6? 



to the south* side of Fifty-first Street, and westward to within 

 about 100 feet of Sixth Avenue. At the time it was part of the 

 common lands of the city. Dr. Hosack found that the expense of 

 maintaining the gardens was greater than he could bear, and 

 after various negotiations the state acquired the property in i8io 

 for $74,268.75, and in 1814 it was granted to Columbia College. 

 So far out in the country was the property that although leased 

 by the college in 1823 to a florist for $125 a year and taxes, 

 the tenant could not make it pay, and he surrendered his five 

 years' lease at the end of two years. Then a seedsman took it 

 in 1826 for $500 a year, but he could not make any money, and 

 gave it up the following year. Up to 1904 Columbia University 

 held this former botanical garden plot intact. 



Dr. P. H. Rolfs of the Florida experiment station furnishes 

 the following in regard to the tulip-tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) 

 in Florida: "This tree is not known to grow to any large extent 

 in Florida, and I was surprised, therefore, recently to find that 

 the tree was growing and producing logs of sufficient size to 

 warrant their being cut for lumbering purposes, in the region 

 west of Palatka and northeast of Ocala. I believe this is the 

 southernmost region where this species grows to lumbering size." 



Mr. Aaron Aaronsohn, director of the Jewish Agricultural 

 Experiment Station in Palestine, lectured on the evening of 

 February 15 at the American Museum of Natural History, on 

 "The Story of the Wild Wheat and Its Practical Development." 

 This "wild wheat," which is believed to be the progenitor of the 

 modern cultivated wheats, is said to cover thousands of acres 

 on the slopes of Mt. Hermon. It flourishes in a region where 

 the rainfall is only five or six inches a year, while cultivated wheats 

 require fourteen inches or more of rain annually. Experiments 

 in hybridizing are being made with the idea o f obta ining a variety 

 that shall combine this adaptability to a dry climate with the 

 essential characteristics of the wheats of economic value. Messrs. 

 David C. Fairchild and Walter T. Swingle, of .the Bureau of 

 Plant Industry of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, were 

 present and spoke in appreciation of Mr. Aaronsohn's work and 



