THE AGASSIZ ASSOCIATION 



171 



busy world? He who understands the 

 beauties and wonders around his daily 

 path. 



Then it is our duty to the Creator, to 

 the neighbor, to ourselves to teach 

 others the joy to be found in the simple 

 things of life, the music in the stream, 

 the secrets as we best translate them 

 in the prairie, the mountain and the 

 sea and all the wealth to be had for the 

 asking. In this way can we aid in fill- 

 ing the world with the mighty peace 

 called "contentment." 



Ribbon Growth of Asparagus Stem. 



Flemington, New Jersey. 

 To the Editor: 



I send you by express an odd growth 

 of asparagus. This is from a bed set 



abnormal stem. Examples of fascia- 

 tion are not uncommon, and are readily 

 recognized in various forms of plants 

 by the flattened, enlarged and usually 

 curved stem. Fasciated stems produce 

 a large number of leaves which are 

 crowded or scattered so irregularly as 

 not to maintain their original order as 

 they develop on the stem in an ordinary 

 growth. Sometimes different parts of 

 the stem develop unequally and the re- 

 sult is a torsion commonly called 

 "shepherd's crooks." A common ex- 

 ample of fasciation is in the cockscomb 

 or Celosia, where cultivation has de- 

 veloped it to an exaggerated degree. 

 In this plant an abundance of manure 

 is necessary in order to produce the 

 desired result. This is one of many 



THE FASCIATED STEM OF ASPARAGUS. 



out in 1896. We did not notice this 

 abnormal form until four or five yeaib 

 ago, though it may have appeared 

 earlier. In cutting for table use, the 

 shoots from this plant were discarded, 

 begin rather woody. It is new to me 

 and I hope may be so to you. 



Very truly, 



H. E. Deats. 



This is a remarkable and interesting 



example of fasciation, which is only 



another method of stating that it is an 



signs that lead botanists to think that 

 fasciation is produced by too much 

 feeding. In animals overfeeding would 

 make them stout, but it appears to flat- 

 ten some plants. 



Many theories have been suggested 

 to explain fasciation, but it is sufficient 

 to state that the change is undoubtedly 

 due to a disturbance of the growth cen- 

 ters. Just what causes that distur- 

 bance, why some centers seem to grow 

 weaker and others stronger, and why 



