PARK AND CEMETERY, 
287 
SELECTED NOTES AND EXTRACTS. 
The Movement of Sap. 
At a recent meeting of the Horti- 
cultural Society of New York, Dr. D. T. 
MacDougal explains, in relation to the 
movement of sap, the modern conception 
of what causes the flow from the root up- 
wards. After alluding to the older 
theories, some of which “were so beauti- 
ful that they really ought to have been 
true,” he proceeded to explain the 
present belief that the upward lift of water 
in the plant was produced by the chem- 
ical attraction of the leaf cell contents 
for water, which in turn was evaporated 
by the sun shining on the leaf. It was 
osmosis. Root pressure was an obsolete 
idea. Ninety-eight per cent of the sun's 
energy was used in thus lifting water, 
and only two per cent in food elaboration. 
The pull thus excited amounted to 50 
atmospheres. As to figures representing 
the value of water raised, an average 
beech tree in leaf drew up 800 lbs. of 
water each day ; an oak tree used up 240, 
000 lbs. of water in a single season. — 
American Gardening. 
* * * , 
Destroying the Tussock Moth Caterpillar 
and Bag- worm. 
If persons would only realize the ad- 
vantages and ease with which many 
obnoxious insects may be prevented 
from spreading, the troubles in summer 
would be greatly reduced. The Bag- 
worm — so called because it lives in its 
“bag,” or cocoon, even during its ravages 
of a tree — dies in the autumn; but the 
female first deposits a large number of 
eggs right in her cocoon, which is after- 
ward her grave. These bags are easily 
detected in winter, hanging mostly from 
the upper branches of evergreen trees 
(the Arbor-vitse seems a favorite), and 
may be picked or cut off and burned. 
When one knows the immense number 
of eggs which would thus be destroyed, 
the value of doing it is readily seen. 
The Tussock Moth acts in precisely the 
same manner as regards the deposit of 
eggs in her white cocoon, and the work 
of destruction would be the same. These 
silky, white cocoons may be found flat 
against the trunks of trees, under old 
boards, and around rubbish of all kinds. 
They are most easily found in early 
wintei . — Meehans' Monthly. 
* * * 
Berry Bearing Trees and Shrubs. 
In Spring and Summer, when there are 
many trees and shrubs in flower, those 
displaying bright-colored berries are but 
little sought for. But in late Fall, when 
hardly a tree or shrub is in blossom, the 
case is reversed, and then it is we have 
to rely on the berries to give the attrac- 
tion the flowers afforded earlier. My pur- 
pose now is to name such subjects as dis- 
play their berries as the very last thing 
in Autumn, omitting those whose display 
is over. In the vicinity of Philadelphia 
those I am about to name were in full 
display in December, in spite of some 
severe freezings, and in January, when 
these notes were written, quite a number 
of the plants were in fair display. The 
list is as follows; Cornus florid a and 
varieties, Rhotinia villosa, Pyrus ameri- 
cana, Pyrus Toriugo, Berberis Thunbergii 
Callicarpa purpurea, Crategus cordata, 
Cotoneaster in variety, Cralsegus pyra- 
cantha, Elseagnus umbellata, Euonymus 
in variety, particularly Sieboldianus, 
Prinos verticiliatus, Cyrus arbutifolia and 
vareties, Rhamnus caroliniensis, Rosa 
rugosa, R. villosa, R. Carolina and R. 
lucida, Symphoricarpus vulgaris and S. 
racemosus, Lycium chinense, Celastrus 
scandens and other species. These occur 
to me as I write, and doubtless there are 
others, but, as already stated, I do not 
include those whose display is past, such , 
for instance, as the English hawthorn 
and varieties, and our own lovely species, 
Crataegus coccinea. Though all the 
plants enumerated in the list may be re- 
lied on, there are a few particularly 
desirable ones, of which I would like to 
say a few more words. Rhotinia villosa 
is not a common shrub. I say shrub, as 
it makes a bush shape, though growing 
to a tree size, almost. Besides the abun- 
dant bright red berries of Fall, there are 
the clusters of white flowers in Spring, 
which are of great beauty. Elseagnus 
umbellata is not well known. Its wood 
is a good deal like that of the better- 
known E. long pipes, but it ripens its 
berries the last thing in October. They 
are of a light salmon color, and often are 
so thickly set along the stem as to cause 
the branches to bend toward the ground. 
Crataegus cordata is a native, and of the 
many species I am familiar with, this 
both flowers and ripens its fruit the last. 
The beautiful clusters of scarlet fruit are 
in perfection in early November. The 
various cotoneasters, such favorites in 
Plurope, are rarely seen here. Why, I 
do not know. C. obtusa, C. Simonsii 
and C. Wheeleri, which I have tried, are 
quite hardy, and doubtless C. microphylla 
and other old favorites would be also. 
The same may be said of the grand old 
pyracantha thorn, Cratsegus pyracanthia. 
The large orange-red berries beautify it 
well into Winter, and cold does not hurt 
it. By planting a selection from the list 
giv-en, these would be an attraction on 
the lawn when positively not a flower 
could be had on the tree or .shrub.— Joseph 
Meehan, in Florists Exchange. 
» * * 
Sowing Seeds, 
One of the remarkable things about 
seed sowing shown in the extract in the 
last issue from "The Garden" is that 
people persist in sowing so thick! 
It is much better to mark beds with 
an adjustable marker at the distances 
require! for the full development of the 
species, and then on those marks press 
stations with the bottom of a three inch 
pot, in which 2 or 3 or more seeds can 
be dropped, covered, and marked with a 
plain label. This will permit hoeing 
even before the seedlings appear, and 
the thinning will be a bagatelle. 
J. MacF. 
* * * 
Birds, 
The bulletins on birds and mammals 
published by the Biological survey at 
Washington correct widely prevalent 
errors as to the economic status of species 
that affect agricultural interests, and 
demonstrate the inefficiency and waste- 
fulness of bounty laws. In the case of 
hawks and owls the division has shown, 
by the examination of the stomach 
contents of about 3000 of these universally 
hated and persecuted birds, that only six 
out of 73 kinds inhabiting the I'nited 
States are injurious and three of these 
are so rare they need hardly be considered 
leaving only three to be taken into 
account as enemies of agriculture. The 
others prey upon mice, insects and other 
vermin, and rank among the farmers’ 
best friends. 
Since its establishment, in 1885, the 
division has examined the stomach con- 
tents of nearly 15,000 birds belonging to 
200 species and sub-species, and has 
published information on the food habits 
of 140 kinds, mainly hawks, owls, crows, 
jays, blackbirds, sparrows, thrushes, 
flycatchers, swallows, wrens, shrikes, 
woodpeckers, horned laiks and cedar- 
birds. — Ainsley's. 
