July 14, 1897.] 



Garden and Forest. 



273 



were considerably benefited in their growth by the pres- 

 ence of the hardwoods. 



For the information of the Division of Forestry twenty- 

 seven individual Pines from this locality were measured 

 and completely analyzed. The table given below illustrates 

 the progressive development of the dominant young White 

 Pines at Hickory valley : 



Tarle Showing the Rate of Growth of Dominant Young White 

 Pines at Hickory Valley, Pennsylvania. 





« a 



5 H 



6 





 M 

 X 



S 

 -=3 



Periodical 



accretion. 



3 



< 



3 . 



be 

 < 



■v 



r3 

 u 



V 



a 



5 



'v 



X 



£ 



5 



a) 



E 

 3 

 c 

 > 



C 



tar! 



— L 



c - 

 a. u 

 t. 

 3 cs 

 U 





Inches. 



Feet. 



Cu. ft. 





Feel. 



Inches. 



Cu. ft. 



Cu. ft. 



Cu. ft. 



10 



3-4 



9 



03 



1 



9 



3-4 



0-3 



0.03 



O.03 



20 



7-2 



26 



3-3 



2 



17 



3-8 



3-0 



0.16 



030 



3° 



9-5 



-P 



9.2 



3 



16 



2 -3 



5-9 



0.31 



O.59 



40 



12.2 



5 + 



19.7 



4 



12 



2-7 



10.5 



049 



I.05 



The height of the Pines on the sample acre was from fifty- 

 five to sixty-five feet, with a volume of stems varying from 

 sixteen to thirty cubic feet. The yield of the acre for the 

 Pine only, not considering the 144 Pines under four inches 

 in diameter, was 1,824 cubic feet, which means an average 

 annual accretion of forty cubic feet. The current annual 

 accretion during the last ten years was 110 feet. It will 

 certainly increase up to eighty years, but assuming that, 

 contrary to biological laws, the current accretion will re- 

 main the same up to one hundred years, the yield of the 

 acre for that age will be at least 8,oco cubic feet. Making 

 an allowance of fifty per cent, or sixty per cent, of waste 

 when passing through the mill, the 8,000 cubic feet will 

 furnish from forty to fifty thousand feet, board measure. A 

 sum of from $300 to $250 net could then be realized after 

 the lapse of fifty-five years.* A calculation with four per 

 cent, compound interest establishes the present value of 

 the acre at from $23. 00 to $29.00 when kept under forest 

 growth. For agricultural purposes it is not worth anything, 

 because the steep slopes of the hills from 400 to 500 feet 

 above any roadway are absolutely unfit for cultivation. 

 Washington, d. c. A. A*. Mlodziansky. 



Roots in Commerce. — II. 



THE Butterfly-weed, Asclepias tuberosa, of our road- 

 sides and dry pastures, with its well-known deep 

 orange-colored flowers, is represented in trade by its root, 

 which is known as Pleurisy-root. Growing throughout the 

 United States, this plant is particularly abundant in the 

 south, where the fleshy, irregular, often spindle-shaped roots 

 are esteemed as a remedy for flatulence and indigestion 

 as well as for pleurisy and affection of the lungs. This 

 Milkweed differs from other species of Asclepias in not 

 giving out a milky juice when cut or bruised. Another 

 root of the Milkweed family in commerce is Indian Hemp, 

 Apocynum cannabinum, used as an emetic and cathartic. 

 The small shrub Spira-a Ulmaria affords the root which 

 appears in the lists as Queen of the Meadow, and is known 

 also as Meadow-sweet or Meadowwort. This part of the 

 plant is considered less valuable, however, than the leaves 

 and bark. Pellitory, the root of the composite plant, 

 Anacylus Pyrethrum, brought from the Mediterranean 

 regions of Africa and Europe, is especially useful in den- 

 tistry as a powerful irritant and sialogogue. At one time 

 Arrowroot, Maranta arundinacea, was successfully grown 

 in Georgia and Florida, but the supplies for this country 

 now come almost entirely from Bermuda by way of Eng- 

 land, and from St. Vincent, one of the British West India 

 islands. It is also cultivated in other of the West Indies, 

 and in the East Indies and Africa. Arrowroot from the 

 Bermudas has the highest reputation, and its cultivation 

 and manufacture are carried on in primitive fashion by the 



* To be sure, the future generation will be glad to pay S5.00 per thousand feet, 

 board measure, for Pine stumpage, if there is any left fifty-live years hence. 



small farmers in St. David's and other remote islands of the 

 group. This nutritious starch, which is now used almost 

 entirely as a delicate food for sick persons, is said to owe 

 its name to Indians, who used it for neutralizing the venom 

 from poisoned arrows. 



Marshmallow-root, Althea officinalis, is at home in the 

 temperate parts of northern and western Asia and the 

 greater part of Europe, and has been naturalized in the 

 salt marshes along the coast of New England and New 

 York. The roots are collected in spring or autumn when 

 two or three years old, the outer skin being removed in 

 their preparation for market. They are sometimes used 

 to give proper consistence to pills, as a demulcent and a 

 poultice, and are credited with nutritious qualities. The 

 blackish knotted rhizomes of Helleborus niger, with their 

 many long brownish fibres, come from the mountains of 

 southern Europe. The plant has an assured place in gar- 

 dens for the late flowers known as Christmas roses. The 

 ancients ascribed great power to Hellebore and used it for 

 relief from such desperate diseases as epilepsy, some forms 

 of mania, dropsy and scrofula, while its use is now com- 

 paratively restricted. 



One of the most important exports from Mexico is jalap, 

 the tubers of Ipomcea purga, and it also comes from Brazil. 

 It consists of resin and starch almost entirely. 



The rhizomes of Male Fern-root, Aspidium Felix-mas, and 

 our native A. marginale are gathered in summer before 

 they are a year old, since they soon lose their anthelmintic 

 properties. Like many modern remedies this was also a 

 medicine of the ancients and is mentioned by Pliny as a 

 vermifuge. 



Sarsaparilla may be the root of any one of several tropi- 

 cal American species of Smilax, principally Smilax offici- 

 nalis and S. medica, and of Aralia nudicaulis, the wild 

 Sarsaparilla of this country. These bitter mucilaginous 

 roots are used in medicines and in syrups for flavoring. 

 The Sarsaparilla from Honduras is most highly esteemed, 

 and the Spaniards introduced the roots to Europe from 

 Peru. Brazil and San Domingo as early as the middle of 

 the sixteenth century, when they were supposed to be 

 potent in serious blood diseases. 



Perhaps 250 tons of dried Rhubarb-roots, Rheum offici- 

 nale, are used in this country each year, most of the prod- 

 uct coming from Shanghai. Pieces of the rhizomes, which 

 are heavy and close, brittle and of lively color, are the 

 best. As a medicine it combines the opposite qualities of 

 a cathartic and astringent, and is also a tonic and sto- 

 machic, and helps digestion. A root which finds sale as a 

 remedy for colic, but which is not considered officinal by 

 the medical profession, is Masterwort, or Angelica (Angelica 

 atropurpurea). The perennial purplish root is common in 

 Canada, and in the United States as far south as the Caro- 

 linas, in marshy woodlands and meadows. Another once 

 popular remedy, now but little used, is Mugwort, Artemisia 

 vulgaris, formerly a favorite German remedy for epilepsy. 



Pareira brava, the root of Cissampeloo Pareira, a 

 climbing woody vine known as the Velvet Leaf, conns 

 from South America. In Brazil it is used to offset the bites 

 of poisonous serpents. It was introduced into European 

 practice as long ago as 1688. 



Years ago the Creeks and Cherokees in Georgia and the 

 neighboring country collected Pink-root in their uncertain 

 intervals of industry, and the plant was abundant in all the 

 states south of the Potomac. The supply in time became 

 smaller and fell short of the demand, but the western and 

 south-western states now provide all that is needed, and 

 casks and bales of it are forwarded from St. Louis by way of 

 New Orleans. The rhizomes and rootlets of Pink-root. 

 Spigelia Marilandica, are a powerful anthelmintic, and in 

 South America and the West Indies S. anthelmiais likewise 

 used. Overdoses are poisonous. 



Zedoary is the trade name of the rhizomes of different 

 species of Curcuma, especially of C. zedoaria. The outside 

 of the short wrinkled pieces are gray, the inside being 

 brownish red. It comes from the East Indies and is used 



