178 The Plant World. 



In a bulletin entitled "The History and Distribution of 

 Sorghum," (U. S. Dept. Agr., Bu. PI. Ind., Bull. No. 175), 

 Mr. Carleton R. Ball, after having raised experimentally over 

 1200 different varieties, sets forth the origin and antiquity of 

 sorghums, together with their present distribution and culture. 

 The chief types or groups now found in each of the major geo- 

 graphical areas are briefly described, the conditions under 

 which they have developed are pointed out, and their probable 

 adaptations in our own land are indicated . The term ' ' sorghum 

 is here used in its most comprehensive sense, including all the 

 groups popularly known as sorgo or sweet sorghum, kafir, broom 

 com, shallu, kowhang, durra, and milo. 



The bulletin is divided into two parts, agricultural history 

 and distribution, and botanical history and nomenclature. In 

 regard to the former he concludes that "many facts point to an 

 independent origin in tropical Africa and in India, which are the 

 two great centers of sorghum production, each occupied by 

 an enormous number of varieties." 



NOTES AND COMMENT. 



It is the wish of the management of the Plant World to 

 make this journal more than at present a record of actual pro- 

 gress, particularly as regards the work of American botanists. 

 To this end, teachers, investigators, and other readers are again 

 invited to contribute notes of observations, facts accumulated 

 in the course of research, suggestions drawn from teaching and 

 field work, and short paragraphs of all sorts that may be inter- 

 esting to botanists old or young and in any department of botani- 

 cal work. Long papers by specialists have accumulated in the 

 editorial drawer until it has become a serious problem what to 

 do with them. The art both of selection and condensation needs 

 to be assiduously cultivated by many, even of our best writers. 



The rubber craze still continues in London (or did when this 

 was written) with very little to relieve the sordid aspects of an 

 extraordinary episode. The history of the tulip mania brings up 

 pictures of people who became mad over beauty and color, but 



