NOTES AND QUERIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2860, 6 January 1909, Page 51

NOTES AND QUERIES.

Qusitivns for reply in coming isius W li w»«lr«d not later than MONDAY nijht. J. W.. Lovrburn Ferry.— The specimen sent in by you was submitted to Mr G. M. Thomson, F.L.S.. who kindly replies as follows:— The specimen of blight sent by '•J. W." from the poplar iree at Low burn is not an uncommon phenomenon. It is a growth produced by a gall-midge, probab y a species of Cecidoniyia, but I cannot name the particular species in the absence of full lit«r*tnre on the subject. Th«se fhmi.l flies prooVuca an irritation in. the tisaue* of the plant, causing it" to develop a fruiiHke bollow growth, in ihe cavity of vrhich the eggs are laid and che yo-ang laryse produced. They are not re'.ated to the aphides -which constitute the blig-ht* of fruit tress. rose 3. turnips, etc . but are more like €he tnie gall in<ects. The latter, however, belong io the Hymenoptera (the order which includes bees, wasps, and ants), while the Cecidomyla beionga to tiie . Diptera, or true flies. I do not know the life history of this particular species. Fancy Work, Manc-evil'e. — An inscription such as that which' appeared on the Christmas card forwarded by ycu is written either by au ordinary pen <wilh an ope.n point, or a very pHab'.e fountain pen. The letters axe traced on the card in gum, and the tinsel vut on the tracing either with or without a bri'sh The tinsel can be pro-cure-1 from any of the post-card shops in Dunedin. Tui. — Differeiit public bodies 'have different methods of dcaiing with their inward roiletpondence. By some impoKant public bodies, such as the Dunedin City Council. the Oi?go Harbour Board, and the Otago Education Board. ea%_-h letter is* dealt v. »th .separately and disposed of Ly district resolution. A resolution that a letter bo "received ' in the ea?e of each of the=e bodies means in effect that no action 19 to be taken in connection with it In seme minor public bodies the practice is to have all the correspondence read, to pass a rerolution formally "receivirg" it. cnJ then to take tho consideration of _ the various letters iv order. According, there fore. Jo the practice of som* local ai'cbcuties, the ruling of the chairman in tie cn=e quote J by you would be sound; Kcccidiii? to the practice of other 2 , li would i.r.t There i« no hard-and-fast rule thai can be laid down in =uch a case. J R M., Nelson. — (1) We ar? nnabi<? to guc ycu what you a»k for — namely, the nan o. price, and where obtainable cf the Ixst book on carpentry to give a guide io building a country cottage of four or five rcoiiiPrssibly "Countiy Co L l?ges and Week-eLd Homes, by J H F.'der Dinican. pub'i^hed by Caspelland Co, London, and obtainable from Mr J. Biaitjwaite for 6s might $er\e Tour purpose. ."We doubt lt^ however, as

it refers to English cottages. It is profusely illustraied, and- might suggest ideas. l 2) "'Agritola" replies as follows: — "In reply to your letter, from the description of ihe country, the soil, and the altitude, it would probably be the wisest course to surface sow with grass immediately, to enable the young plants to gel, a start before the early autumn frosts set in. Cocksfoot is the most suitable seed to sow under the conditions you mention ; a small addition of hard or Caewings's fescue might be sown with the cocksfoot. Oi.her grasses would not be likely to d-o any good under the circumstances. C E. A., Hakataraonea — The lonic is due at Wellington about January 26. After discharging {here she goes on to Lyttelton. where she is due about February 2. Her further movements will depend on the ports where cargo is offering, and will not be definitely known until later on. G-. D. t Fei'ding. — Five weeks will not make a great deal of difference in a pony's appearance if its grooming has besn neglected previously. Groom thorcughly ever}' morning, and again at night. Keep the pony covered to make the coat fine, and when the day for showing comes, afier grooming put a few drops of salad oil on a rag and rub ibis thorough'y over the coat to give a glessy appearance. Thorough grooming every day and proper feeding is the principal secret of a good pppearance in horses. Pansy. — There are various methods in use for improving the mamory. or rather using an artificial memory bj associating the fact or figure which it is desired to recall with so.iiething else whicli is more to band. Afterwards tho mental reproduction or actual presentation of the latter will give a suggestion of the former, in accordance with tl"2 psychological "law of contiguity." Some rhythmical mnemotechnic rontrivances have b?sn used for ages. such, for example. as "Thirty days hath Sepiember." etc. The art, however, is to be distinguished from the general feculty — memory, which is ihe es'emial ard distinctive faculty of '"mind." An old-time writer, Quintilian, implies that to remember a subject propeily we must master it in all its details Practice and labour, he affirm 6 , constitute the real mneinotecbny. That, aftei all, may ie boiled down into what you state — concentration of thought on the" subject. Pr\d. — The local option poll is taken on the same day as the polling day for the general election, and although there may be no contest in a constituency, the local option vote is taken. Hitherto the Xc-Mcen-e party have made a point of nominating a candidate for a seat when no second candidate appeared hke!y to -come forward, the object being to obtain a. valid local option vote, as the law provides that onehalf [he number of electors on the roll must record iiieiT votes before the result of the local option vote oan be given effectto. An exception wa3 made in the case of the Clutha seat at the last election, probably out of compliment io Mr Malcolm, who if a supporter of no-'ieense. No one was nominated to oppose him, but the local option poll was taken as in other districts, and the vole resulted in favour of continuance of no-licen.«e. Where none of the tliree issues receives the required numbsr of votes and nothing- is -arried, ihat is equivalent to a continuance of iht state of affairs existing. The same remarks apply to a non-effective vote in a nc-license district, and no-license t would contimie. J. M.. Middlemarch.— Mr G. M. Thomson, F.L.S., M.P., reports as follows on your sample. — " The grass sent down by ' M'ddlemarch ' is the large maims grai e , Glyceria aquatica. a common European species, wnich is found in many parts of! New Zealand now. It usually grows, as its name implies, in or near water, and it is somewhat remarkable that it should, do well on poor, dry ground. However, there is ro much natural irrigation in the StraihTuieri along the wbsle of the foot of the Rock mid Pillar Range that probably the grass has spread from these natural watercourses. It is a gocd fodder grass, and yieids a large quantity cf material, growing as it docs from 3ft to 4ft in height, and creeping extensively by its undergiound stems.