April 8, 1892. J 



SCIENCE. 



205 



the auditor of Poweshiek County, who has furnished me 

 many .facts and tigures, I learn that trappers speak of a 

 white variety, counted by them particularly wary and hard 

 to catch. 



One caught in Grinnell was marked with hinder parts 

 white and fore parts brown. 



To those who have not seen the po'.'ket gopher, it may be 

 well to state that they are a small rodent of about the same 

 color as, and perhaps a shade larger than, the domestic rat. 



They have no external ears, have small bead-like eyes, a 

 short tail, and powerful fore-legs, armed with strong claws 

 for digging; and, what is very characteristic, they have large 

 extensible cheek pouches or pockets. The presence of the 

 gopher is made known to you by its mounds of earth, about 

 the size of large ant-hills, rather than by its own presence, 

 for it is rarely indeed that they are seen. 



Erwin H. Barbour. 



University of Nebraska. 



WEND-STOEMS AND TREES. 



Two very severe wind-storms have recently swept 

 over Iowa which injured trees of all kinds, but especi- 

 ally some of the conifers. I have no record of the 

 velocity of the wind in the storm of several weeks ago. 

 It was less severe, however, than the one of last Friday. 

 According to the weather office observations as reported 

 in the Jowa State Register of April 2, the maximum speed 

 was sixty-four miles an hour at 2 p.m. in Des Moines, Towa. 

 The gale started at daybreak, " By 11 the wind had reached 

 an average velocity of fifty miles an hour, and it was ap- 

 proaching the danger-point. It kept gradually increasing 

 until 2 P.M., when the wind-gauge at the top of the Federal 

 building swung around to an average velocity of sixty-four, 

 with sudden flaws above the 100-point." The weather ob- 

 server, Mr. Schaffer, states that at the period of its greatest 

 velocity the amount of pressure thrown against houses, glass, 

 etc., was fifty pounds per square foot. The wind on Friday 

 came from the south-west, and later shifted to the west. 

 The severe wind-storm of several weeks ago came from the 

 north. As usual in storms of this kind old and poorer 

 branches fell readily, aud trees suffered severely in conse- 

 quence of the injury because of the many open wounds. I 

 shall give a few illustrations how different trees were 

 affected. On the college grounds, there are cultivated a 

 large number of European as well as native trees. A few 

 old trees were blown down, but these were partly decayed' 

 in the interior. Botli gales seem to have been hard on some 

 of the conifers. In some cases the ground was strewn with 

 green leaves and short branches. In point of greatest in- 

 jury Norway spruce (Picea excelsa) stands first. The 

 branches broken off varied from one to six years' growth, 

 mostly two and three years. It is also noticeable that many 

 of the branches did not break at the beginning of the year's 

 growth but in the middle. In many cases the brandies are 

 stripped of their leaves in the direction of the wind, — south, 

 west, and north sides of the tree. The Scotch pine (Pinus 

 sylvestris) is also affected, but in this case branches' only, 

 as a rule, were severed from the plant. The branches vary 

 from one to six years' growth, occasionally more, but mostly 

 within this limit. The same tendency to snap off in the 

 middle of the year's growth may be observed. Few leaves 

 were blown off. 



Black spruce (Picea nigra) stands next. Some branches 

 and leaves were broken off, though not nearly as many as 

 in the other species. 



"White spruce {Picea alba) was also affected, but it seems 

 able to stand the severity of the wind much belter than the 

 Norway spruce and Scotch pine. It is followed closely by 

 the Hemlock (Ahies Canadensis), — injury mostly confined 

 to the leaves. There is only a single tree on the ground, 

 which grows in a somewhat less exposed place than the white 

 and Norway spruce, so that it may not be a fair test. 



Red, or Norway pine {Pinus resinosa), some branches 

 blown off and but few leaves. "White pine {Pinus strobus), 

 few leaves, a number of branches. 



Balsam Fir {Abies balsamea) has suffered less than any 

 of the above; a few branches were blown off. 



Austrian pine [Pinus Austriaca) and Dwarf Mountain 

 pine (P. pumilio) have Jost few leaves and branches The 

 red cedar {Juniperus Virginiana) should be classed with it. 

 An occasional branch of Larix europcea and L. laricium 

 may be found. 



On the whole, the deciduous trees have fared better than 

 tlie evergreens. Some species of willows iSalix) have lost 

 many branches. The cotton wood {Populus monilifera) 

 and soft maple {Acer saccharinum) have lost some 

 branches. Honey locust {Qleditschia triacunthes , hack- 

 berry {C'eltis occidentalis), hard maple {Acer barbatum),. 

 green ash {Fraxinus viridis), Cratcegus x>unctata have not 

 suffered. L. H. Pammel. 



Iowa Agricultural Collegp, Ames. 



RUSSIAN SUNFLOWER INDUSTRY. 



The sunflower, as a garden plant, has been known all 

 over Russia for many years, but only in certain districts has 

 it been cultivated on a large scale as an industry. The first 

 cultivation of sunflower seed- for commercial purposes began, 

 says the United States Consul General, at St. Petersburg, in 

 1842, in the village of Alexeievka, in the district of Berut- 

 chinsk, government of 'Voronezh, by a farmer who was the 

 first to obtain oil from the seed. This farmer soon found 

 many followers, and the village of Alexeievka soon became 

 the centre of the new industry. The government of Vor- 

 onezh is even now the chief district in JLuropean Russia for 

 the growing of the sunflower. Besides the district of Bei'ut- 

 chinsk, this plant is cultivated on a large scale in the dis- 

 tricts of Novokhopersk, Ostrogoshk, Bobroosk, Valouisk and 

 Korotoiaks. From the government of 'Voronezh the culti- 

 vation of sunflowers spread to the adjacent governments of 

 Tamboo and Saratov, where there are large fields cultivated 

 with this plant, particularly in the latter government. The- 

 people of the province of the Don and the governments of 

 Simbersk and Samara are more or less engaged in this trade, 

 in fact in the entire south east of Russia the sunflower fur- 

 nishes a prominent product of the farm. Two kinds of sun- 

 flower are grown in Russia — one with small seeds, used 

 for the production of oil, and the other with larger seeds, 

 consumed by tlie people in enormous quantities as dainties. 

 In the district where the seed is cultivated on a large scale, 

 the plant has been continually grown on the same soil for 

 many years in succession, thus producing a special disease of 

 the plant. The sunflower seed is used principally for ob- 

 taining sunflower oil, which, owing to its nutritious quali- 

 ties, purity, and agreeable flavor, has superseded all other 

 vegetable oils in many parts of the country. In general, 

 the cultivation of tlie sunflower in Russia is considered to be 

 very profitable At the average yield of 1,350 pounds 10 ihe 

 acre, and at the avei-age price of Jd. a pound, the farmer re- 

 ceives an income of about £4 an acre, and this income can. 



