THE PLANT WORLD 155 



GENERAL ITEMS. 



The price of cow peas has risen from 85 cents to $2.00 per bushel 

 during the past year. This is not due to a shortage in the crop, but is 

 merely significant of the increased value of the cow pea as a forage 

 plant and edible vegetable as well. 



The herbarium of the late Dr. Charles Mohr, comprising about 

 18,000 mounted sheets, has been shipped to the National Museum, 

 where it will be kept in separate cases. It consists principally of Ala- 

 bama plants, and contains many types of species published by Dr. 

 Mohr and other botanists. 



The annual meeting of the Society of American Florists and Orna- 

 mental Horticulturalists was held at Buffalo from August 5th to 10th. 

 Several hundred members were in attendance. The Society was organ- 

 ized in Cincinnati in 1886. Its object is the advancement of floricul- 

 ture. Two years ago its title was lengthened to " Ornamental Horti- 

 culturalists," so that it has taken in park superintendents, private gar- 

 deners, and others interested in horticulture. 



Australian papers say that the ramie plant, Boehmeria nivea, 

 thrives so well in that part of the world that cultivators are about to 

 try it for fibre for lace making purposes. That it mil grow and pro- 

 duce delightful fibre, from which articles as fine as cambric can be pro- 

 duced, is well known in America, but no machinery for cleaning the 

 fibre cheaply has been invented. — Meeliaiis 3Ionfhly for June. 



Among the best ornamentals grown are the flowers belonging to 

 the family Amarantaceae. Sometimes the individual flowers are not 

 showy, but they are so brilliantly colored that, in the aggregate, they 

 are very attractive. The prince's feather is an illustration. Another 

 kind, known as the bachelor's button or globe amaranth, has its small 

 flowers collected in round heads, and gives varieties of white, orange, 

 and purple colors. In many cases the leaves are colored, and make as 

 much show as would the gaudiest of flowers. But the greatest recom- 

 mendation of the flowers of this family is that they seem to thrive all 

 the better for hot and dry weather. Certainly they are among the best 

 of plants to submit to these extreme conditions. — Mechans 3Ionfhly for 

 August. 



