48 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



our gardens and plantings so that these roots will be able to 

 grow out into the soil between the rows and thus secure the 

 plant food where it is most accessible. Most gardening 

 works suggest that plants do best when planted in north an!d 

 south rows but this is reputed to be because the roots of the 

 plants are in this way shaded from the sun and not so easily 

 dried up. Can it be that the Jap has really hit upon the real 

 reason, or is this only another of those superstitions to which 

 those who delve in the soil are so often addicte'd. At any 

 rate, any of us with a garden should be able to either prove 

 or disprove the proposition this summer. 



The Soap Nut. — In a recent number of the Scientific 

 American E. Moulie, Jacksonville, Florida, has an account 

 of a wonderful soap-bearing tree said to have originated from 

 seeds brought from China by missionaries twenty-seven years 

 ago. Mr. Moulie believes that the soap-nut in'dustry may be 

 made to pay in Florida and the warmer parts of the South 

 and offers seeds free to those who wish to experiment in the 

 matter. The botanical relationships of the soap-nut are not 

 indicated but in this connection it may be noted that soap- 

 trees are not unknown, even in this country. In fact, we 

 have two native species one of which Sapindus acuminata, 

 grows as far north as Arkansas. Many other soap trees be- 

 long to the genus Sapindus. Sapindus utilis has long been 

 cultivateld in Northern Africa for its soapy qualities, and the 

 Chinese have another species, S. mucorossi valued in the same 

 way. It is possible this latter species that has found favor in 

 Florida. Still another species ^. saponaria grows wild in the 

 American tropics. 



Birds as Botanists. — If anyone whose winter rambles 

 lead him along wet wood borders will take note of clumps 

 of Panicmn clandestium. he will finid the upper sheaths split 

 to shreds while still uninjured at the junction with the dry 

 yellow blade above. A few winters ago the cause of this 



