1878.] 



AND HOR TICUL TURIST. 



89 



that of extolling, for the destruction of the Do- 

 ryphora, an agent of which the handling is most 

 dangerous. Ever}' one knows the grave acci- 

 dents caused by Paris green to those who breatlie 

 the dust ; one is warned with just reason against 

 its employment in industrial arts. Medical men 

 have warmly discountenanced its usage in the 

 ornamentation of carpets and cloth. It is not 

 then without surprise that we find it advised to 

 powder the fields of potatoes witli it broadcast, 

 leaving its management in hundreds of inex- 

 perienced hands. 



'' It is a case in which the remed}- is worse 

 (ban Ihc evil. Mr. Riley assures us as a fact 

 that arsenite of copper decomposes, and is not 

 Boxious once that it is deposited on the earth. 

 But before that ? He says that its judicious 

 employment has no inconveniences. We are 

 not of bis opinion ; and can we reckon on the 

 Judicious prudence of a farmer's bo}', to whom 

 would be left, in most cases, the care of arseni- 

 cating the potato fields?" 



All this reads very funny to us over here, who 

 nppreciate fully the value of Professor Eiley's 

 labors. The logic of the critic is wonderful. It 

 "was not the Doryphora which made potatoes 

 scarce in 1873, but the dread of the Doryphora by 

 the planters ! In Dr. Caudeze's eyes this is a 

 great diflerence. 



Tile tirade against Paris green is as funny as 

 the rest. There is little doubt but the watch set 

 on the Dorypora through Prof. Riley's cautions 

 will save them a year or two's crop at anj' rate, 

 which ought to be worth some milllions of francs, 

 and well worth the expense of the few thousand 

 pamjihlets distributed by European governments. 

 But they will be ver}' foolish if they conclude to 

 accept Candeze's advice and throw over Riley's, 

 and look on." the remedy (Paris green) as woi'se 

 than the disease." Still it will be our gain if 

 they do. If Dr. C. were a "bull" in the potato 

 market he could not send potatoes higher for our 

 interest. Riley's advice is at least for their good 

 and not ours. 



SCRAPS AND QUERIES. 



The CoxsTKt(-Tiox ok a Tkee. — S. says : 

 " Contemplating once a redwood tree in Cali- 

 fornia — three huiidrod feet high and perhaps 

 fort}'-five feet in diameter — the question arose, 

 Out of what was this stupendous mass of wood 

 manufactured? It could not have been mnde 



out of the earth, for there was no hole in the 

 ground out of which it had been sucked up. It 

 would seem that the living force of the organism 

 must have converted gases and water (itself 

 another form of water) into the solid material 

 before us. Of course we recognize a certain per- 

 centage of mineral in the ashes of the wood, but 

 that must be a vei'y inconsiderable per cent, of 

 the tree. May we hear from you on this subject? 

 [Almost the whole of this huge mass is derived 

 from the atmosphere, and is carbon and water. 

 —Ed. G. M.] 



The Ieonwood. — .1. R. P., Frankfort. Ky.. 

 writes : " Which is the Ironwood, the Ostrya 

 Virginica., or the Carpinus Americana'? I have 

 always regarded the latter as the Ironwood — in 

 this State — but I see that on this there is a disa- 

 greement among botanists. In Torrey's Flora 

 of New York he calls the former (the Hop Horn- 

 beam) the Ironwood. 



[In these parts the Ostrj-a is known as Iron- 

 wood. The Carpinus is " Hornbeam " in the 

 books, but among the woodmen it is generally 

 Blue or Water Beech.— Ed. G. M.j 



The Cinnamon Vine. — B. M.,St. Louis, Mo., 

 says: 'I have not hitherto appreciated what 

 you say about the disadvantages of common 

 names ; but I now do, at least to the extent of 

 three dollars ! Years ago the indomitable Billy 

 Prince introduced to us the Dioscorea Batatas, 

 or Chinese Yam, and, with my love of novelties. 

 I invested a dollar therein. It was fair enough 

 for a novelty, but the odor of roses which scented 

 the advertisements soon disappeared, and I let 

 my Chinese Yam go. But— tell it not in Aska- 

 lon ! — I saw a nice little advertisement of a 

 " Cinnamon Yine," and invested three dollars 

 in that same, only to find on receipt that it was 

 my old friend, the Dioscorea, come back again ! 

 I wish I had them three dollars back ; I am op- 

 posed to common names. Now walk stroight 

 in, Mr. Editor, and break it all up. Must I lose 

 them three dollars? What is to be done? I 

 am sick of common names that cost me three 

 dollars!" 



[Old things come out as new under botanical 

 names sometimes, as well as under common 

 ones. Of course it is easier to get into such 

 trouble by common names than b)^ the scientific 

 ones, yet the "common" name is hardlj^ re- 

 sponsible here. It may be by design that the 

 nam(> of '" Chinese Yam " has been changed, so 

 as to make a good " strike ;" or it may have been 



