632 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XV. No. 381. 



BOTANICAL NOTES. 



FIG GROWING IN THE UNITED STATES. 



It is doubtful wlietlier the extent to which 

 the fig is cultivated in this country is com- 

 monly known to botanists and others inter- 

 ested in plants. For this reason a recent 

 bulletin of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture, prepared by Dr. Gustav Eisen, is 

 of more than ordinary interest. In it the au- 

 thor brings together the results of his many 

 years of personal observation and study, 

 added to those of growers and experimenters 

 in California. A short chapter is given to 

 the history and botany of the fig, and although 

 the chapter is short many botanists will find it 

 to be one of the best available summaries. Then 

 follow chapters on fig culture in foreign coun- 

 tries, fig culture in California, the caprification 

 of the fig, propagation, diseases, drying and 

 curing, etc. The first fig trees in California 

 were brought by the Franciscan missionaries 

 a century or so ago, and from these came the 

 'Mission figs,' a coarse but hardy and fruit- 

 ful variety. Other importations of trees were 

 made from time to time during the latter half 

 of the past century, when the United Stnt(?s 

 Department of Agriculture took the matter 

 in hand (1894) and imported sixty-six var- 

 ieties from Italy, Spain and France. About 

 the same time importations were made also 

 of the Blastophagse {i. e., minute insects 

 which aid in the pollination of the flowers), 

 without which figs can not be grown on a 

 large scale. Still later fig trees were imported 

 from Asia Minor, and now we are able to gro'sv 

 'Smyrna figs' successfully where the Blasto- 

 phagse are present. Details of the pollination 

 (known as 'caprification' by fig growers) are 

 given in the fourth chapter, and here the 

 botanists will learn many things as to the 

 structure and physiology of the fig which are 

 not to be found in ordinary botanical works. 

 Chapter XV. consists of a list, in part de- 

 scriptive, of the varieties of figs, including 

 over four hundred different kinds. Near the 

 close of the volume the statement is made 

 that 'California alone produces now at least 

 one half of the quantity of dried figs con- 

 sumed in the United States.' 



SUMMER BOTANY AT WOOD'S HOLL. 



The announcement is made that the fif- 

 teenth session of the Wood's Holl Marine 

 Biological Laboratory is to extend from July 

 2 to August 13. The work in botany is to be 

 again under the general direction of Dr. 

 Bradley M. Davis, of the University of Chi- 

 cago, which is a guarantee that it will be of 

 the high order of excellence maintained in 

 previous years. Courses are offered on the 

 marine algae, the fungi, ecology, plant phys- 

 iology and cytology. The usual opportuni- 

 ties for investigation are offered for the bene- 

 fit of those who are prepared for work of this 

 kind. At the close of the session Dr. Cowles 

 will conduct a four-week expedition to Mt. 

 Katahdin and the Maine coast. The supply 

 department of the Laboratory should be more 

 widely known, as it undertakes to furnish type 

 material suitable for class work in high 

 schools and colleges. The importance of this 

 department is probably as great to the country 

 at lai'ge as that referred to above, since this 

 may reach a far greater number of students 

 in distant schools. Any agency which makes 

 possible better work in the high schools of the 

 country affects powerfully the work in the 

 higher institutions, and is to be encouraged. 



A JOURNAL FOR STUDENTS OF MOSSES. 



Four years ago a little journal was started 

 under the name of The Bryologist and con- 

 tinued to appear quarterly until the end of 

 1901. The publishers then made the an- 

 nouncement that with the January number it 

 was to be issued every two months. This is 

 a sign that the support has been such as to 

 warrant the added outlay, and is a gratifying- 

 indication of increased interest in the plants 

 to which the journal is devoted. Looking 

 over the numbers of the past years one can 

 not help considering such a journal a valuable 

 aid to the beginner, and to the older student 

 of mosses as well. Although we have not 

 many professional bryologues (to use the 

 handy French word), there should be 

 many amateurs interested in these very inter- 

 esting plants, and for such particularly this 

 little journal must be quite indispensable. 

 On the other hand so many new species of 



