1880. 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



183 



SCRAPS AND QUERIES. 



Range of Indian Corn.— S. P., Del. Co., 

 Pa., writes : " There was a long article in the 

 Practical Farmer^ some years ago, on Zea 

 Mays, our common Indian corn. In which the 

 writer says that it could only be grown in North 

 America, between Canada and the Gulf of 

 Mexico, and East of the Rocky Mountains, 

 which is denied by almost every one who visits 

 my house. He said it could not be grown in any 

 other part of the world. Please answer through 

 the Gardener's Monthly. 



[The misunderstanding arises, probably, from 

 the form of expression, " only be grown in 

 North America." The writer's meaning, no 

 •doubt, was that in North America it can be only 

 grown within the limits named. As a matter of 

 fact, it is grown in many other parts of the 

 world.— Ed. G. M.] 



Hybrid Heliotrope. — T. F., Raleigh, North 

 Carolina, sends a specimen of what people there 

 insist is a "hybrid between a heliotrope and 

 a verbena." But it is Tournefortia heliotropoides. 



After all, when leading botanists profess to find 

 "hybrid" forms in nature, on no other ground 

 than that they seem intermediate between two 

 other forms, other people may well be pardoned 

 for supposing this curious plant to be a hybrid. 



Drying Flowers. — Miss H. says: ""Will 

 you insert a query in the next issue of the 

 Monthly as to whether there is any prepara- 

 tion known to preserve the color of dried plants ; 

 what it is, and from whence obtained?" 



[Very fine sand has been used for drying 

 fleshy flowers, like cactuses. The flower is stood 

 up in a little of the sand at the bottom, and 

 then more filled in inside the flower and outside 

 till the vessel is full. If the sand is a little 

 warm so much the better, but if too warm the 

 flower is likely to be crisp, and it will break to 

 pieces easy. In drying pressed flowers, the art 

 is to dry them as rapidly as possible. Rich, 

 showy flowers, like cactuses and orchids, before 

 they are pressed, should be dipped for an instant 

 in boiling water, when they preserve their showy 

 colors remarkably. If any of our correspond- 

 ents can add to these notes, we shall be thank- 

 1 fui.— Ed. G. M.] 



Literature, Travels \ Personal Notes, 



CO MM UNI C A TION 



NOTES AND QUERIES-No. 13. 



BY JACQUES. 



Locusts die off in August, but before this 

 •occurs, the females bore holes in the ground on 

 the slopes of the hills sufficiently large to 

 insert their bodies ; then the males, it is ascer- 

 tained, cut off their wings and heads, and thus 

 the eggs in the bodies of the females are pre- 

 served against the inclemencies of the winter 

 season. Advantage has been taken in Algeria, 

 of the fact that the eggs hatch on the slopes of 

 these hills. When they descend into the plains, 

 trenches are dug at the base, and when the 

 locusts arewitliin a few yards of t lie pits, they are 



enclosedbetween two long strips of canvas placed 



perpendicularly in parallel lines leading to the 

 mouths of the pits. A piece of oil cloth is then 

 spread on the ground, extending over these 

 trenches in a slanting position, over which the 

 locusts continue to advance, and are precipi- 

 tated into these traps in innumerable quantities, 

 and immediately destroyed. Pretty well for 

 Turks. 



Silk was successfully raised in the original 

 United States before the Revolution, and 

 enough made by ladies to be sent abroad to 

 make dresses for themselves ; and so it will be 

 again, but on a larger scale. There exists 

 sources of income to individuals of various kinds, 

 not yet tried or exhausted. Fifty years ago a 

 lady bought all her bonnets by the sale of limes, 



