=“Dogwood” for Gunpowder Charcoal.=—The alder buckthorn, berry-bearing or black alder (_Rhamnus frangula_) is a native shrub that is fairly plentiful in Southern England, though rare in Scotland and Ireland. Confusion sometimes arises from the same popular name being applied to widely different species of plants, and this, unfortunately, is the case with the shrub in question. What is known among gunpowder manufacturers as dogwood is in reality the present shrub (_Rhamnus_), which, however, is quite distinct from the true dogwood (_Cornus_) and belongs to an entirely different family. To those who contemplate growing charcoal wood for the making of explosives, this distinction is of the utmost importance, as I have seen _Cornus sanguinea_ cultivated for the making of gunpowder. The alder buckthorn is perfectly hardy, growing freely even in the North of Scotland, where it ripens its seeds. It is usually found as an erect-growing bush from 8 ft. to 10 ft. in height, though in suitable situations in Southern England specimens fully 20 ft. high, with stems 6 in. in diameter, are to be met with. The bright green leaves are oval in shape and vary, according to conditions of growth, from 2 in. to 3 in. in length, while the flowers are of a dull yellowish green and are succeeded by dark purple berries each about the size of a pea. From a very early date the alder buckthorn has been cultivated, though not extensively, in this country for charcoal making, and the price, upwards of £15 per ton, that is paid for the wood, shows that the growing of this shrub is a profitable undertaking. At one time large quantities of the wood were produced in Sussex and other counties, the selling price being £14 per ton when peeled and tied in bundles. The cultivation of the alder buckthorn is nearly similar to that of the osier for basket-making, and the produce is dealt with and disposed of in like manner. For soil any good loam inclined to be dampish will suit it well, and an open, but not wind-swept, situation should be chosen for its cultivation. The land intended for growing the alder buckthorn should be trenched the winter before planting, and a top-dressing of leaf soil or thoroughly decomposed manure, the former preferably, will greatly assist the growth of the young plants and prevent too speedy evaporation of moisture from the soil. Young plants are not offered in quantity in our nursery catalogues, and in order to obtain a stock sufficient to form a plantation, seed-sowing or layering old plants must be resorted to. Fortunately, by either method the plant is readily obtained in quantity, and as the seeds are produced in fair abundance and ripen freely this method of getting up a stock is to be recommended.