December 5, 1894.] 



Garden and Forest. 



489 



trees, the action of unfavorable conditions of soil and air 

 upon them, and, incidentally, an account of the anatomy 

 and physiology of the healthy tree. After an excellent 

 introduction on the causes of disease which are classified 

 as due to parasitic Phanerogams and Cryptogams, to 

 , wounds and to unfavorable conditions of the soil and air, 

 the writer passes to an account of plants like Mistletoe and 

 Dodder, which, although not strictly parasites, sometimes 

 do considerable injury to trees. The greater part of the 

 book is devoted to descriptions of the special parasites 

 belonging to the different orders of fungi and their action. 

 This part of the book is of necessity somewhat technical, 

 and to follow all the details implies a previous acquaint- 

 ance with the structure and classification of fungi, but the 

 numerous figures make it possible for the reader who does 

 not possess this knowledge to obtain a large amount of 

 valuable information which would be beyond his reach in 

 more elaborate mycological treatises. Especially impor- 

 tant are the chapters relating to the large fungi, like Tra- 

 metes radiciperda and several species of Polyporus, which 

 cause rotting of timber, as well as those on Agancus mel- 

 leus and the dry-rot fungus, Merulius lacrymans. An 

 American is struck by the large number of species known 

 by careful investigation to cause disease in Germany, 

 while, in our less developed scientific condition, the same 

 fungi are passed by as harmless in this country. It may 

 possibly be the case that, owing to large tracts of forest 

 still being in a condition of nature, certain fungi, which 

 prove to be decidedly injurious in the more artificial con- 

 ditions of forest-culture in Europe, are here really compara- 

 tively innocuous. Polyporus Schweinitzii is said to be 

 injurious, not only to the Scotch Pine, but also to our 

 While Pine, when growing in Germany. P. Schweinitzii, 

 which we consider to be a native American species, which 

 has only comparatively recently been introduced into 

 central Europe, is common under Pines with us, but is very 

 seldom found growing on them, and, as far as is known 

 here, can hardly be said to injure living trees. The lateral 

 form mentioned by Magnus in Berlin is also found in this 

 country, although it is quite rare, and we have never 

 known it to occur on living trunks. Certainly our White 

 Pines, under which the Polyporus grows, do not suffer. 



The chapter on wounds is admirable, and we wish that 

 it may be read by all persons interested in the preservation 

 of trees. It explains most clearly how nature tries to heal 

 wounds and why open wounds are dangerous. The prac- 

 tical man who has mastered the contents of this chapter 

 will recognize many ways of apptying the iniormation 

 there given. The last chapter gives the diseases described 

 in the volume, classified according to the plant and part of 

 the plant attacked, on the plan adopted in Kirchner's 

 Pjlanzenkrankheilen. Whether this plan has been proved 

 practical by actual experience, we do not know. For 

 Americans, at least, the present chapter is inapplicable, 

 since our diseases are by no means identical with those of 

 Europe, although, in general, similar to them. 



Prickly Lettuce, Lactuca Scariola, is a native of the 

 region about the Mediterranean Sea, and has spread as a 

 weed over all the arable parts of Europe and Asia. It was 

 first observed in this country thirty years ago at Cambridge, 

 Massachusetts. Between 1878 and 18S2 it made its appear- 

 ance in nearly all the prominent railroad centres along the 

 Great Lakes and the Mississippi River, and is now an abun- 

 dant weed throughout a large portion of the central west, 

 where it apparently reaches its most vigorous develop- 

 ment. Its march has been so steady as to fill many agri- 

 culturists with alarm, and it has been spoken of in the 

 bulletins of several experiment stations. The latest and 

 most complete account of the weed is given in Bulletin 

 No. 52 of the Purdue Experiment Station. Professor Arthur 

 speaks of the plant as closely resembling the Cos varieties 

 of Lettuce, and, in fact, he considers that there are grounds 

 for believing: that the garden forms of Lettuce are derived 



from this plant. It is an annual, but occasionally a seed 

 germinates in autumn, and the plant will pass the winter 

 in this form, thus becoming a winter annual as distin- 

 guished from true biennials. The height of the plant 

 varies from a few inches in poor soil to more than six feet 

 in rich soil. It consists generally of a central straight 

 shaft, branched above, the lower half of which is clothed 

 with leaves four inches to six inches long by one or two 

 inches wide, and the upper portion of the stalk spreading 

 into rather bare much-divided branches, which bear from 

 July to September inconspicuous yellow flowers. Each 

 head gives rise to a dozen dark brown fruits, consisting of 

 a dry capsule enclosing a solitary seed with a filmy para- 

 chute like that of a Dandelion-seed, which serves to carry 

 it long distances. One interesting character of the plant is 

 that the leaves on the stem all assume a vertical position 

 by turning a quarter of the way round upon the stem near 

 the base, and they all stand on one plane, and this plane 

 lies in the meridian, so that if a plant is looked at from the 

 north or south the leaves present their edges only. It is 

 thus a true compass plant, like the Rosin Weed of our 

 prairies, Silphium laciniatum, with the exception that in 

 the native plant the polarity is seen chiefly in the large, 

 coarse, radical leaves, a foot or two long, while in the 

 imported weed it is manifested in the stem-leaves. 



The plant has many of the qualities which characterize 

 the successful intruder. It has an uncompromising weedy 

 look and wears the expression of a plant that has come to 

 stay. It produces a great abundance of seed, more than 

 eight thousand to a plant of ordinary size, each seed being 

 well protected against the elements and with every facility 

 for distribution, and it will grow and seed in any soil or 

 surroundings. The plant is protected from herbiverous ani- 

 mals and boring insects by its bitter milky juice, and its 

 prickles also have some protective value. Wherever it can 

 maintain life seed will be formed, and if by any accident 

 the stem is cut off, several branches will start from below 

 and bear, perhaps, more seed than the original would have 

 done. But it is annual after all, and when pulled up by the 

 root the whole plant dies. Upon the whole, Professor 

 Arthur does not consider it as dangerous as Professor Mor- 

 row and some other authorities do. It will probably be a 

 rival of the Rag Weed, the Cockle Bur, Jimson Weed, Pig 

 Weed and other tall-growing annuals, and will be at home 

 along roadsides and rubbish wherever the ground is not 

 closely covered with sod and fine foliage. Of course, it 

 will do no good for one farmer to prevent its going to seed, 

 so long as his neighbors will allow a million balloons, each 

 carrying a plant, to set sail from adjacent fields. These 

 annual weeds can be kept from cultivated grounds by til- 

 lage, and from fence- rows, roadsides and waste ground by 

 hoeing up the roots just before they blossom each year, that 

 is, early in July. In this way they can be kept within 

 bounds. A" suitable weed-law in every state would, of 

 course, if it were enforced, greatly help to keep this and 

 similar pests in subjection. 



Notes. 



A Washington correspondent of The Florists' Exchange 

 mentions a showy yellow-flowered Cosmos which has been 

 growing on the grounds of the Agricultural Department during 

 the summer. It seems to lie quite as floriferous as the plant 

 now known so well, but its flowers are orange-yellow, and 

 the divisions of the deeply cut leaves are broader. The seeds 

 were obtained from Mexico last spring. 



Since September 1st 317,763 barrels of apples have reached 

 this market for domestic trade. King apples bring the highest 

 prices, $3.50 a barrel being asked for the best of this sort, and 

 Baldwins, Northern Spies and Greenings range from $2.00 to 

 2.50. More than 1,000,000 barrels of American apples have gone 

 forward to Great Britain since the export season began in Sep- 

 tember. Prices in English markets two weeks ago ranged from 

 $2.25 to $3 25 for Baldwins, $2.50 to $3.00 for Greenings and 

 Northern Spies, and $4.50 to $7.50 for Newtown Pippins. These 

 prices have since been lowered by the large supply, and Bald- 



