than that of the pinaster, and the timber is whiter and somewhat more durable. In the climate of London trees of from fifteen to twenty years' growth produce cones. There are no well-marked varieties of the Stone pine, though in its native districts geographical forms may occur. For instance, Loudon describes a variety cretica, which is said to have larger cones and more slender leaves. Duhamel also describes a variety fragilis, having thinner shells to the seeds or kernels. Neither of these varieties is in this country, so far as we are aware. There are various synonyms for P. pinea, the chief being P. sativa of Bauhin, P. aracanensis of Knight, P. domestica, P. chinensis of Knight, and P. tarentina of Manetti.--_The Garden._ * * * * * THE ART OF BREEDING. From a paper read by C. M. Winslow, Brandon, Vt., before the Ayrshire Breeders, at their annual meeting, in Boston, Feb. 4, 1885: Sometimes we meet with breeders whose only aim in their stock seem to be to produce animals that shall be entitled to registry. To such I have little to say, as their work is comparatively easy, and has but few hindrances to success; but to those breeders who are possessed of an ideal type of perfection, which they are striving to impress upon their stock, I have a few words to say upon the hindrances they may find in the way of satisfactory results. It is a law of nature that the offspring resembles some one or more of its ancestors, not only in the outward appearance, but in the construction of the vital organism and mental peculiarities, and is simply a reproduction, with the accidental or intentional additions that from time to time are accumulating as the stock passes through the hands of more or less skillful breeders. The aim of the breeder is to not only produce an animal which shall in its own person possess the highest type of excellence sought, but shall have the power to transmit to its offspring those qualities of value possessed by himself. A breeder may, by chance, produce a superior animal, or it may be the result of carefully laid plans and artfully controlling the forces of nature and subjecting them to his will.