8^0 



Pnpiihir Scienrr Mt)iifhli/ 



A palace of alfalfa was the attraction at a harvest festival held at Bishop. California. Cows and 

 horses later consumed it, and enjoyed it as much as had the residents of the community 



A^ 



A Palace Which Was Eaten 

 by Horses and Cows 

 T a recent Harvest Festival held at 

 Bishop, Ci\\., the principal attraction 

 was a great palace built of alfalfa. The 

 city of Bishop is located in a hay-growing 

 center, so there was ample material witli 

 which to rear the 

 unique structure. 

 Baled alfalfa — more 

 than one thou- 

 sand tons of it — was 

 used, and a number 

 of men were em- 

 ployed for several 

 weeks on the job. 



The palace was 

 designed to be an 

 exhibit hall. It was 

 ninety feet wide and 

 one hundred and 

 seventy feet long, 

 beautifully propor- 

 tioned, with an imposing 

 entrance and walls tiir- 

 reled all the way aroiim 

 At night it was outlined 

 with lumdreds of electric 

 lights, making a picture 

 more charming than it 

 presented b\'day. It was 

 built around and un- 

 der towering Lomjjardy 

 poplars and other trees 

 and was open to the sk>', 

 but so arranged (hat all 

 exhibits which rcfuiirrd 

 shade were proteilid. 



M' 



Two trees dying of sturvution but 

 covered with a wealth of mistletoe 



Mistletoe : A Christinas Decoration 

 and a Forest Pest 

 ISTLETOE, to which so much senti- 

 ment lias been attached as a Yuletidc 

 (Kcor.ilion, has become such a destructive 

 |)est in this country that the Government 

 scientists recommend its extermination. 



It is a leafy, green 

 shrub commonly 

 Iduiid growing upon 

 various species of 

 broad-leafed trees 

 throughout the 

 count r\", and show- 

 ing a s]ieciall.v strong 

 sentimental attach- 

 ment for the oak. 

 It fastens itself 

 u|>nii the tree — pene- 

 trates its tissues, and 

 (Ir.iws nourishment 

 from it, deforming it 

 aiid sapjjing its \i- 

 lalitN'. Birds feetl upon 

 the mistletoe berries and 

 scatter the seeds from 

 tree to tree. The pod in 

 which the seed is en- 

 closed is stick\- and pulp\- 

 nd rt'adily adiieri'S to 

 any part of the tree upon 

 which it falls, whelhei- 

 branch or trunk. When 

 germinating, a spike-like 

 "sinker root" bores 

 through the bark until it 

 reaclns the sap, of which 

 it robs the tree. 



