8 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 410. 



We have no more showy winter-flowering vine than this. Last 

 February I saw one vine which covered a large portion of the 

 roof of a carriage-house with a mass of its brilliant orange 

 flowers. During November Dahlia imperialis gave us much 

 pleasure. A plant eight feet high, with a panicle of large, 

 drooping white bell-shaped flowers at the top, appears more 

 like a Tree Lily than a Dahlia. It flowers too late for open-air 

 cultivation in the east, but it might be grown in tubs and re- 

 moved to the greenhouse before frost. It would make a fine 

 companion to Chrysanthemums at the fall exhibitions. Poin- 

 settias are now in their glory, with dozens of fine heads upon 

 a single plant, producing a blaze of scarlet color. Lucula 

 gratissima is just passing out of flower with me. Its large, 

 hydrangea-like trusses of pink flowers, with a rich fragrance 

 somewhat resembling Apple-blossoms, make it a most desir- 

 able plant. 



Among the wild flowers here there is no absolute pause in 

 the season of bloom. Though there has not been rain enough 

 to permeate the soil since last March and the hills are brown, 

 yet in a walk of half a mile I have just gathered seven species 

 of wild flowers. 



A new society has just been organized in Los Angeles, its 

 principal object being the establishment of a botanical garden. 

 It has, therefore, chosen the name of " Botanical Society." 

 The use of several acres of land within the limits of our largest 

 public park has been granted to the society for this purpose. 

 Flower shows will also be held under its auspices. 

 Los An K ele S , Calif. Edmund D. Sturtevant. 



Poisoning Plants. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — Plant physiologists tell us that the roots of plants have 

 little or no power of selecting their food and can be poisoned 

 like animals. Lindley further states that substances which are 

 poisonous to animals will prove poisonous to plants. In order 

 to put these questions to a practical test certain experiments 

 have been conducted by Mr. R. A. Emerson, a student in the 

 horticultural department of this university. Solutions were 

 made in ordinary city water with alcohol in the proportions of 

 I to 20, 1 to 100, 1 lo 1,000, 1 to 10,000 ; corrosive sublimate, I to 100, 

 i to 1,000, 1 to 10.000; pure sulphuric acid in the same propor- 

 tions ; aconite, powdered extract of root, 1 to 1,000 and 1 to 

 10,000; white powdered arsenic, 1 to 1,000 and 1 to 10,000, and 

 strychnine and crystalline sulphate, 1 to 1,000 and 1 to 10,000. 



Twenty water cultures were made, each containing one Bean 

 and one Corn plant, which were started in soil three weeks 

 before, and when transferred to the water solutions were 

 four to five inches high and well rooted. For these cultures 

 six-inch pots, holding about three pints each, were used, being 

 painted outside and the hole in the bottom stopped with plas- 

 ter of Paris. In addition to cultures in each of the sixteen solu- 

 tions already mentioned, four were made in ordinary city 

 water to serve as a check upon the others. Similar plants were 

 also potted in soil and watered with each of the solutions used 

 for water cultures. All were watered at once and whenever 

 the majority seemed to need it, one of these solutions being 

 used instead of clear water, except in the case of check plants. 



The behavior of the plants under these different conditions 

 was as follows : 



In the 1 to 20 solution of alcohol : Both the Bean and Corn 

 plant in the water culture wilted slightly within two days, but 

 had nearly revived two days later. At the end of ten days the 

 Corn was nearly dead, and wholly so at the end of two weeks. 

 The Bean was alive after three weeks, but dead in four weeks. 

 In the soil cultures watered with this solution the plants showed 

 no etfect at first, but the Bean failed to produce flowers, like 

 most of the others. The Corn plant died within three weeks, 

 but at the end of four weeks the Bean was still alive and 

 slightly improved in appearance. In the weaker solutions no 

 effect was noticeable under either method of culture. Being 

 in open vessels the alcohol doubtless evaporated somewhat 

 from these solutions, which were renewed about once a 

 week. 



In the one per cent, solution of corrosive sublimate in water 

 cultures both plants were dead within two days, the Bean being 

 bleached to the very tips of the leaves. In soil both were 

 badly wilted at the end of two days and were dead in less than 

 a week, the Bean dying first. In the solution one-tenth as 

 strong, in water cultures, both plants were wilted within two 

 days and dead within a week. In soil the plants were not visi- 

 bly affected even at the end of four weeks. In the weakest 

 solution, in water cultures, the plants wilted in a few days, but 

 were both alive at the end of four weeks, though very light- 



colored and not much larger than when placed in the cultures. 

 No visible effect was produced on the plants in the soil. 



In the one per cent, solution of sulphuric acid, in water cul- 

 tures, both the Bean and Corn were wilted in two days and 

 dead in four days, the Bean-stalk being bleached. In soil the 

 Corn was not as large as in untreated soil, but showed no indi- 

 cation of dying at any time during the experiment. In the 

 next solution at the end of two days the Bean in water culture 

 was badly wilted and dead in four days. The Corn was slightly 

 wilted in two days and dead in ten days. No visible effect was 

 produced on the soil cultures. In the weakest solution no visi- 

 ble effect on soil cultures, and (he water cultures only slightly 

 less vigorous than those in pure city water. 



In the solution of arsenic (one-tenth of one per cent), the 

 plants in water were wilted in one day and both were dead at 

 the end of two days, but no apparent effect was produced upon 

 those in soil. In the weakest solution the plants in water were 

 badly wilted after two days, but lived for some time. At the 

 end of four weeks the Bean was dead and the Corn light-col- 

 ored and not growing. In soil the Corn was smaller at the 

 close than that under ordinary conditions, but its color was 

 good. 



In the aconite solution (1 to 1,000) both plants in water were 

 wilted in one day, and continued so during the second day, 

 but at the end of four days had revived. Plants in soil were 

 not affected. All the plants continued their growth during the 

 four weeks that the experiment lasted, the Beans blossoming 

 and forming pods the same as those treated with city water. 

 In the weak solution of aconite results were precisely the same. 



In the strychnine solution (1 to 1,000) both plants in water 

 wilted in a day. The Bean was badly wilted the second day, 

 and died within three weeks. The Corn soon revived, and at 

 the end of four weeks was nearly as vigorous as that in city 

 water. In soil cultures the plants were not affected. Plants 

 treated with the weak solution behaved exactly the same as 

 those treated with aconite. 



Plants in the aconite and strychnine solutions wilted even 

 sooner than those in corrosive sublimate and arsenic, but, 

 with one exception, revived in four days, while the latter were 

 dead in two days. Additional plants taken from city water 

 and placed in aconite and strychnine e-ltures after the first 

 plants had revived did not wilt. 



The experiments seem to suggest the following conclusions : 



1. Irritant poisons, such as arsenic, corrosive sublimate and 

 sulphuric acid, kill plants in water cultures in a very short 

 time, except in .01 per cent, solutions, and in such solutions 

 plants were less vigorous than in city water. 



2. The neurotic poisons, alcohol, aconite and strychnine, 

 killed no plants, with the exception of the very strong solution 

 of alcohol, and one plant treated with strychnine. 



3. All (he poisons used, except alcohol, affected Beans more 

 quickly and more severely than Corn. Alcohol, on the con- 

 trary, affected Corn more than Beans. 



4. The poisons produced much greater effects in water than 

 in soil cultures. 



The strongest solutions of aconite and strychnine contained 

 only one-tenth of one per cent.; hence it is possible that a 

 stronger solution might have a different effect, yet the same 

 strength of arsenic and corrosive sublimate killed plants very 

 quickly. These results are more striking when it is remem- 

 bered that from twenty to forty times as much arsenic or cor- 

 rosive sublimate is required to prove fatal to animals as of 

 strychnine sulphate. The irritant or corrosive poisons, how- 

 ever, attack and decompose tissue ; hence may be expected to 

 injure plants as well as animals. The neurotic poisons, on 

 the other hand, effect only the nerves of animals, and are, 

 therefore, less likely to injure plants. 



Agricultural College, Lincoln, Neb. F. IV. Card, 



Meetings of Societies. 

 Meeting of the Iowa State Horticultural Society. 



THE thirtieth annual meeting of the Iowa State Horticul- 

 tural Society, which met in Des Moines on December ioth, 

 was largely devoted to fruit-growing. The subject of Plums 

 received much attention. The opinion prevailed that the 

 most profitable varieties for Iowa are those belonging to the 

 Americana and Chickasaw types. Mr. Silas Wilson, of Atlantic, 

 said : " It may be interesting to many of our people to know 

 that many of the Americana and Chickasaw varieties of plums 

 have sold in the markets of Denver and Salt Lake City in com- 

 petition with domestica varieties, bringing fifty to sixty cents a 

 peck, while those of European origin were begging at twenty- 

 five to thirty cents a peck. There can be no question about 



