222 
THE PLANT WORLD. 
margin of the cap meets the stem. Split a plant lengthwise and 
note the broad gills, that they are not attached to the stem. Note 
how easily the skin peels from the cap. Observe if in some 
plants there are minute delicate scales on the cap. Note and 
describe the difference, in the surface of the stem above and below 
the delicate ring. What is the shape of the stem when several 
plants are in a dense cluster? Does the crowding of the plants 
make any difference in the shape of the cap? What part of the 
gills first becomes black? Describe the changes in the cap and 
gills as the gills deliquesce. 
The shaggy main or horse tail (Coprinus comatus). These 
plants are usually somewhat larger than the ink cap, but the cap 
is cylindrical, white, and very shaggy. Describe the shagginess 
of the cap, and see if you can determine how it is formed by com¬ 
paring plants in different stages of growth. Split a plant length¬ 
wise and describe the form and color of the gills, their relation 
to the stem. Note the hollow of the stem, and the cord inside. 
How does the ring or annulus differ from that in the ink cap or 
in the common mushroom? Describe the changes in the plant 
as the gills deliquesce. Other species of ink mushrooms are 
often found on manure piles. Some of these may be grown in¬ 
doors at any season of the year by taking fresh horse manure 
and keeping it moist in a pan, or in a box for a week or so. 
(To he concluded.) 
A Practical Rule for Tree Planting. —For the best success a 
time should be chosen when, shortly after planting, the rootgrowth 
is most active, to supply the demand of the shoots, and when the 
demand of the latter for water is the smallest and no danger 
from heaving from frost is present. This philosophy accentuates 
the well-known rule; in regions with well marked spring and 
summer rains, spring is the best time; in regions with dry sum¬ 
mers and fall rains, fall planting is indicated and that at the be¬ 
ginning of renewed root activity, which will vary, as stated, with 
species and locality between end of September and middle of 
