qi 
tthe horticulturab world through her la- 
bors and explorations, and one could 
listen for hours, unwearied, to accounts 
ior her early expeditisns. Unfortunate- 
ly she has been more diligent in the 
use of the piik than of the pen, and 
much that she might have added to the 
world’s store of useful and curious lore 
remains to be recorded by others, who 
may follow in her footsteps.—Or. 
CURRAN, MRS. MARY K.: 
See Katharine Brandegee. 
BRANDEGEER, MRS. KATHARINE: 
A. prominent character in the annals 
of West American bctany, whose inter- 
ust in cacti began soon after she ceased 
wwer career under the name of Mrs. 
wlary K. Curran. Many species have 
ween described by her pen as a result of 
Wer own and her husband’s explova- 
tions, chiefly identified with Lower Cal- 
afornia (as pertains to cacti) up to the 
present writing (1903).—Or. 
EDITORIAL. 
We publish this month an outline of 
the wor proposed by the wild flower 
preservation society, Which we consider 
worthy of the encouragement of our 
readers. In California we stand in need 
of the preservation of certain beauti- 
ful trees, and the action taken some 
years ago for the protection of the Tor- 
rey pine of San Diego county was taken 
none too soon. The Parry lily, of the 
mountain region of Southern Califor- 
nia, is in most urgent need of protec- 
tion from the spirit of commercialism, 
which has already rendered this beau- 
tiful flower a rare one. The annual 
dues of the’ society are one dollar a 
year, which entitles members to ‘“‘The 
Plant World’ monthly, and the secre- 
tary, Charles Louis Pollard, 1854 Fifth 
street, Washington, D. C., will be 
pleased to enroll the names of all who 
are in cordial sympathy with the ob- 
jects of the organization. 
RANDSBURG MINING DISTRICT. 
A topographic map of the country ad- 
jacent to the Randsburg and Johan- 
nesburg mining districts, California, is 
now in press and will soon be issued by 
the United States Geological Survey. 
The area covered by this map is known 
as the Randsburg quadrangle, and em- 
braces almost equal portions of Kern 
ard San Bernardino counties, and 
shows part of the location of the 
The West American Scientist. 
42 
Randsburg Railroad, which connects 
eChannesburg with Barstow, San Ber- 
nardino county. 
The scale of this map is approxi- 
miately one mile to the inch. The con- 
tour vertical interval of 50 feet shows 
well the topographic features of the re- 
gion. All roads, trails, mines, and 
houses are shown with great exactness, 
and—most important in such an arid 
country—the positions of all wells, 
springs, reservoirs, and dry lakes are 
accurately located. This section is 
practically a desert, and unless water 
can be found within reasonable dis- 
tances and at depths easily reached 
from the surface, prospectors and min- 
ers can not prosecute their work. The 
water for Randsburg and Johannes- 
burg is p.ped trom wells about 5 miles 
northeast of these places. It is of fairly 
goo. Cun. ity but is insufficient in quan- 
tity, and while the water company 
charges are not there regarded as ex- 
cessive, the lowest. rates would aston- 
ish those whe are not familiar with 
this desert country. Persons oceupy:ng 
houses or tents without water pipes 
usually pay one dollar a barrel for 
water. 
The whole area represented on this 
sheet is one of the most forbidding des- 
erts in the United States. The valleys 
are practically sand bedis, the moun- 
tains bare masses of rock. The only 
vegetaton in the valleys is scattered, 
low cactus, with here and there a 
greasewood or creosote bush about 
knee-high. The-mountains are abso- 
lutely devoid of grass or trees. 
The mineral wealth, principally gold, 
ccnstitutes the whole value of the 
country; but this is sufficient to have 
built up during the last few years the 
flourishing mining camps of Randsburg 
and Johannesburg, with an aggregate 
population of about 1,200. 
ee 
THE WILD FLOWER PRESERVA- 
TION SOCIETY OF AERICA. 
The ‘increased interest in nature 
study developed within recent years, 
and stimulated bp numerous illustrated 
bcoks of a popular nature, has unfor- 
tunately endangered the existence of 
many ornamental wild plants that 
would ctherwise have escaped public 
notice. The problem presented is how 
