THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 21 



come to the Hawaiians, however, for until 1819 any woman 

 who ate bananas, cocoanuts, turtles or pork was put to death. 

 With these things off the native bill-of-fare there does not 

 seem to have been much left in the larder except sea-weeds. 

 Besides serving as food-stuffs, certain species furnish a vege- 

 table gelatine or glue. The well-known agar-agar of the 

 bacteriologist comes from this source. 



Animal-like Mushrooms. — The fact that mushrooms, 

 and all other fungi for that matter, are unable to make food 

 for themselves and must secure food, as do the animals from 

 living or dead organic food is pretty well known to students 

 of plants but another animal-like character is less familiar. 

 This latter is seen in the tendency of the fruiting part of the 

 mushroom to take on a definite shape. Ordinary plants do not 

 have a definite form which they assume when mature, except 

 in a very general way, but the mushroom may be depended 

 upon to take on the regular mushroom form. 



The Value of Bees. — At first thought one would be 

 inclined to say that the chief value of bees to man is found in 

 the honey which they store, but it is quite posible that we have 

 over-looked a still more important feature. Many fruit bear- 

 ing plants are largely pollinated by bees and when from any 

 cause, these insects are scarce at flowering time a short crop is 

 likely to be the result. A continued spell of cold weather which 

 is not cold enough, to kill the blossoms may still cause a failure 

 of the crop by lessening the activity of the insects. Some 

 writers in the agricultural press are urging fruit-growers to go 

 in for bee-keeping. By this means the grower should not only 

 get a better crop of fruit but many pounds of honey as well, 

 the latter no less a product of his trees than the fruit, but a 

 crop that is seldom taken into consideration when valuing an 

 orchard. 



