370 



TEE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[December, 



and ft good mftny in the Utah Tcrritorj'. In 

 Europe, nt the south-western salt region in Rus- 

 sia; and also in Central Asia some of them grow 

 along the seashores, as Salsala Kali, Salicornia 

 hcrhacea, and Halogcton sativiis, and contain a 

 good deal of soda; the latter is grown in Spain 

 in quantities for this purpose. Also a few her- 

 baceous ones, mostly annuals, are pululating 

 near by liabitated places, along ths roads, on 

 rubbish, half rotten humus, and vital remnants; 

 in fact always there, where the ground contains 

 some sal-ammoniac or azotic particles. All 

 parts of the plants are of an offensive smell, and 

 often used in medicines, as Chenopodium oli- 

 dum and Chenop. atriplex. 



There are also among the representatives of 

 this family some positively useful to the human 

 race, and they are cultivated with much caro, 

 skill, and on a large scale. As for instance : Out 

 of the Cycloloma, the Beta vulgaris, commonly 

 known as sugar beet, of which principally 

 the white and yellow varieties are extensively 

 cultivated in Southern Russia for extraction of 

 the finest quality of sugar. (The process of pro- 

 duction of the beet-sugar was discovered in 1747 

 by the German chemist Markgraff, but the ex- 

 tensive production of it commenced only since 

 1872.) 



Spinacia olcracea, our common Spinage, 

 was at first introduced by the Arabs in Spain ; 

 and now it is ncarl}' in everj' vegetable garden. 

 In France the Spinage is replaced by Atriplex 

 hortensis, and in England by the Chenopodi- 

 um bonus Henricus, both of them serving well 

 the purpose. In Peru tlie Chenopodium qui- 

 noa is cultivated as a grain, and often, even to 

 the height of 13,000^, are immense fields sown of 

 it. The seed is very oily, contains a considerable 

 quantity of starch, and is relishoblc and nourish- 

 ing. The green parts of the plant are also used 

 as a vegetable. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Our "Finger Grass" in Europe.— This— 

 Panicum digitaria — and which is well known to 

 American lawns and gardens from its amazing 

 and coarse growth in the Fall of the year, was 

 noticed in France about 1826, and has since 

 spread through the country like wildfire. Serves 

 them right. They should spread information 

 among cultivators as to what are likely to be 

 noxious, 60 that people could recognize and de- 



stroy them on their first appearance. They 

 have done this with the Colorado potato 

 beetle, simply because their entomologists bring 

 their studies home practically to the people. 

 Colorado potato bugs are not near the evil that 

 noxious weeds are. 



Aiding Pollkn in FERTn^izATiON.— In regard to 

 a matter which some months ago excited some 

 attention from correspondents, we give the fol- 

 lowing from the Gardener's Clironide: 



"To those who devote attention to hybridiza- 

 tion we suggest the possibility, that if mucus 

 from the stigma of the intended pollen parent is 

 applied to the stigmas of the plant desired to be 

 fertilized, many difficult crosses might be effected. 

 This, of course, depends on the supposition that 

 if the pollen tubes are emitted they may pene- 

 trate the stylo, and that the foreign mucus is not 

 always congenial for the commencement of 

 growth. Some hybridists may liave experi- 

 mented on this point, and, if so, it would be in- 

 teresting to know with what result. This idea 

 has frequently presented itself to our mind, and 

 we are induced to express it from having re- 

 cently road an observation by Mr. James O'Brien 

 in the Garden of August 19th, that to get pollen 

 tubes for the microscope it is only necessary to 

 place a sufficient quantity of mucus on the slide 

 and applj' the pollen. He saj-s that one or two 

 drops of nectar are taken from Lilium speciosum 

 or L. auratum, and not more than a dozen grains 

 of pollen applied, that in half an hour the tubes 

 will begin to appear and grow for from one to 

 two hours, when they will resemble long snake*?. 

 The nectar Avill soon harden, and being perfectly 

 transparent, a permanent object is secured by 

 laying on a thin glass and pressing out air bub- 

 bles before hardening takes place." 



About Spruces and Firs.— A California botanist, 

 who accompanied Professors Hooker and Gray 

 through parts of their excursions in California, 

 and the ring of whose pen has a strong Lemmo- 

 nian sound, in writing of some of their views and 

 experiences of things, gives great credit to 

 Dr. Engelmann for insisting that the spruces and 

 firs shall be kept as botanically distinct as they 

 are practically, and should have their right 

 names. Those which have cones erect, and 

 which crumble in the hand when mature, like 

 our common Balsam Fir, are the Abien — those 

 which have pendant, permanent cones are Picea. 

 Of late years the English botanists have called 

 them all Abies, and when they did divide them, 

 called the Firs Picea, and the Spruces Abies. 

 Americans have hesitated to insist on the correct 

 names, believing it would be proper for Euro- 

 peans who made the error to correct it. But as 

 no effort of this kind is made, we propose to fol- 



