THE LADIES’ FLORAL CABINET. 
229 
to be used in poisoning their arrows, while they dessicate 
the root and bake it into a sort of bread. A small dose 
of the poison causes death in a few minutes, operating 
very painfully on the nervous system. The poison is 
highly volatile, however, since a slight application of heat 
entirely destroys its deleterious qualities. The root, right¬ 
ly prepared, is highly nutritious, since one acre of cassava 
is calculated to be equal in nutriment to six acres of 
wheat. We have another example of an acrid, irritating 
root made edible by means of heat in the bog-arum 
(Calla palustris ). The root is excessively caustic and 
biting, but it is dried, boiled, macerated and baked into a 
cake—the missebroed of the Laplanders. This root must 
resemble in character our Indian turnip ( Ariscema tri- 
phylluni). It used to be a favorite trick at many a coun¬ 
try school to disguise a bit of this delectable root in a 
piece of sassafras bark, then present this diabolical refec¬ 
tion to some guileless new scholar. The feelings of the 
wretched victim are indescribable; anything exceeding 
the pungency of the root seems impossible. One observ¬ 
ant victim describes it as resembling four papers of cam¬ 
bric needles mixed with a tablespoonful of powdered 
glass. 
Truly, it seems that no family of plants is without both 
useful and deleterious members. The Solanum tribe, to 
which we must ever be grateful for that most useful of 
all esculents, the potato, contains many highly-dangerous 
species, and they all might prove dangerous under some 
circumstances. One of the most virulent members of the 
order is the black henbane (Hyosciamus niger). 
“ the insane root 
That takes the reason prisoner,” 
a most powerful narcotic, whether eaten in the form of 
leaves, roots or berries, and the application of heat does 
not seem to destroy its virulence. Another member of 
the family, the deadly nightshade ( Airopa belladonna) 
is the source of the belladonna so useful in medicine, 
though many serious accidents have occurred from care¬ 
less or ignorant use of the plant. According to Scottish 
history, the Danes were treacherously poisoned with this 
plant mixed in the food and drink supplied by the Scotch 
during a truce, so that the latter were enabled to totally 
destroy Sweno’s army. But no person or thing in the 
whole economy of nature is utterly worthless or harmful, 
so we usually find that the most dangerous and deleterious 
plants supply some valuable remedy, either to allay pain 
or to arrest disease, with the single exception of our 
poison-ivy, which seems only to exist for the aggravation 
of mankind. E. L. Taplin. 
THE LABORS AND PLEASURES OF FLORICULTURE. 
Address of John Thorpe, President of the Society of American Florists, at First General Meeting, held at Cincinnati, Ohio, August io to 14. 
W E are here for the purpose of discussing what are 
the best methods to make the Society of Ameri¬ 
can Florists and their business a success ; we can insure 
this in no better way than by gathering together as we 
have to-day, and as often as possible. The fact of so 
much interest being displayed is most satisfactory ; it is 
full of encouragement for us to go on with the good work 
we have begun ; to accomplish as much as possible must 
be our aim. We must be persevering, communicative, 
vigilant and industrious for the society’s benefit; this 
means for our own good and the people’s good. The 
position we now occupy should be a heavy weight in the 
government of our business. Let us see what we repre¬ 
sent and how we materialize. 
There are not less than eight thousand florists en¬ 
gaged in the business, either growing plants or raising 
cut-flowers for sale. Allowing four hundred (400) feet 
of glass-covered surface to each florist gives us a total 
of three million two hundred thousand square feet—in 
other words, six hundred and thirty acres. Calculating 
that half of the glass structures are used for growing 
plants, and that one-third of the space is actually occu¬ 
pied with them, and averaging the size of pots used at 
three inches diameter, and allowing two crops each year, 
the number of plants would be about forty millions. 
The remaining half of the glass structures are used 
for the purpose of growing cut-flowers—the actual num¬ 
bers produced is almost increditable. I can state, how¬ 
ever, that during the past season—beginning with Novem¬ 
ber and ending with April—nine large growers of roses 
sent into the New York market close upon four millions 
of flowers, and when I state that this was not over fifty 
per cent, of the roses sent to New York alone, the mag¬ 
nitude of rose-growing will be imagined. The roses 
grown around Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cleve¬ 
land, Chicago, Washington, and all other places, could 
not be less than twice as many as were produced for 
the New York market. This would bring up the number 
of cut-roses produced during the past season to twenty- 
four millions. It would be very safe to multiply the 
number of carnations, flowers produced in the same time 
from all sources, by at least five. This would give one 
hundred and twenty millions. Fabulous as this may seem, 
I feel that my calculations are rather under than over 
the actual number placed in the market. It would, 
moreover, be very safe to state that at least one fourth 
as many roses and carnations are annually raised by gen¬ 
tlemen for their own enjoyment, which represent as much 
value as if they were thrown on the market and sold over 
the counter. Of various other flowers, though not in the 
same proportion, there are produced many millions. 
The bulb trade, the bulk of which is represented by 
importation, has grown to be a source of great value to 
the business, and as there is a duty of 20 per cent, on all 
bulbs imported, it is a source of revenue to the country 
also; and, while I have no actual data to make a close 
