THE AME"R1CAN BOTANIST. 95 



Most of these -essential substances are such common ones 

 ••as table salt, iron, epsom salts, g\^psum, phosphate of 

 .lime, etc., and Dr. E, F, Bigelow has hit upon the scheme 

 of combining them in tbeif proper proportions in tablet 

 form. One ma^^then plant his plants in sawdust, chopped 

 straw or even pure water, and hx adding a tablet to the 

 water supply, grow thrift}'' plants. Dr. Bigelow, whose 

 ^address is Stamford, Conn., offers thirty tablets postpaid 

 for ten cents. 



The Study of Seeds.— Relative to the article on seeds 

 by Mrs, Bradshaw and Dr. Bailey, ought not special 

 -emphasis be laid on the fact that an herbarium specimen 

 is not consplete without ripe fruit and seeds. Certainly 

 the greatest interest attaches to a trip afield in the late 

 fall or winter ^vhen one is familiar with the fruiting tops 

 of the summer's flowers, Stud\-ing capsules, seeds, and 

 seed dispersal is to me more interesting than the discovery 

 •of new plants. With a generous supply of little paper 

 bags and a roomy overcoat pocket one can carry, in a 

 very handy wa3% material that will afford study during 

 man}' a long winter evening-. Small druggist's envelopes 

 to paste on the herbarium sheets will contain a pod and 

 sufficient seeds for reference use. The bags of seed pods 

 may be collected during the whole season and packed 

 away in a box for studj^ during the winter. It is my cus- 

 tom to keep a check list in which all species with seeds in 

 my collection are checked and I am constantly on the 

 watch for fruits of plants not checked. To really know a 

 plant one must be able to recognize it in all stages — from 

 seed to seed. — H. C. Skeels,Joliet^ 111. 



Grape-fruit. — Referring to the controversy touched 

 •upon in the last paragraph of the Pebruaiy American 

 Botanist, we must say that it appears to be a case of 

 * 'neither but both" being right. Our editor was right in 

 maintaining that the fruit is not borne in "grapose" 

 clusters; v^^hile the southern subscriber is correct in as- 

 severating that it does grow in clusters. Oranges, as well 

 as grape-fruit, frequently are produced in clusters near the 



