54- THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 



Journal a new process for turning bagasse into paper has 

 been invented and it may turn out to be more valuable for 

 paper than for fuel. It is known that bagasse will make 

 good fibre board and it is suggested that barrels might 

 be made from it in which to send the molasses to market. 

 It would seem very appropriate that the tissues that held 

 the juice during Ihe plant's life, should also carrvthe syrup 

 to market afterward. ■ 



Bacteria Given Away.— The Government has gone 

 into the business of supplying farmers with bacteria, not, 

 however, disease producing kinds. The farmer usual!}' 

 accumulates a sufficiency of the latter without effort. The 

 bacteria that the Government purposes giving to the 

 farmers are certain nitrogen-producing kinds which, so\vn 

 in sterile soil, will produce to make it rich in nitrogen. It 

 is said that unlimited millions of these bacteria can be 

 carried in a thimble but so rapidly do they multiply that 

 nofarmer needs half a thimbleful to begin operations. All 

 these bacteria, of course, are very minute plants allied to 

 the mushrooms and moulds. 



Storing Pollen. — We ordinarily think of pollen as 

 very short-lived, needing to reach the stigma and germin- 

 ate at once or not at all. H3'bridizers of orchids, how- 

 ever, have found exceptions to this assumption. Accord- 

 ing to the Orchid Review orchid pollen, at least, can be 

 kept for long periods if simply removed from the flower 

 wrapper in tissue paper put in a tin box. In the matter 

 of pollination even our terrestrial American orchids have 

 some peculiar traits. They are practically incapable of 

 self-pollination and as they must often wait some time for 

 the proper insects to appear and pollinate them, the flow- 

 ers usuall}' remain fresh for long periods. Probably the 

 individual flowers of orchids remain open longer than 

 those of any other famil3\ But although orchid flowers 

 apparently abhor self-pollination, they can be pollinated 

 with their own pollen. This is sometimes brought about 

 by cultivators of orchids but the flow^ers show their dis- 

 approval of such proceedings by making few and weak 

 seeds. 



