. St. Nicholas [serial]. near them. Undereach butternut tree there is always found a cleangrassy circle of a diameter which exceeds thefarthest spread of the branches, the latter factshowing that the effect is not merely one of shad-ing. Moreover, vigorous specimens of the weedare occasionally found growing within the other-wise clear circle, and, on digging beneath them, it is found that the roots of the tree are absentat that spot. Another curious fact in connection with thisstrange relationship is that the cinquefoil plantsseem to attract the roots of the butternut to causes of the
. St. Nicholas [serial]. near them. Undereach butternut tree there is always found a cleangrassy circle of a diameter which exceeds thefarthest spread of the branches, the latter factshowing that the effect is not merely one of shad-ing. Moreover, vigorous specimens of the weedare occasionally found growing within the other-wise clear circle, and, on digging beneath them, it is found that the roots of the tree are absentat that spot. Another curious fact in connection with thisstrange relationship is that the cinquefoil plantsseem to attract the roots of the butternut to causes of these phenomena are interestingquestions that must remain, for the present, un-answered. Meanwhile, the planting of butternuttrees appears to be the best way yet discovered ofcombating a serious pest. Scientific American. THE FLYING-SQUIRREL Of all the tenants of the woods, the flying-squirrel is perhaps the most seldom seen, yetthis is not due to any scarcity of the little ani-mal, which in fact is among the most numerous. THE BRIGHT-EYED FLYING-SQUIRREL. of the squirrel family, but to its habit of movingalmost entirely at night. Should you doubt thislast statement, enter some patch of forest con-venient to your home and strike solidly upon thetrunks of such trees as appear to be dead andhave one or more holes in the trunk; in aboutone time out of five your efforts will be rewardedby the appearance in the opening, as if by magic,of the bright eyes of a flying-squirrel. There are two species of flying-squirrel; thelarger is much the same in size and color as ourcommon red squirrel, while the other and rarersort is of a grayish-cream shade and a trifle largerthan the chipmunk. The habits of the two aresimilar; both are nocturnal, both inhabit by pref-erence the hollow of some decayed tree—al-though they are not infrequently found in thediscarded nests of the gray squirrel —and bothare exceedingly gentle. iqi6.] NATURE AND SCIENCE FOR YOUNG FOLKS 271 These squirrels do not, of c
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