﻿G. 
  L. 
  Goodale 
  — 
  Possibilities 
  of 
  Economic 
  Botany. 
  297 
  

  

  Another 
  illustration 
  is 
  afforded 
  by 
  a 
  water-plant 
  which 
  we 
  

   have 
  given 
  to 
  the 
  old 
  world. 
  This 
  plant, 
  called 
  in 
  our 
  bot- 
  

   anies 
  Anacharis, 
  or 
  Elodea, 
  is 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  I 
  am 
  aware, 
  not 
  trouble- 
  

   some 
  in 
  our 
  ponds 
  and 
  water-ways, 
  but 
  when 
  it 
  was 
  carried 
  to 
  

   England, 
  perhaps 
  as 
  a 
  plant 
  for 
  the 
  aquarium, 
  it 
  was 
  thrown 
  

   into 
  streams 
  and 
  rivers 
  with 
  a 
  free 
  hand. 
  It 
  spread 
  with 
  re- 
  

   markable 
  rapidity 
  and 
  became 
  such 
  an 
  unmitigated 
  nuisance 
  

   that 
  it 
  was 
  called 
  a 
  curse. 
  Efforts 
  to 
  extirpate 
  it 
  merely 
  

   increased 
  its 
  rate 
  of 
  growth. 
  Its 
  days 
  of 
  mischief 
  are 
  how- 
  

   ever 
  nearly 
  over, 
  or 
  seem 
  to 
  be 
  drawing 
  to 
  a 
  close, 
  at 
  least 
  so 
  

   Mr. 
  Lynch 
  of 
  the 
  Botanic 
  Garden 
  in 
  Cambridge, 
  England, 
  

   and 
  others 
  of 
  my 
  informants 
  think. 
  The 
  history 
  of 
  the 
  plant 
  

   shows 
  that 
  even 
  under 
  conditions 
  which 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  we 
  can 
  see, 
  

   are 
  identical 
  with 
  those 
  under 
  which 
  the 
  plant 
  grew 
  in 
  its 
  

   home, 
  it 
  may 
  for 
  a 
  time 
  take 
  a 
  fresh 
  lease 
  of 
  life 
  and 
  thrive 
  

   with 
  an 
  undreamed-of 
  energy. 
  

  

  What 
  did 
  Anacharis 
  find 
  in 
  the 
  waters 
  of 
  England 
  and 
  the 
  

   continent 
  that 
  it 
  did 
  not 
  have 
  at 
  home, 
  and 
  why 
  should 
  its 
  

   energy 
  begin 
  to 
  wane 
  now 
  ? 
  

  

  In 
  Australasia 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  striking 
  of 
  these 
  intruders 
  

   is 
  Sweet-briar. 
  Introduced 
  as 
  a 
  hedge 
  plant 
  it 
  has 
  run 
  over 
  

   certain 
  lands 
  like 
  a 
  weed, 
  and 
  disputes 
  every 
  acre 
  of 
  some 
  

   arable 
  plats. 
  Erom 
  the 
  facility 
  with 
  which 
  it 
  is 
  propagated, 
  it 
  

   is 
  almost 
  ineradicable. 
  There 
  is 
  something 
  astounding 
  in 
  the 
  

   manner 
  in 
  which 
  it 
  gains 
  and 
  holds 
  its 
  ground. 
  Gorse 
  and 
  

   brambles 
  and 
  thistles 
  are 
  troublesome 
  in 
  some 
  localities, 
  and 
  

   they 
  prove 
  much 
  less 
  easy 
  to 
  control 
  than 
  in 
  Europe. 
  The 
  

   effect 
  produced 
  on 
  the 
  mind 
  of 
  the 
  colonist 
  by 
  these 
  intruding 
  

   pests, 
  is 
  everywhere 
  the 
  same. 
  Whenever 
  in 
  an 
  examination 
  

   of 
  the 
  plants 
  likely 
  to 
  be 
  worthy 
  of 
  trial 
  in 
  our 
  American 
  dry 
  

   lands, 
  the 
  subject 
  was 
  mentioned 
  by 
  me 
  to 
  Australians, 
  I 
  was 
  

   always 
  enjoined 
  to 
  be 
  cautious 
  as 
  to 
  what 
  plants 
  I 
  might 
  sug- 
  

   gest 
  for 
  introduction 
  from 
  their 
  country 
  into 
  our 
  own. 
  My 
  

   good 
  friends 
  insisted 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  bad 
  enough 
  to 
  have 
  as 
  pests 
  

   the 
  plants 
  which 
  come 
  in 
  without 
  our 
  planning 
  or 
  choice, 
  and 
  

   this 
  caution 
  seems 
  to 
  me 
  one 
  which 
  should 
  not 
  be 
  forgotten. 
  

  

  It 
  would 
  take 
  us 
  too 
  far 
  from 
  our 
  path 
  to 
  inquire 
  what 
  can 
  

   be 
  the 
  possible 
  reasons 
  for 
  such 
  increase 
  of 
  vigor 
  and 
  fertility 
  

   in 
  plants 
  which 
  are 
  transferred 
  to 
  a 
  new 
  home. 
  We 
  should 
  

   have 
  to 
  examine 
  all 
  the 
  suggestions 
  which 
  have 
  been 
  made, 
  

   such 
  as 
  fresh 
  soil, 
  new 
  skies, 
  more 
  efficient 
  animal 
  friends, 
  or 
  

   less 
  destructive 
  enemies. 
  We 
  should 
  be 
  obliged 
  also 
  to 
  see 
  

   whether 
  the 
  possible 
  wearing 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  energy 
  of 
  some 
  of 
  

   these 
  plants 
  after 
  a 
  time, 
  might 
  not 
  be 
  attributable 
  to 
  the 
  

   decadence 
  of 
  vigor 
  through 
  uninterrupted 
  bud-propagation, 
  

   and 
  we 
  should 
  have 
  to 
  allude 
  to 
  many 
  other 
  questions 
  allied 
  to 
  

   these. 
  But 
  for 
  this 
  time 
  fails. 
  

  

  