There is no doubt we have a great deal to learn as to the mode in which plants propagate themselves in nature, which may be of the utmost value to our gardeners. Every one is familiar with the fact of the apparently spontaneous appearance in immense abundance, of plants in soil when subjected to certain farming operations, or on the sowing of some particular crop. Whenever a new railway cutting or embankment is made, some plant unknown in the neighborhood is almost sure to appear, and either permanently establish itself or again disappear after a few years. The "sowing" of land with lime is invariably followed by the appearance of a crop of white or Dutch clover. When certain kinds of wood are cut down it is said that during the next year a particular species of moss will always be found covering the ground. Immediately after the great fire of London in 1666, the London Rocket (Sisymbrium Irio) sprang up in enormous quantities on the dismantled walls, but is now no longer to be found in the metropolitan district. The usual theory to account for this sudden appearance of new plants is the existence in the soil of large "stores of seeds" ready to germinate on the first favorable opportunity. In his Anniversary Address to the Linnæan Society in 1869, Mr. Bentham, however, pointed out that if this explanation was the true one, it ought not to depend merely on theory, but would be capable of easy practical verification. He suggested whether a hitherto insufficiently acknowledged part in the rapid dissemination of plants may not be played by birds. The whole subject presents a wide field for farther investigation, and must amply reward any one who takes up the inquiry, if endowed with the qualities of accurate observation and patient research.

Mr. Mongredien's "Planter's Guide" deals chiefly with the introduction into this country of foreign trees and shrubs. Within the last twenty or thirty years the appearance of our lawns and plantations has been greatly changed by the number of new forms which have made their appearance. The

stately Wellingtonia, the formal self-asserting "Puzzlemonkey," or Araucaria imbricata, the massive Deodar and Cryptomeria, the elegant Pinus insignis and Cupressus Lawsoniana, are all still of too recent introduction to permit us to judge of what their effect will be when grown to their full stature. The number of cone-bearing trees from all parts of the world, perfectly hardy in this climate is extraordinary; and, partly from their graceful shape, partly from the evergreen character of their leaves, the attention of cultivators has been perhaps too exclusively confined to them, while deciduous trees have been comparatively neglected. Recent experiments have shown that in this quarter also there is abundant room for an extension of our powers of domestication. In one of the London Parks least frequented by the upper ten thousand, that at Battersea, great success has attended the introduction, during the last few years, of half-hardy trees and shrubs, the precaution being taken of protecting their roots during winter by a layer of some substance impervious to frost. The French have paid more attention to the perfect naturalization of half-hardy plants than we have done; notwithstanding the greater severity of their winter, species are grown by them out of doors which are never seen with us except in greenhouses; even as far north as Paris, the bamboo, for instance, is frequently met with in gentlemen's gardens; and there is no doubt that many shrubs and herbaceous plants, which we never think of attempting to grow except under protection, might, with a very little care and attention, become permanent denizens of our gardens and shrubberies. Probably few are aware that the common Camellia will stand with impunity an ordinary English winter. Mr. Mongredien says that "if protected during the first two or three years after being planted out, and when once established, it proves in the climate of London quite as hardy as the common laurel, and blooms as profusely as in a conservatory. It is true that, from its habit of flowering early in the spring, the blossoms are sometimes

damaged by the nipping easterly winds, but this occurs only in unfavorable seasons; and even if the tree never flowered at all, its lovely foliage would still make it one of the most beautiful evergreens of which our gardens can boast. A plant of the variety Donkelarii has stood out for twelve years in a garden at Forest Hill with a northern aspect, without the slightest protection during the severest winters, and now forms a good-sized bush, densely clothed with magnificent foliage. The Camellia ought to be planted out in every garden, and with a little attention for the first year or two, it would prove quite hardy, at least in the more southern counties, and each season it would increase in attractiveness."

The climate of the south of England is far more congenial to the introduction of foreign trees and shrubs than that of the northern counties, not from the greater severity of the winters in the north, for the minimum temperature of the year is often as low in Kent or Hampshire as in Yorkshire or Northumberland, but from the shorter and cooler summers. Many plants absolutely require a considerable period of high temperature to enable them to ripen their wood sufficiently to withstand the winter frosts, and especially to induce them to flower. In many parts of Scotland, however, the climate is as favorable to horticulturists as in any district in England. In the Duke of Sutherland's estate at Dunrobin, on the east coast of Sutherlandshire, Hydrangeas, myrtles, and other half-hardy plants, grow as freely and as unchecked out of doors as they do in Devonshire or Cornwall. The equalizing effect of the Gulf Stream on the temperature is no doubt the cause of this special immunity from frost. The proximity of the sea-coast is not generally fav orable to the growth of trees and shrubs, not so much from the saltness of the air as from the prevalence of high winds, which are very injurious to growing vegetation. Young and tender shoots which will bear a moderate amount of cold, will sometimes be scorched as if by fire by a tempestuous night. The Quarterly Journal of Science.

THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE MOOSE IN NEW

ENGLAND.

BY J. A. ALLEN.

IN consequence of their large size, the value of their flesh, and the pleasure attending their chase, the different members of the deer family (Cervida) are among the first to disappear before the progress of civilization in a newly settled country. The moose (Alce malchis), like the caribou (Tarandus rangifer), doubtless once existed in Southern New England, though I have seen no record of its occurrence in the southeastern portions since the settlement there of Europeans. It probably remained in the mountainous districts till a later period, but for many years has been extinct in Massachusetts, Southern Vermont and New Hampshire, and Southern Maine.

In answer to my inquiries in respect to its present southern limit in Maine, Mr. J. G. Rich, the well-known hunter and trapper, writes me in substance as follows: "Although now scarce in that state, it is first met with on the Penobscot at about eighty miles above Bangor; on the Kennebec north of the Forks in Somersett county; at Kennebago Lake, and to the northward of Rangely Lake in Franklin county; and north of the Agiscohas Mountain on the Margalloway River, in Oxford county." A few also exist in the extreme northern parts of New Hampshire and Vermont. and in the Adirondacks of New York. As the experienced hunter finds it a not very difficult animal to capture, the moose unless protected by law, must soon become extinct throughout the New England States. The legislature of Maine has already passed a stringent game law for their protection, which it is to be hoped may be carefully enforced.

Mr. Rich's long experience as a trapper and hunter in the Maine woods, has rendered him thoroughly familiar with the

habits of the moose and the other large mammals of this region; and some years since (in 1860) he published an interesting series of articles in the now defunct "Bethel Courier," on the "Wild Animals of Maine," in which he brought together facts of great value to the naturalist, including the most complete history of the moose yet extant. It is to be hoped that he will be able to soon reissue these valuable sketches in a more permanent form.

NOTES ON CERTAIN INLAND BIRDS OF NEW JERSEY.

BY CHARLES C. ABBOTT, M.D.

THE ornithological fauna of New Jersey having undergone some changes within the last few years, it may prove interesting to ornithologists to have the results of ten years constant, careful observation as to the movements of our inland birds; comprising those that are resident; those coming from the South in the spring, and visitors from the North in winter. Certain species formerly abundant are now rare; and others formerly but seldom met with, are now abundant. As an instance we will mention the Summer Red-bird (Pyranga æstiva), which may no longer be accounted a summer resident, although prior to 1857 it was abundant; and on the other hand the Snow-bunting (Plectrophanes nivalis), which previous to 1865, was a very rare visitor, and then only during very severe winters, and since has as regularly appeared as the Junco hyemalis. They do not appear, like them, early in October, but after considerable snow has fallen. During the winters of '67, '68 and '69, they were so abundant that hundreds of dozens killed on the outskirts of the town (Trenton, Mercer Co.), were offered for sale in our markets. Every additional snow storm seemed to in