind is used in medicine. In some parts of Asia and Africa a large share of the people's food is supplied by the swarms of loousts, so that the insect world really contri- butes largely both to the comfort and luxury of mankind. A NEW POUCHED ANIMAL. The exploration of Central Australia has made known another of those pouched animals which are so characteristic of that continent. It is a blind mole, and this discovery helps to fill in the list of animals with pouches" analogous to those elsewhere which are without. Pro- fessor Stirling, of the South Australian Museum, bad in his possession for some time specimens in an unsatisfactory condition of preservation; but recently he has acquired the living animal, and has been able to stuay its habits. The specimens are 4in. long, and the fur is soft and silky and of yellow tint, while the tail, which is conical, is covered with plates. On sand it leaves three tracks- one made by the tail, and the other two by the feet. It digs with its protected snout and fore-feet, and the hind feet throw up sand which closes the passage behind. Its motion is so rapid that it appears to go into sand as easily as if it were water. THE SPEED OF FISHES. The speed of fishes is almost an unknown quantity, it being very difficult to measure. If, says a professor, you could get a fish and put it in a trough of water 1,000 feet long, and start it at one end and make it swim to the other without stopping, the information could be easily obtained but fish are unintel- ligent, and will not do this. Estimates of the speed of fish are, consequently, only approximate, and more or less founded upon guessing. One can tell, however, at a glance whether a fish is built for speed or not. A fast fish looks trim and pointed like a yacht. lis head is conical in shape and its fins fit close down to its body, like a knife blade into its handle. Fish with large heads, bigger than their bodies, and with short, stubby fins, are built for slow motion. The most predatory fishes are the fastest swimmers. I he good fishes are, as a general thing, the slowest, and, consequently, are easily captured. Their loss is recompensed, however, by the natural law which makes them ve;y prolifio in re-production. Dolphins have been known to swim around an ocean steamer, and it is quite safe to say that their speed is twenty miles an hour but it may be twice as much. The Spanish mackerel is one of the fastest of food fishes. Its body is cone-shaped, and is as smooth as burnished metal. Its speed is as matchless as that of the dolphin, and, in motion, it cuts the water like a yacht. BUTTERFLIES OF THE DEEP. A visitor at Colombo (Ceylon) writes:- In the market we saw young sharks of three distinct species, saw-fish, dog-fish, and many more some of the most vivid scarlet with skye-blue spots, some soarlet shaded with crimson, others mauve and silvery grey, like the doves of the sea. But for gorgeous colour- ing we turn to the family of parrot-fishes of lustrous green, gold, purple, or crimson, varied by bands of the richest scarlet, grey, and yellow, the whole being toned by cross- stripes of velvety black. Then there are great fire-fish of flame-oolour, and Red ea perch of dazzling scarlet. One lovely fish, about 18in. long, is specially sacred to Buddha, being clothed in his colours of lovely gold barred with rich brown sienna. The red pahaya is also brilliant red 1 tinted with gold; it grows to about 2ft. in length, and is excellent to eat. The basket parrot has a green back fading into yellow, with yellow fins but the whole is covered with straight lines and cross-patches, giving the exact effect of wicker-work. Per- haps the most marvellously variegated of all these oreatures is the flower-parrot, which chiefly frequents the coral reefs off the south of the isle. Its lustrous robe has horizontal bands of silver, blue, crimson, bright green and dark green, covered by black bands and patches of yellow. The fins are straw- coloured the bead has crimson and bright green stripes radiating from the eye. Even the excellent herring of Ceylon displays an Oriental love of colour, for its silvery body is striped with red, and some of its fins are yellow, while tlim others are dark steel-grey. But the triumph of fish-millinery is reserved for a lovely very rare perch, dressed in silvery grey, with tail, fins, and crown of this bead of vivid gold, just tipped with velvety black. Another radiant butterfly of tha deep is the malkotah, which is apparelled in green satin striped with scarlet, its fins and tail being also scarlet. But for oddity nothing can excel the various members of thi obetod. i family, or moonstones," as they are called by the Singhalese, because of their globular form. One is just a ball of brght go:tletl- yellow, with glittering yellow eyes and enor- mous brown fins. Another has t yellow brdv, with curved lilies of purple, bltck and gold tail and Hits, and a blank band (q; (be f-ice. One Utile gem about fo"Ir diameter I is silvery grey, shaded with bauus of darker grey, and silvery eyes. Another, equally tin, is of bright gold, with a blue back and god dorsal fin. Ouit RARER QUADRUPEDS. It is a grief to every dweller in the oountry to find that year by year several of the most interesting native quadrupeds become msre scarce. Few sights would be sadder that, to ramble among fair English landscapes and never be cheered by the woodland creatures which at present, although in limited nun-, bers, may be met in many rural districts. Several parts of the Continent, in which small birds are systematically shot for the table, present scenes of desolation seldom or never brightened by the song of feathered minstrels, whereas it must be owned with thankfulness that wild birds have largely increased, both in numbers and in confidence, in our hedge- rows and coppices. How many persons at the present day, however, see bad. gers or polecats, or even hares, in their walks in England? It may be replied that the first of those animals is a nocturnal crea- ture. The two others are certainly not so. An incoming tide of prejudice, cruelty, and ignorance is making short work of them, and will speedily kill them all off. What tells most (says Hod and Gun) upon several of the indigenous quadrupeds is that their mode of life has been seriously disturbed by modern agriculture and the great increase of popula. tion. Cutting down small coppices, clearing out the corners of fields, keeping down the hedges, and removing all waste growth along- side of them, and especially drainage opera- tions, are always distasteful to wild quad- rupeds, and to birds as well. Owing to the decay of arable farming in some districts, immense crops of thistles have been allowed to wave over the fields, and, howsoever, painful the sight may be to the agricultu- rist, the lover of birds beholds it with equa- nimity. That lovely songster, the goldfinch, has been brought back to many a district. Stubbing up a wood, or even a clump of trees, on the bank of a river, frequently means extirpating a colony of badgers. The strin- gent course of trout preservation which has prevailed for the last 30 years has done more to diminish the stock of otters than all the efforts of all the otter hounds in the kingdom. The marten is a more grievous sufferer. Thanks to its rich fur, covetousness has, in many shires where it was once far from uncommon, almost, if not wholly, rooted it out. There were martens in Herefordshire twenty years ago. How many are there now ? The naturalist may find stuffed ones here and there in country houses, but be will look in vain for the creature in its old haunts by cliff and stream, Like the fairies it has passed away for ever. Wild cattle and red deer are now found in a few favoured parks in England. Two centuries ago they wan- dered in comparative freedom over many English districts. The few eagles which lived on the fish of Norfolk, and the bustards which were hunted with greyhounds on Salis- bury Plain or on the Lincolnshire marshes, have, like them, become extinct. Still the process of exterminating the native animal goes on. Among the creatures which have manifestly grown soarce in the last decade may be mentioned the marten, the badger, the wild cat, the polecat, and the otter. The feeling of sportsmen and naturalists with regard to both the otter and the badger has altered in late years. Besides its value as an object of sport, the otter, it is believed, does not do so much harm among trout as was supposed: it feeds mainly on eels and other ooarse fish. If the liking of the badger for 11 9 eggs has given it a bad character with game- preservers, its value in the fox-hunter's eyes it great, as it constructs earths which are frequently adopted by foxes. Little can be said, from either a naturalist's or a sports- man's point of view, for the polecat. Its evident kinship to the skunk debars it from all sentimental likings, while no creature ia more fell and bloodthirsty in its attacks upon hen-roosts, young broods of pheasants, and rabbits. It may be feared that in spring the hedgehog is not wholly. insensible to the charms of pheasants' or partridges' eggs. There is a market for hedgehogs in London, e, and this has largely helped to thin their numbers. For all these creatures the lover of the country would fain pleid. To the game- preserver he would urge that the hedgehog and the badger, apart from wbat little destruc- tion they might cause in the breeding season, would hardly diminish in any perceptible degree the stock of game on an estate. At other times of the year they are quite harm- less.
THE LATEST ARISTOCRATIC SCANDAL
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THE LATEST ARISTOCRATIC SCANDAL r-By WESTMINSTER."] The best comment I have seen on the Russell divoroe case is the judges quietly ironical remark with reference to one of the alleged instances of cruelty, lie told his wife to 'go to the devii,' and then handed her over to her mother." Sir Charles Butt has done an excellent service to the public in de- nouncing with the utmost indignation the shameless tactics pursued by the prosecution in attempting to defame Earl Russell by im- puting to him abominable conduct in his relations with Mr. Koberts. Sir Edward Clarke, seeing what harm this baseless charge had done to his client, Lady Russell, with- drew and apologised for it in his closing speech. But the malignity of the prosecution was not displayed in this incident only. Could. anything have been more cowardly than the false suggestion that Earl Hussell had been sent down" from Oxford for infamous conduct, or than the exposure by name of the poor girl with whom he had had an intrigue before his marriage, and to whom he had behaved far more liberailv than most young men of position are in the habit of doing in such cases? This girl's secret had been kept from the knowledge of the world up to the present time there was no purpose to be gained by dragging it into the case, but nothing is sacred to a zealous advocate, and so Lord Russell's victim is ruthlessly held up to public scorn. f see that one paper says the law needs mending to prevent counsel from indulging in a licence which turns courts of justice into instruments for effecting with impunity the world-wide circulation of the most detestable slanders but it seems to me that, not the law, but the practice of the Bar, is at fault. How is it that counsel, who are themselves ill private life men of the highest honour, no sooner put on a wigf and gown than they think themselves at liberty, "under instructions of course, to say and do things which out of oourt would stamp them with ignominy ?
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--RURAL NOTES. . .
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GAMBLING AT MONTE CARLO. A D ilziel's Agency telegram from Nice says At Monte Carlo the hotels are already well filled, and play at the tables has been high. There is no doubt that much of this is due to the reports which were so extensively circulated concerning the large winnings made by Mr. Wells, for it is cer- tain that at no time wit hin the history of the casino have the tables been so well patronised at such an early peiiod of the season. This week the luck has been decidedly against the players. On Wednesday last an American gentleman left for Paris after losing over £ 12,000 in a few days, and on Thursday I saw a young lady calmly stake and lose at the roulette tables, within one hour, 125.000 francs. The trente-et-quarante tables are the most sought after, and it is difficult to approach them, so great is the crowd around them. There the piny is unusually high, hut since tha wonderful exploits of Mr. Wells I have not yet been able to place my hand upon a single person frequenting the Casino who has not lost -money. At Cannes the weather is superb, and English visitors of distinct ion are arriving daily. Among the lattst arrivals are Lady Canning, Bishop and Mrs. Cheet- ham, the Countess of Donoghmore, Lord and Lady Fiizroy, Lady Maria Vincent, Sir Sidney and La lv Waterloo. The report extensively circulated that the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg is prostrate with p?ra]ysis, and is in a criticnl condition, is entirely without foundaiion. He drives out daily on the Boulevard Bi-oisette in a little donkey-cart. He is not, however, able to walk.