Feb. 13-—There was great excitement in the family last night; roots of our neighbours houses were covered with snow, the view from the windows was like a plelure on a Christmas card" und plans were hurriedly' made for "an early morning stroll. A' snowfall isnot everyday occurrence. However, the fall was not as heavy as the youngsters would have liked to be; but we suppose that local farmers were more than Satisfied, a fall of snow at this time of the year is noi very welcome to those people: it is liable to cause much damage to the young crops that have been encouraged, by the recent warm weather, (0 awake from thelt winter sleep. We are told also, that the snow bad for the throat, so we' may expect to hear plenty of "clearance noises" shortly. The countryside looked quite, picturesque this morning, the snow remained tu. the trees for a long time and, everywhere one looked, appeared lovely and clean- The winter-Nowering Jasmine was looking very sorry fo: itself and so were any other plants that we had admired a few days. ago. 'The cold humidity of snow is dettimental' to vegetation in places where falls are occasional and light. In regions where the round Is covered with a deep fall of snow for many' weeks, the opposite is the case: there, the scow guards the vegetation against cold stance, some plants are dependent upon a profective covering of snow for their existence. Snow fructifies the soil and it is said that it contains more nitrous salts, than rain; but we believe that the chemical "difference "is very small. Falling flakes Miter the alr and there must be innumerable particles of dust_mixed with snow: we know that the undissolved portion of this dust gradually consolidates ay snow melts and that the dark patches and streaks that appear are caused by this dust, However, all the dust is not deposited as a Fesult of the filtering of the atmosphere; some is brought by wind Blowing across the' cou {ryside. We -were happy when we started on our stroll this morning; but we were sad on our return: we had soon more than the daily average of corpses on-the south side of Rock bill Avenue. If nothing can be done for these Poor unfortunates during their lifetime, surely, something could be done to expedite the re: moval of their bodies from the gaze of pass hereby afler death—wx-
Feb. 16—We made another of our periodic visits to some local greenhouses a few days ago and saw many interesting plants. There was a very fine batch of primulas on display. The comparatively recently introduced Primula Kewensis was seen just commencing to bloom this hybrid first flowered at Key. Gardens in 1299 and the mealiness of Its foliage, together with Ils bright yellow flowers, make ita charm= {ing companion for the more common P. sinensis and P. obconica, There was a large batch of an orange variety of the Chinese primrose, this a very beautiful variety, the colour being most attractive: we also noticed a blue shade that is worthy of special mention. Many Cape primroses (Sireplocarpus Rexii) were in full loom, some of the hybrids being of recent Introduction: "these decorative plants are of considerable value to the owner of a greonhouse, there are some charming shades of colour amongst them. The genus is native to South Africa and ity Mowers are not unlike those of the gloxinia, although the plant does not form a tuber like that favourite, It frst loomed in England in 1826 and it quickly, became a great favourite owing to its simple cul. ural requirements. Nature provided this plant with long thick leaves, lying on the surface of the ground, ta protect the roots against the strong rays' of the Sun, Two very pretty orchids were seen in. flower, but we think that the labels have been mixed, both plants looked Uke Cymbidiums to us; itis possible that we fare wrong; but we cannot imagine one of them being 'a Cypripedium as the label would have us believe, A few planis of that North African native, Mignonette, were seen: the delicate fragrance of the lowers of This plant make it universally popular. We were very Pleased to find numerous pols of the Thibelan blue poppy (Meconops's daileyll) in one of the greenhouses; we have tried to grow this plant often and have succeeded in getting it to form Mower buds only to have it suddenty dio during a hot spell in June. The plants we saw looked healthy and if they can be persuaded to flower before the hot weather comes along, all will be well, and we. can look forward {0 s¢e-{ing plenty of it in future years, for we belie that the difficulty of obtaining' f-esh seed. kept this most desirable plant out of out local gardens for so long.—w.k,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.