..NOTES A/^D NEV5. 



The Division of Agrostology in the U. S. Department of Agricul- 

 ture has recently issued a bulletin (No. ii), containing a systematic 

 revision of the North American species of the genus Calamagrostis, 

 by Mr. T. H. Kearney, Jr., and descriptions of new or little known 

 species by Professor Scribner. 



Mr. Charles A. Keffer has lately published as Bulletin No. i8, 

 from the Division of Forestry, U. S. Deptment of Agriculture a valu- 

 able report on " Experimental Tree Planting on the Plains." Plots of 

 various sizes were selected in Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Montana, 

 Utah, Texas, etc., in which various trees such as oaks, maples, elms, 

 ashes, pines, spruces and junipers, were planted with a view to deter- 

 mining their adaptability to the arid conditions of these places. In only 

 a few cases was there an absolute failure, while most of them showed 

 very gratifying results. 



One of the interesting fruits of the Leguminous family is the pod 

 of the Carob tree {Ceratonia Siliqua). Though a native of the Old 

 World, this tree was early introduced into the West Indies by the 

 Spaniards, and has been cultivated for many years in some of the 

 countries bordering on the Mediterranean, where the pods are used 

 as food for live stock. It has been known in Florida for some time, 

 having proved hardy in the southern part of the State, and the pods, 

 are occasionally seen in northern markets. They are flat in shape, 

 somewhat resembling those of the honey locust, and contain a sweet, 

 mealy pulp. As in the case of most tropical fruits, it is necessary to 

 cultivate a taste for the carob before it can be really enjoyed. 



In answer to the query on the last page of the August number of 

 The Plant World, I wish to say that in 1847, while attending school 

 in Dublin, being then a mere child, a friend of our family who was 

 mate of an English merchantman engaged in the West Indian trade, 

 brought me a present of two whipping-tops, the wood of which re- 

 sembled cocoa, but had green streaks, which cocoa never has. On 

 speaking to my sea-faring friend he could not say for certain what 

 wood it was, but thought it to be lignuj/i vitce. I then sought a pro- 

 fessor of botany in Trinity College, who, after consulting a large, 

 illustrated, sylvan volume, decided that it was Greenheart or Cogwood, 

 a tropical product of the genus Laiirus, abundant in the West Indies 

 and South America. And (just think of it!) I found lately the self- 

 same definition in my old edition of Webster's dictionary. — M.J. Egan, 

 Milwaukee, Wis., Aug. jo, i8g8. 



