1002 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXIX. No. 756 



ness men but as a reference work in schools 

 and colleges. Mark Alfred Oarleton 



U. S. Department of Agkicultuee 



BOTAT\UCAL NOTES 



GENERAL NOTES 



One of the most interesting of the popular 

 bulletins issued by the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture is that on " The Basket 

 Willow" (Fanners' Bulletin 34) prepared by 

 W. F. Hubbard, of the Forest Service. It 

 appears that the growing of basket willows 

 was introduced into the United States about 

 sixty years ago by German immigrants who 

 settled in New York and Pennsylvania. It 

 has now extended south and west and is rap- 

 idly spreading over the non-arid regions of 

 the far west. Three species are commonly 

 grown for this purpose, viz., Salix amygdalina, 

 S. purpurea and 8. pruinosa acutifolia, and 

 in the bulletin the peculiarities of each are 

 given. How to plant, how to prune and care 

 for the young trees, how to cut and peel the 

 rods, and finally how to prepare them for the 

 market are described in a most interesting 

 manner. Every botanist who is interested in 

 the economic aspects of his science will find 

 this pamphlet worth reading. 



Botanists of an ecological turn of mind 

 will find in A. W. Sampson's paper on " The 

 Eevegetation of Over-grazed Range Areas " 

 (Circular 158, U. S. Forest Service) an ex- 

 ample of how ecology may have some intensely 

 practical applications. In the Wallowa Na- 

 tional Forest in northeastern Oregon the sheep 

 owners overgrazed the land, and it became 

 necessary to study the problem of the restora- 

 tion of the pastures to their original condition. 

 At first this would seem to be an agricultural 

 problem, but its solution called for " an expert 

 in plant ecology (Mr. Sampson) and in the 

 last analysis the problem becomes an ecological 

 one. The paper is commended to ecologists 

 for careful study. 



Another agricultural bulletin of high botan- 

 ical interest is L. H. Smith's on " The Efieet 

 of Selection upon Certain Physical Characters 

 of the Corn Plant" (Bull. 132, 111. Expt. 

 Station) in which are given the results of 

 experiments in breeding corn (maize) with 



reference to (1) the height of the stalk, and 

 (2) the declination of the ear from the stalk. 

 By starting with a particular variety of corn 

 and breeeding in opposite directions in the 

 fifth generation the average heights of the ears 

 on the stalks are three feet apart. In part 

 this is due to the increased height of the whole 

 plant on one hand, and the decreased height 

 on the other, but it is due still more to the 

 appearance of the ears from higher or lower 

 internodes. Thus the average number of in- 

 ternodes below the high-eared corn was 8J, 

 while the average for the low-eared corn was 

 6J, and this was reduced to a little more than 

 4J in the last generation. Apparently one 

 may breed the ears down to the ground, or up 

 out of reach. 



Here may be mentioned W. T. Macoun's 

 " List of Herbaceous Perennials Tested in the 

 Arboretum and Botanic Garden of the Cen- 

 tral Experimental Farm at Ottawa, Canada," 

 which contains an astonishingly large number 

 of species (over 2,100), when one thinks of 

 how far north they were grown. 



Under the title " The Distribution of Woody 

 Plants in the Pikes Peak Region " Professor 

 E. C. Schneider enumerates 115 species, giving 

 altitudes, distribution and descriptive notes. 

 It is printed in the Colorado College Publica- 

 tion (Vol. XII., Science Series). Fifteeen 

 conifers are enumerated, five poplars, fourteen 

 willows, six oaks, etc. 



Much more ecological in nature is Professor 

 Ramaley's " Studies in Lake and Streamside 

 Vegetation" {Univ. Colo. Studies, Vol. VI.), 

 which deals with the plants of Bedrock Lake 

 near Ward, Colo., at an altitude of over 10,000 

 feet above sea-level. It is, we are told, the 

 first of a series of similar papers. It is beauti- 

 fully illustrated by many half-tone reproduc- 

 tions of photographs. 



That the botanists of Colorado are active 

 is shown by the foregoing, and also by the fol- 

 lowing titles of recent papers in the Univer- 

 sity of Colorado Studies (Vol. VI.) : " Botan- 

 ical Opportunity in Colorado," by Professor 

 Ramaley ; " Studies in Mesa and Foothill 

 Vegetation " (including the " Distribution of 

 Conifers (4 species only) on the Mesas," by 



