No. 7. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 357 



variety of topics, aud in large part, is still available to deserving ap- 

 plicants, ^Similarly, the Farmer's iJuiletiu series of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture Las reached over 200, and com- 

 prises a practical working library of great value for the gardener, 

 fruit grower and farmer. This literature should be more widely 

 known and more frequently taken advantage of. 



The particular cases which were somewhat out of the ordinary 

 routine, and are worthy of individual mention are as follows: 



(1} Planting Black or Yelloio Locunt. This tree is of great utility 

 because of its rapid growth and the durable character of its wood. 

 In earlier days it was in great request, and a locust grove was a 

 desirable adjunct to a Pennsylvania farm. Some of these old 

 groves are still in existence, sprout growth or occasional seeding 

 producing new trees as the old were removed. But in large part 

 they have been cut away and not allowed to reproduce. The gen- 

 eral revival of interest in forestry has led to information on how 

 to grow this tree. 



Locust seed is generally easy to obtain and not expensive. It 

 should always be well scalded before planting, and such seeds as 

 do not swell up and soften, discarded, since they will not germinate, 

 or, if so, very slowly and uncertainly. The 3'oung seedlings require 

 no special care or handling and may be transplanted as easily as 

 fruit trees. Sprout growth to be made most useful and productive 

 should be carefully thinned out and trimmed during the first few 

 years, else the crowding will be so great that no symmetrical trunks 

 will be formed. The greatest drawback to growing locust trees, 

 is in the attacks of the boring beetle, which often so riddles the 

 wood as to make it useless or greatly impair its durability. It has 

 been claimed that large plantations are not so much subject to the 

 beetle injury as are single trees or small groups. 



(2) An interesting ca.se of v^'ood deterniination came into my 

 hands and was satisfactorily concluded. A small piece of wood, 

 said to be part of a counter in an old store, was much disputed by 

 local wood-workers, some calling it black cherry, while others 

 claimed that it was mahogany. These two woods, although very 

 different, so closely resemble one another in texture that the only 

 positive determination is made by microscopic examination. A 

 thin cross section of the specimen, compared with similar sections 

 of known black cherry and mahogany examined under the com- 

 pound microscope, showed clearly that it was mahogany, although 

 the probability of this kind of wood in the particular situation 

 where it was found seemed rather remote. The results were so 

 striking that I made photo-micrographs of them. It is easy to see 

 how a very important legal question of this character might arise. 



(3) Of the large nnrnher of plants received for naming, but few 

 were out of the ordinary. There is considerable new interest in 

 the collecting and also the raising of various plants used in the drug 

 trade. Those who are interested in this should by all means get 

 the bulletins upon this subject; and, if cultivation is to be under- 

 taken, it would be the greatest folly not to very carefully consult 

 these epitomes of experience. The cultivation of ginseng, golden 

 seal, etc., is so radically different from that of ordinary garden 

 plants, that the novice will surely fail unless he prepares himself 



