9 6 THE NATURE-STUDY REVIEW ] 4 : 3 -mar., ,908 



select the large plants and after digging remove most of the green part of 

 the leaves and all of the root except just enough to hold the leaves together. 

 The lower part of the leaves are blanched from being in the ground and 

 are sweet and tender. They should be washed thoroughly, parboiled for 

 a few minutes and then copked as usual. {American Botanist] 



Mosquito Extermination. The Xew York Legislature has passed a law 

 which confers upon local boards of health the power to declare breeding 

 places of mosquitoes public nuisances. The owner of the property upon 

 which such conditions exist may be required to abate the nuisance at his own 

 expense. If the owner fails to take action the law empowers the local 

 board to do the work, assessing the cost equitably on the abutting property. 



Study of Trees in our Primary Schools. This is the title of an elaborate 

 quarto volume of 48 pages prepared by Professor C. M. Weed for the 

 Massachusetts State Forestry Department (office at Boston). It contains 

 detailed directions for the study of selected trees during the first three 

 years of the primary school. The following principles of selection are 

 laid down by the author: (1) To select for the youngest pupils the most 

 diverse forms so that the visual images will be distinct and easily differen- 

 tiated. (2) To include in some cases related forms which have points of 

 difference easily grasped by young pupils. (3) To include as many trees 

 as practicable which may be utilized in sense impressions through feeling 

 or smelling, thus reinforcing the visual images. Suggestions are made for 

 drawing, modelling, coloring and printing leaves, for excursions, and a 

 sample lesson is given. 



Quail and Woodcock. The Xovember 1907 number ofthe"Xature 

 Guard" contains a very interesting account of the habits of these valuable 

 game birds. 



Sugar-Beet Industry in the United States. One of the "Farmers' Bul- 

 letins" states that ten years ago the consumption of sugar in this country 

 amounted to almost 2,000,000 tons, or 62 pounds per capita, annually. 

 Of this amount over 1,500,000 tons came from abroad. The Department 

 of Agriculture deplores the necessity for this enormous importation and 

 has worked hard to learn whether it is possible to produce more in this 

 country. The experiments have shown that there are wide areas in the 

 United States adapted by soil and climate to sugar beets. 



Mushrooms as Food. There is a widespread idea that mushrooms and 

 other edible fungi are very nutritious foods. They are commonlv said to 

 contain very large quantities of protein (nitrogenous material) and to 

 rank close to meat as sources of this important nutrient. The term 

 "vegetable beefsteak" has been applied to them, and other equally extrava- 

 gant statements are frequently met with. 



An extended study of the food value of edible fungi has recentlv been 

 made at Yale University. Analysis does not show that the edible fungi 

 (mushrooms) possess a high food value. The following conclusions are 

 deduced from the comparative tables of analysis. 



It will be seen that the mushrooms contain a very high percentage of 

 water. In ordinary food materials protein is the most important nutrient. 



