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poisonous are the cbmpound flowers as the Dandelion and Boneset 

 ( Eupatorium ) ; such as have labiate corollas, with seeds lying naked in 

 the calyx, are seldom or never poisonous, the mint and thyme are 

 examples of such plan's." 



Plants containing mucilaginous matter are, as a rule wholesome, 

 and in British Columbia the Indians eat almost any bulbous root, making 

 regular annual trips to districts where certain liliaceous plants abound 

 Amongst those roots which they collect in this way are the camass 

 ( Cainas.sia esculenta) Lilium Columhianum, Fniillaria, the small 

 bulbs of Calyfiso borealis and, as PiMfessor Macoun tells me, the bulbs 

 of nearly all bulbous-rooted plants, which they designate by the genera 

 name of muck-a-7)iHck. Another article of food to which they are very 

 partial is the inner bark of young trees of Pifitis Murrayana. 



With regard to the poisonous properties of the parsley family referred 

 to above. Dr. Trimen says, " The properties of the UmbellifercB are of 

 three principle and remarkably different kinds. In one section a watery 

 and acrid matter is present; in a second a milky gum-resinous secretion ; 

 and in a third, an aromatic and oily one. When the first of these pre- 

 dominates, they are poisonous ; the second in excess converts them in- 

 to stimulants ; and the third renders them carminative and serviceable 

 as pleasant condiments. If both the acrid and gum-resinous secretions 

 be absent they are often useful articles of food, as happens with the 

 sweet roots of the carrot and the parsnip, and the foliage of the sam- 

 phire, fennel, chervil, parsley and celery." 



Before closing I should like to say a few words concerning the 

 Botanic Garden and Arboretum at the Central Experimental Farm. I 

 have there in niy charge a tract of 65 acres of rolling land admirably 

 suited to the purposes of a Botanic Garden. The higher portion is 

 virtually a plateau with a wide bottom running round three sides of it and 

 with banks sloping down to the bottom land. This variety of aspect 

 is very convenient for the purposes to which it has been assigned. The 

 soil is not particularly good but will improve with treatment. The differ- 

 ent natural orders and families of plants will be represented by groups> 

 many of which have been already located. There are at the present 

 time about 400 species of trees and shrubs planted out, and of most of 

 these there are two specimens — all are labelled and a record has been 



