Nellie Anderson, Lancaster, Ohio, found violets in bloom in December.
Ada Allen, Bolivar, Missouri, has sent us her teacher's certificate that she has recited perfectly the list of the Kings and Queens of England.
Lester Tallmadge, of Leaville, Colorado, would like to receive the full address of H. R. S., who lately sent him a package of interesting curiosities, in order that he may make a suitable return.
C. Y. P. R. U.
Alice.—I can not decide for you the question which is the most useful of all the trees in the world. I will leave it open for the C. Y. P. R. U., and members may send me their opinions. The tree which is applied to the most various and multiplied uses is probably the palm. There are a number of species of palm, differing in some minor peculiarities, but all graceful, elegant, and beautiful. The Palmyra palm (Borassus flabelliformis) is, on account of its great usefulness, called the prince of trees. Until this tree reaches its twentieth year it has little grace or beauty. A recent writer says: "It is covered from the root upward with the remains of old leaves which have been cut off some distance from the trunk, leaving ugly and dangerous projections. These leaf-stalks when green are soft and easily cut, but after they become dry they are almost as hard as horn. A person running against such a tree by night, or accidentally, is sure to retire wounded. After the tree becomes older, all these remains of former leaves disappear, and the straight trunk emerges smooth and clean, as if it had been artificially trimmed and polished. It rises to the height of from sixty to ninety feet, and is considered in its youth during its first hundred years. The timber is almost worthless until the tree is sixty years old."
A Hindoo poem is said to enumerate eight hundred and one uses to which the palm is applied. The leaves are used for fuel, for thatch, for mats, for baskets, for cords, for fans, for umbrellas, for pouches, books, etc. The sap is drawn from the tree twice daily during seven months of the year, and makes, when unfermented, a pleasant drink; when fermented, an intoxicating wine. It is boiled into a coarse sugar, which is used both as food and medicine, and as a cement in mortar. The fruit is considered a delicacy. There is an Indian proverb about the palm which says, "If you plant it, it will grow a thousand years; and if you cut it, it will last a thousand years."