THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 
65 
zone. Marggraf a chemist of Berlin first discovered in 1Y47 
that beets with other fleshy roots contained crystallizable sugar 
identical with that of the sugar cane. From the 5 per cent 
as found by Marggraf the sugar beet of good quality now con- 
tains 15 per cent and more, 12 per cent being considered nec- 
cessary for profitable manufacture. 
The sugar maple of North America is also a source of 
sucrose, the tree being tapped in the early spring to obtain the 
sap as it flows upward. The sap was formerly simply boiled 
down in open kettles and used as molasses, or the evaporation 
was continued until the sugar crystallized and the brown 
maple sugar was obtained. Five gallons of sap yielded about 
one pound of sugar. In 1894 the amount of maple sugar 
produced, including that upon which no bounty was paid was 
over 7,500,000 pounds. — From Farmers' Bulletin No. pj^ U. 
S. Dept. Agriculture. 
NOTE AND COMMENT 
c 
D 
The Pig Lily. — Africa is the home of the calla lily, but 
it is not held is as much esteem at home as in our part of the 
world. A missionary from South Africa recently told the 
editor of this magazine that in that country it is called pig lily, 
because pigs are fond of the bulbs. 
Toxic Pollen. — There seems to be little question but 
what hay fever is caused by the pollen of various plants. The 
common ragweed {Ambrosia art emisiae folia) is regarded, 
probably with justice, as the chief offender, but according to 
Scientific American one hundred and fourteen plants are 
known to have toxic pollen. Normally these affect the suf- 
ferer only when the flowers that produce them are in bloom, 
