THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



149 



to be avoided instead of sought by birds. It is natural to 

 assume that birds are fond only of the fruits that are palatable 

 to us, but investigation shows that we cannot set up our own 

 standards of taste as criteria for other animals. Probably all 

 varieties of fleshy fruits are eaten at some time or other, though 

 some may be neglected while better ones are tO' be had. Among 

 the thrushes, the hermit thrush seems to have the greatest range 

 O'f taste in the matter of berries. He is known to eat more than 

 sixty kinds. Practically all our edible fruits are in the list 

 besides such kinds as those of false Solomon's seal {Smilacina) , 

 green briar (Smilaiv), wax myrtle (Myn'cai) , mistletoe {Phora- 

 dendron), partridge berry (Mitchella), poke berry (Phy- 

 tolacca), spikenard (Aralia), chokeberry {Aronia) , sumac and 

 poison ivy (Rhus), pepper (Schimis), holly and winterberry 

 (Ilex), bitter-sweet (C elastnis) , woodbine (Ainpelopsis) , black 

 gum (Nyssa) and elder (Sainhjicns) . 



Profits in Drug Plants. — The get-rich-quick idea has 

 occasionally found lodging in the mind of even the plant stud- 

 ent. The great tulip craze, in Holland, is a matter of history, 

 and there was once a similar flurry on this side of the water 

 regarding the growing of the mulberry. At the present time 

 we are just emerging from the ginseng craze which influenced 

 many of our fellow-citizens to invest their hard earned money 

 in this plant in the hope of suddenly becoming millionaires by 

 selling a single crop of it to the Chinese. We have heard of 

 no very great fortunes amassed in this way, however, and 

 those who would be rich had better stick to steel or Stanard 

 Oil. There was some money made in ginseng, but most of it 

 was made by dealers who sold seeds of the plant to others for 

 2 cents each, or who' sold the plants, not to the Chinese, but 

 to Americans who' wanted to start a garden. This way of 

 making money selling ginseng reminds us of that famous 

 Dutch city in which all the inhabitants got rich taking in one 

 another's washing. As a matter of fact, the business of grow- 



