THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 



233 



and parts of Illinois and Micliigan. For two years after the 

 tree has been killed by the fungus the timber remains valuable, 

 but deterioration sets in after that time. 



INTELLIGENCE IN TREES. 



]f you watch a Irei' closely and ^tudy its liabils your arc sur- 

 prised at its shrewdness in searchini; out its sustenance, it is 

 almost as cunning as a rat in finding out good food and plenty 

 of drink. 1 have ceen a cottonwood green and fresh in the 

 dryest part of a ilry summer have leaves of deepest green, putting 

 out at the same time a vigorous growth, whih- a little beyond 

 and all around were trees and shrubs badly wiltc'd and suffering 

 with the terrible heat. 



What made tin- tree so fresh and vignrous'; Tun liundred feet 

 away was a cistern, the tree found it out. sent its roots plowing 

 through the hanl earth to that cistern. It was a large one — 

 had ui'ver failed before and the people wondered what became of 

 the water. On examination it was found that the roots had gone 

 down outside the brick and pushed their way through the 

 cenn'Ut and had carried the water 2110 feet up to that tree. 

 And the tree seemed to be crowing like a triumphant rooster over 

 its victory. 



Here is another ilhwtratinn. 1 liad a row nf apple trees which 

 of course are throwing mit their roots for sustenance in every 

 direction. Sonu' distance from the row I had occasion to dig a 

 trench and fill it with manure well mixed with earth for a row of 

 pie]ilant. A year or two after I had occasion to dig out the trees 

 ami to my anuizement I found those roots once headed in another 

 direction had turned, some going luider the trees and some beside 

 them, the whole root system intent on getting to that trench. 

 That was wonderful and shows a degree of intelligence worthy 

 of the animal kingdom. What instinct guides that great army of 

 foragers in their i]uest for food? Who told them of that trench 

 that they made such haste to reach it? Tliinking of these tilings 

 you can almost claim relationship and clas|)ing an out-reaching 

 limb give it a good hearty shake, and say "How do you di> my 

 brother?" — Exihaiuje. 



STEREOCHEMISTRY. 



We are often at a loss to explain the behavior of certain [ilants. 

 but if the theories of those scientists interested in stereochemistry 

 are correct sonn> at least may be explained by the molecuhir struc- 

 ture of their parts. Only three or four chemieal elements are 

 found in the majority of plant substances. For instance, such 

 widely dill'ering substances as starch and sugar, vinegar ami 

 alcohol, wood and oil. mucilage and wax. are composed of 

 carT)on. hydrogen and oxygen in vanMng amounts. Still nuire 

 remarkable, it is known tlnit the sugars, though made of exactly 

 the same amounts of these elements, are very ditTerent in their 

 effects and in their reactions with other snljstances. These 

 dift'erenccs are now believed to be due. not to ditl'erent amounts of 

 the elements composing them. Init to the ditl'erent way in which 

 these elenu'uts may be arranged in the molecide. Miescher has 

 estimated that the serum globule molecnle may exist in a 

 thousand million forms. Clf the twelve known forms of glucose, 

 only dextro forms (that is, those which rotate a beam of polarized 

 light to the right), are fermentable or capable of being used by 

 certain low organisms for food. In other substances the dextro 

 forms may be untouched and other forms used. It thus appears 

 that the structure of the mcdecule is of imuu'use importance in 

 the reaction of the organism or its parts and this may explain 

 why one substance is poisonous when another exactly li!<e it in 

 composition is not. or why a substance nuiy poison one organism 

 and not another closely allied to it. By this theory may be ex- 

 plained the reason why the pollen grains of one plant will not 

 germinate on the stigma of a related flower and why other plants 

 more distantly related can be cros.sed with it. It depends largely 

 upon the structure of the molecules of their protoplasm. Stereo- 

 chemistry o|iens an inviting field for speculation and its further 

 advances 'ivill doubtless be fertile in results. — The A nirriian 

 Botanist. 



ENGLISH WALNUTS IN PENNSYLVANIA. 



The Knglish walnut is attracting wide interest in rennsylvania 

 as a commercial orchard tree. Scarcely a week goes by at the 

 Pennsylvania State College without receiving inquiries concern- 

 ing this nut. These in(|niries are usually in-omiited by the fact 

 that already within the State are bearing trees which have 

 proved both their hardiness and their ability to bear abundant 

 crops of nuts eijual or superior to the nuts found in our Eastern 

 markets, which are imi)orted from the Old World, California or 

 Oregon, the principal sources of our connnercia! supply. 



Because of the interest manifested, the Department of Horti- 

 cidture of the college has planned a thorough investigation of 

 the subject. This will becin with n survey of the State to 

 determine the location of all trees. In order to make this sur- 



vey as complete as possible, the Oepartuuuit urgently requests 

 the assistance of every one who can give facts concerning such 

 trees, especially as to location, character of nuts, age of trees, 

 hardiness, etc. Owners of nut trees are urgently requested to 

 correspond with the cidlege. It is hoped that tliis information 

 will be sent in to the Department without delay, so that the 

 trees may be visited by tlie investigators and fuller notes arid 

 observati(nis made. 



Whoever is growing ,~uch trees is invited to write to F. X. 

 Fagaii ai .State College. I'ennsylvania. giving information both 

 as to the trees ami to the |noperty upon which they are located. 



GROWING WATERCRESS. 

 Anyone who has a constant supply, however small, of running 

 water nuiy grow watercress, A space larger or smaller, according 

 to area at command, should be excavated so that under ordinary 

 conditions tlie bottom nuiy be covered with from 2 to li in. of wa- 

 ter; but it is advisable to permit of cleaning the beds from time to 

 time, to have some means of temporarily diverting or cutting otT 

 the water snpidy. The soil should consist of a ver.v sand.v loam 

 or of tine i;ravel. Propagation is usually ac<'oniplished by division 

 of the old roots or liy sowiug of seed. The best times for plantins 

 are in spring and the early fall. Plant the rows in the flow of the 

 stream, not across it. Seed maj' be sown in iians of light soil in 

 a greenhouse or frame, keeping it nn)ist, and pricking the plants 

 out into the beds when large enough to handle. Watercress ma.v 

 also be grown in any constantly-moist and shady spot in the 

 garden, and in winter it nniy be obtained from pans or boxes kept 

 in the greenhouse, giving plenty of water at all times. — Canadian 

 Hurticnltiirist. 



MAKING A WHITE PINE BUSHY. 



Kveryone familiar with evergreens knows the habit of growth 

 of the White Pine, Pinus .Strobus, when in its favorite soil, a 

 deep nn)ist. but Avell drained one. It then makes a long, central 

 shoot, each year's growth crowned with a tier of liranches, with 

 wide s]iaces between each tier. It makes height quickly and for 

 this and its soft, silvery needles it has long maintained a place 

 among the evergreen-' largely planted. 



While many will saj- they want no improvement on its natural 

 habit of growth, there can be no denial of the fact that a pruned, 

 bushy White Pine is one of the loveliest of evergreens. It is then 

 a specimen unlike any other iu collections. It is tiiie that the 

 Himalayan has silvery foliage, but it is a more robust grower, 

 casil.v distinguished from the White Pine. 



There are two ways of making a White Pine bushy. One ma.v 

 leave the central shoot unt<uiched, forming bnshiness by nipping 

 out the leaders of all side branches in early Spring, just as they are 

 about to burst into growth. The other way is to top the leader in 

 Spring as well as the side branches, looking to the formation of a 

 liush-slinpe rather thau that of a tall tree. — Ej-chuni/r. 



USE FOR WATER HYACINTH. 



Consul Lawrence I'. Ilri^ii^. who i> >tatiiiiied at Saigon, Cochin 

 China, tells of some interesting experiments toward the com- 

 mercial employment of water hyacinth. 



"During the last four or five years'" he says, "experiments have 

 been carried on in the southern part of French Indo-China for the 

 ]inrpo.se of turning to some profit the water hyacinth, which in- 

 cumbers the lower Jleknng and other waters of Cochin China and 

 (,'ambodia tn such a degree that it has become a positive menace 

 to navigation. The most extensive and successful of these experi- 

 ments have been conducted in the Central Prison at Pnorapehn, 

 Cambodia, under the supervision of the director, JI. Perrot. Here 

 the fibre produced by this plant has been used iu the manufacture 

 of rope, twine, matting, padd.v sacks, boxes, and chairs, sofas, 

 cradles and other articles of furniture. It has been mixed with 

 silk to form a somewhat stiff hut durable cloth. 



"As Slum as the plant is gathered it is stripped of its leaves and 

 passed through a fibre crusher initil the fibre is completely separated 

 from the pulp. The fibre is then gradually dried in the shade. 

 When carefully treated it is strong, flexible and elastic. Rope, 

 textiles and furniture made of it, when treated with carbolinenm, 

 become impervious to the ravages of the weather or of the white 

 ants and insects, so damaging to furniture in this locality. Tests 

 show that a twine of this fibre having a diameter of 0.1!)0,S.5 of an 

 inch and a length of :!.2.S feel, will support a weight of 10S.ti2 

 pounds, with a con.seiiiient prolongation of ;!.ltM7 inches." 



Jlr. Briggs also tells that hyacinth briquets equal coal as fuel. 

 They can be marketed at about Jjitj, gold, per tun. 



POSITION WANTED. 

 On private farm or estate by carpenter, married, 

 Zy. years in last position, A-1 reference. Address 

 P.'O. Box 654, Suffern, N. Y. 



