1878.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



277 



are now in the country, millions of acres of tim- 

 ber not worth five dollars an acre, because it is 

 inaccessible to railroad lines, to water naviga- 

 tion, or to where timber is wanted, and it will 

 be 60 for a hundred years to come. There are 

 Oak and Chestnut forest not twenty miles from 

 Philadelphia now, which one could hardly get 

 cut down by a gift of the timber, because it can- 

 not be hauled as cheaply as a railroad or a river 

 will bring it a hundred miles away. The aver- 

 age collection of farmers would not have a 

 breadth of view sufficient to look into a princi- 

 ple like this. The same broad-viewed men that 

 project railroads and similar enterprises are the 

 only ones who could successfully make a forestry 

 company pay. There would be little compound 

 interest to be borne in a properly managed forest- 

 ry company. If the ground is properly chosen, 

 the proper market kept in view, and the proper 

 sui^erintendent selected, the whole running expen- 

 ses could be met from the products in four years. 



The point second has already been answered, 

 No legislation is needed. The recent Pennsyl- 

 vania legislation in the interest (?) of building 

 associations will not promote but obstruct 

 building associations. Germantown, with per- 

 haps 30,000 inhabitants, has had building asso- 

 ciations with an annual deposit line in banks of 

 some $500,000, and never asked for "legislation," 

 nor can any legislation possible " promote " it 

 better than it has been promoted for half a cen- 

 tury without it. 



In short there is no more reason why a forestry 

 association should not be as profitable as a rail- 

 road. The longer a railroad lasts the more peo- 

 ple settle along its line, and the more valuable 

 the land along the line grows. A forestry com- 

 pany Avoukl find the same facts, with this in its 

 favor, that while the road-bed and rolling-stock 

 continually depreciates by time, trees increase 

 in value as they grow. 



Natural History and Science. 



COMMUNICA TIONS. 



A MURDEROUS PLANT-DARLINCTONIA 

 CALIFORNICA. 



BY J. G. LEMMON, TO THE CALIFORNIA ACADEMY 



OF SCIENCES. 



(Continued from pase 245.) 



INFANT FOR3I OF LEAF. 



The plumule first developes a thin, flat, fal- 

 cate, green leaf, about half an inch long. Soon 

 it becomes reddened, tubular and vein)'^, while a 

 relatively large opening appears at about two- 

 thirds of its length, beyond which extends, curv- 

 ing inward, the slender, dorsally flattened crim- 

 son, naked midrib, representing the true leaf, of 

 which the tube below is the petiole. Along the 

 inner face of the petiole, a broad wing extends 

 from the lower edge of the inclined orifice, down 

 straight to the collar of the root, where it 

 divides and clasps the stock. This primary leaf 

 is constructed similarly to those of the related 

 Sarracenia except that in tlie latter genus the 

 true leaf or lamina is short, broad, and is bilobed, 

 or many lobed, and forming a border neai'ly 

 around the mouth of the pitcher-like petiole. 

 During the first season four of these simple Sarra- 

 cenia-like leaves appear of equal size generally. 



apparently in a whorl, but inspection reveals 

 their alternate arrangement. All face inward, 

 or rather upward, as the leaves first push out 

 horizontally, then ascend upward. The uncover- 

 ed opening is favorably presented for the 

 reception of moisture, insects, or any objects 

 obeying the law of gravitation. Also, the mouth 

 parts and interior of the tube are armed with 

 strong hairs, pointing inward, while inspection 

 of the contents reveal minute insects (generally 

 of the Ichneiimonidce and Tinncsn families) en- 

 trapped, drowned in water and being digested 

 by these tiny rogues, thus early playing their 

 little game. 



THE TRUE DARLINGTONIA LEAF. 



During the second year the creeping, rhizo- 

 matic character of the plant is manifested ; also, 

 it increases rapidly in size. The whorl of leaves 

 now produced, from one-half an inch to several 

 inches beyond the first whorl, are long and large, 

 two to three inches long by half an inch wide, 

 the whole striated with longitudinal veins, and 

 colored with yellow and crimson. Often, too, 

 the other kind of leaves make their appearance, 

 forming one or more of the first members of the 

 whorl. So very different are they at the very 

 beginning that it seems impossible that both 



