The Opelousas courier., 1883-11-03

NJ. OstroVsky, minister of domains, is
now of the opinion that it is time to
return to the doctrine of Peter the
Great, who placed the forests under
imperial administration, an arrange
ment which was abolished by Catherine
II in favor of the nobility.
The English newspapers give a
large amount of space to the working
at the parcels post" which has just
gone into operation there. The pur-
pose of the new service undertaken by
the British post-oftice is like that
which has for some years been done
in "fourth-class matter" by our post
Office, but on a much less liberal scale
than the English have attempted.
The English government will now
carry to any part of the United King"
dom for one shilling, a parcel weighing
nine pounds, with proportionately
lower rates for smaller parcels. In
this country the limit is four pounds,
which at the rate charged-one cent
an ounce-would cost sixty-four cents.
Butchers and bakers and grocers are
using the new parcels post to send
their supplies all owe the country to
their customers. An entire page of
the London Times is taken up by the
advertisement of a London tea dealer
announcing the rates at which he will
send tea to any part of the country.
The government even goes so far as to
provide wagons in the cities for the
delivery of the parcels. 1t is no Won
der that with all these facilities the
new service is almost run to death by
the public, and is nearly oyerwhelm-
ed by the amount of business offered
to it.
Many weird and thrilling tales have
been told of seeds found in the
shrivelled hands of Egyptian mummies
being planted and growing into some
flower of wonderful beauty and
perfume which destroyed the
lives of its wearers. This is fietiCn /;
but it is fact that an English market
gardener has recently succeeded in
raising peas from some dried pulse
found in the hand of a mummy.
When Mr.. Dayitt was in Portland
prison, too, one of the visitors to the
prison became interested in the little
garden which the founder of the land
league was allowed to amuse himself
by cultiyating, and sent him some
foWer-seeds which had come in like
manner from the tomb of some long
dead and gone Egyptian. Mr.. Davitt
planted the seeds, and reared, it is
said, some very successful specimens
of the flora of old Egypt from them.
In his annual address before the
American Forestry congress, in session
at st. Paul, President Loring stated
that the clearings in the old settled
parts of tbs country are being filled up
with trees, so that in Ohio, Maine,
New York and other states the acreage
is growing constantly greater. In other
states where the subject of forestry has
attracted attention it is growing in re-
gard, though further encouragement
is needed in this direction. The forest
acreage of the country is, it seems, less
than one-fourth of the whole surface,
a less portion than in the east, vest,
and north Of Europe. The quantity
of pine lumber appears to be on the
decrease; to such an extent, indeed
that at the pres Mt rate of consump-
ton the supply in the northern states
will be exhausted within a few years.
In the near future the country must
depend upon the pine forests of the
gulf states for its lumber. Much
timber, it appears. is being wasted by
burning and cutting. Mr.. Loring in
dorsed the suggestion of the land
commissioner, in his report of 1882,
recommending the passage of some
general and comprehensive law, stat
ing who may cut timber on govern
ment lands, for what purpose it may
be- cut, and providing a penalty for
unlawfully destroying forests. The
opinion was expressed that the United
States. which had been so busily en-
gagged ii numbering for the past forty
years, should now devote itself to
forestry.