MODEL. THE JUDAS-TREE. Those who have traveled through the limestone districts of Pennsylvania during the early part of May, will remember with pleasure the beauty of the landscape. At that time the large trees of June-berry are a mass of white bloom, and every brake and thicket is richly decorated with the glowing red of the Judastree and the snowy flowers of the wild plum in pleasing contrast. All of these trees are desirable for ornamental planting, blooming as they do very early in the season, before the foliage has developed, and making a gorgeous display by the profusion of flowers which they never fail to produce. But the most lasting and pleasing of the three is the Judas-tree, or red-bud, botanically known as Cercis Canadensis. This beautiful tree belongs to the great order Leguminosa, which includes the black locust, the honey locust, the coffee-tree, and many other trees prized in ornamental gardening. The flower buds, which are clustered at the leaf axils along the stem, begin to swell at the dawn of spring, and in southern Pennsylvania are showing their color by the middle of April. They continue to develop in size and brilliancy for several weeks, and it is not until the middle of May that the banner-like petals are unfolded and the bud assumes a peculiar bird-like form. A dozen or more of these little flowers are found in each cluster, and by a little stretch of the imagination, they remind one of as many miniature humming-birds vying with each other for a share of the honey from some nectared flowers. The trees are often found from twenty to thirty feet in height, with a branching, semi-globular top almost as many feet in diameter, supported by a trunk fifteen to twenty-five inches in circumference. In full bloom, such trees are a mass of soft crimson color, and may be seen across the landscape for miles. As the flowers begin to fade, the rich, broad, green leaves expand, and clothe the tree with dense verdure, which furnishes a delightful shade the entire season. This is further intensified by the profusion of long, compressed green seed-pods which turn to a brownish red during autumn, and by their number and length, as well as peculiar color, excite the curiosity and admiration of those who see the tree or enjoy its shade. Propagation is easily effected by seeds, and the trees are easily transplanted and do well in the most exposed situations. With all these characteristics, it seems strange that the Judas-tree is not generally used for ornamental gardening.-Ladies' Home Companion. EXERCISE XXV. PLANT GROWTH AND ACTIVITY. Germination. Budding and Grafting. Rapid and Rank Growers. Subjects: Plant Creepers and Climbers. Take half a dozen beans or grains of corn or other seed, and plant them in warm, moist earth. Examine one each day and from your examination describe as well as you can the process of growth. The more mysterious processes of change in organic structure, of cellular growth and multiplication, must of course be left for the microscope of the skilled botanist. This is very plainly description though it assumes to deal with activity. We describe the plant as it appears at different stages of the activity, and that is about all. We see it before the change takes place, we see it again afterward, but just what that change consists in deeper than this external manifestation of it, is extremely difficult if not quite impossible to say. There is to be noted in vegetable life much activity apart from mere growth, movements that look toward self-defense, self-sustenance, self-preservation, movements that exhibit many of the characteristics of animal instinct. This is one of the things that forbid us to draw a sharp line between the two kingdoms. The observation of these movements will furnish material for very interesting descriptions. Any Natural History will furnish a wealth of information on these subjects. And various works of such authors as John Burroughs, Olive Thorne Miller, Maurice Thompson, and John B. Grant, may be consulted both for matter and for good examples of the way in which the matter should be treated. But do not consult these books first if you wish to get the maximum of profit from this exercise. Here, as always, observe for yourself. Half an hour spent before a cage of monkeys or a tank of fish, will be more fruitful than the reading of a chapter from any book. Go to books to settle points that you have no means of settling for yourself, and to verify the results of your observation. Do not be disappointed to find them verified: the young investigator is sometimes apt to feel that way. Be encouraged rather, for while the verification does not detract in the least from the merit of your own discovery, it increases your confidence in your own powers. It is not intended here that you shall dissect an animal and describe it down to the minutest details of its organism, although that may be done. But an abundance of subject-matter may be found apart from this. If you are interested in birds, note the varieties that are to be found in your neighborhood; the time of arrival and departure of the migratory ones; the respective sizes, and lengths of beaks, wings, legs, claws; the extremes of color variation in the same species; the notes or calls; the manner of running on the ground; the favorite resorts, food, etc. Speaking of bird-notes calls to mind a very interesting essay read before a class by a boy who had a good ear for music and a talent for whistling. He imitated so well the notes of half a dozen different birds that they were immediately recognized by his hearers. The same thing may be conveyed to readers, though in a more imperfect way, by the use of musical notation. See S. P. Cheney's Wood Notes Wild. The numerous points just suggested would furnish too much matter for an ordinary composition. Either confine yourself to one species of animal, or to the comparison of different species in respect to some particular feature. For example, "Bird Beaks" would of itself be a very comprehensive subject. The following description of the genus Ursus and the species Ursus horribilis are taken from Cecil's Books of Natural History, by Selim H. Peabody: All the species of bears have great size, large limbs, and heavy gait. They walk upon the flat soles of their feet, and are, therefore, with the raccoons, called plantigrades. The print of the foot of a black bear, left in the soft earth, resembles very much the impression of a man's hand -fingers, thumb, and palm being distinctly marked. This form of foot takes away much of the swiftness which beasts of prey usually possess. The dog and cat families move upon their toes, or digits, and are called digitigrades. Bears' feet have five toes, armed with large, strong claws, fit for digging and climbing, rather than for holding prey or tearing flesh. They eat a variety of food, and, besides flesh, are fond of nuts, acorns, berries, growing corn, and young grain. They seldom attack man, unless driven by severe hunger, or provoked; but when angry, are very dangerous. They are not only savage, but solitary; making their lonely dens in the most secret and inaccessible places. In winter they sleep in their dens, in some cavern of the rocks, or in the hollow of some old tree. Here they pass months, without food, in a torpid state, breathing so gently and slowly that one would hardly suppose them alive. As the winter passes, their fat wastes away; until, when they crawl forth in the spring, they seem to have slept off all their flesh. . . . The Grizzly Bear, Ursus horribilis, is the most powerful and dangerous wild beast of America. He is from six to nine feet long, and sometimes weighs as much as eight hundred pounds. His hair is longer and finer than that of the black bear, and the color varies from a grizzly gray to a light brown. The hair on the legs and feet is darker and shorter than that on the body; on the face it is so short and pale as to make the creature seem bald; on the neck it grows to a stiff, coarse mane. The feet and claws are very large. measured by Lewis and Clarke, was The forefoot of a specimen nine inches broad, and was |