BOTANY. 345 



small as that of -the dwarfish pines of North Carolina and Cape Cod. Its 

 foliage is not, as a general thing, altogether agreeable to the eye, as the 

 head of the tree is small in proportion to the size and height of the trunk. 

 But the boughs, when examined more closely, are bright-green, rather 

 complicated and delicate in structure, and pleasing to the mind by con- 

 trast with the rough and gigantic stem and branch from which they spring. 

 " The name that has been applied to this tree by Prof. Lindley, an Eng- 

 lish botanist, is Wellingtonia Gigantea. By him it is declared to be so 

 much unlike other conifera as not only to be a new species, but to require 

 description as a new genus. Other botanists, of eminence, think differ- 

 ently. To this, however, he has seen fit to apply the name of an English 

 hero, a step indicating as much personal arrogance or weakness as scientific 

 indelicacy ; for it must have been a prominent idea in the mind of that 

 person that American naturalists would regard with surprise and reluc- 

 tance the application of a British name, however meritoriously honored, 

 when a name so worthy of immortal honor and renown as that of Wash- 

 ington would strike the mind of the world as far more suitable to the 

 most gigantic and remarkable vegetable wonder, indigenous to a country 

 where his name is the most distinguished ornament. If the ' Big Tree 

 be not a Taxodium, let it be called, now and forever, Taxodium Washing - 

 tonium. If it should be properly ranked as a new genus, then let be 

 called, to the end of time, Washingtonia Californica. The generic name 

 indicates unparalleled greatness and grandeur ; its specific name, the' only 

 locality in the world where it is found. No names can be more appro- 

 priate." 



EXPERIMENTS IN RAISING POTATOES. 



Charles Sears, of the Phalanx Farm, in New Jersey, has communicated 

 to the Working Farmer a detailed statement of the result of sundry ex- 

 periments he has tried in planting potatoes, with a view of determining 

 whether it is most profitable to plant whole seed, or small cuttings. The 

 general conclusions are thus stated : 



It will be perceived that the ratio of product to seed is greatest from the 

 smallest cut seed, as might be inferred would be the case ; but deducting 

 the quantity of seed in each case, and the net product per acre is uniformly 

 in favor of planting whole seed, and also as clearly in favor of planting 

 large-sized whole seed, when the cost of seed does not exceed a dollar a 

 bushel, and the crop sells for fifty cents or more ; the ratio of product per 

 acre of marketable potatoes from whole seed being relatively as 100, 90, 

 73, and from smallest cut seed as 62, 44, 34. Taking only the first or 

 largest- sized potatoes, the ratio of product per acre from whole seed is as 

 100, 73, 67. 



I have also estimated a money valuation of the crop, and the extreme 

 difference at the prices named between the product of the large-sized whole 

 seed, and that of the smallest cut seed, is as .$86, $76 and $40, the latter 

 figure being 46 per cent, of the former. 



15* 



