144 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



this connection, that there is a steady market for a very large 

 number of roots, barks, leaves, flowers, and seeds native to this 

 country, and in a few cases the price runs up to several dollars 

 a pound. In general, however, the price is so low that only 

 children can afford to engage in the collection as a business, 

 though some may prove profitable as side lines for farmers and 

 others. When the same plants can be obtained from foreign 

 sources, the price is practically always lower than anyone would 

 collect them for in this country. 



Price of Sumach Leaves. — Three species of sumach, 

 Rhus copallina, R. glabra and R. hirta, have leaves with enough 

 tannin in them to make them valuable as tanning materials. 

 The leaves and young stems are gathered and dried and sent to 

 market in bags or in wagon-loads like hay. An active man is 

 reported to be. able to collect as much as 600 pounds of dried 

 sumach in a day which sells for about one cent a pound dried,' 

 but the amount usually collected in a day is much smaller. The 

 Sicilian sumach sold in this country brings from 2^2 to -i cents a 

 pound and since our species yield fully as much tannin, the price 

 is likely to rise when correct methods of gathering and curing 

 are known. Since sumach grows wild in almost every locality, 

 here is a chance for children and others with spare time to turn 

 it into cash. For the names of dealers, collectors are advised to 

 write their State Agricultural Experiment Stations. 



Death of Raynal Dodge. — We record with regret, the 

 death on October 20th, of Raynal Dodge, well known for his 

 studies of the pteridophytes and author of "The Ferns and Fern 

 Allies of New England." With A. A. Eaton he did much 

 to make the New England species of Isoctcs known to science 

 and his name is commemorated in Isoctcs Dodgci. Mr. Dodge 

 was a veteran of the civil war. He was born in Newburyport, 

 Mass., Sept. 9, 1844, and lived all his life in that city, where he 

 was recognized as an authority in natural history. 



