116 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 



Food of the Quail. — The Government has been inves- 

 tigating the feeding habits of the American quail or bob- 

 white {Coh'nus Virginianus) and now announce that this 

 is one of the most useful of birds. An examination of 

 more than eight hundred stomachs has shown that the 

 bird's bill of fare contains no less than ninetv-eiafht kinds 

 of weed seeds and nearly forty kinds "of berries, to say 

 nothing of nearly two hundred species of insects. 



Rare Colors Among Flowers. — Of all the colors 

 exhibited by North American flowers, the rarest is un- 

 doubtedly red. Shades of pink, such as are shown in the 

 blossoms of wild rose, rhexia, pogonia and azalia, are 

 plentiful. The true reds maybe divided into three sections, 

 the scarlets, represented by cardinal flower, bee-balm, and 

 painted cup, the orange-reds byhawkweed and wild lilies, 

 and the dull reds such as pitcher-plants, red trillium, 

 hound's tongue and pawpaw. If anyone can add others to 

 this list it will be welcome. There are also a few flowers 

 with considerable red in their composition notabl^^ the 

 ground nut (Apios) and the columbine. Who can name 

 others. 



Why Seeds Are Kept Cool and Dry.— One of the 

 first rules of the gardener is to store seeds in a cool, dry 

 place. The question why this is necessary has never been 

 extensively known. A contribution on the subject issued 

 recently from the United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture, explains that seeds breathe just as plants and 

 animals do. In this process, of course, the substance of 

 the seed is slowl3' oxidized and death eventualh- takes 

 place. With seeds, however, the amount of moisture in 

 the air is of great importance. The more moisture there 

 is, the more rapidly respiration is carried on and the 

 sooner the seeds loose their vitality. Seeds must therefore 

 be kept dry. There is practically no danger of drying 

 them out too much. It is found, also, that in high tem- 

 peratures seeds-rapidly loose their vitality, but they maj' 

 be cooled when dry to the temperature of liquid air with- 

 out injury. 



