ie, BULLETIN OF THE BUSSEY INSTITUTION. 
advertises in the newspapers that ‘‘ August is the best month in 
the year for transplanting evergreen trees with safety.” Another 
tenet of horticultural practice has been laid down by an expert in 
the following terms: ‘' The conifere are readily raised from 
cuttings which strike root best when of the present season’s 
growth taken off near where it proceeds from the old wood and 
when nearly ripe, sometime in August.” 
It would be of interest to determine by analysis whether the 
marked enfeeblement of evergreen trees after they have borne a 
heavy crop of seeds is coincident with a diminution of the amount 
of mannan stored in the wood of the tree. I have noticed that, 
for the purpose of avoiding this enfeeblement, gardeners some- 
times take pains to pick off the cones from young Norway spruces 
as soon after their appearance as may be practicable. 
Tests similar to those above described were made upon the 
products of hydrolysis of other kinds of woods (and of several 
roots and fruits) in a somewhat desultory way, though usually 
the purpose of the experiments was to test some special hypo- 
thesis; such, for instance, as the question: Is mannan present 
or abundant in the wood of those deciduous trees which habitually 
and quickly put forth foliage early in the spring? ‘To this ques- 
tion negative answers were returned, for the most part. Again, 
is there any mannan in the wood of shrubs which are evergreen 
though not coniferous? In so far as this question has been tested 
only negative answers have been obtained. 
Other questions were as follows: Is there any mannan in the 
leaves and roots of leguminous plants, as there is in the seeds of 
such plants? And is there any mannan in the wood of legu- 
minous trees? In answer to these questions, mannan was 
detected in the wood of two such trees, as will be seen in the 
table relating to woods. It was found also in the roots of red 
clover. Yet another question tested was to determine whether it 
can be said generally that there is mannan in those kinds of 
woods which best resist decay, as locust wood does? Here, 
again, the answers were negative. The following list contains 
descriptions of the several specimens of deciduous woods that 
were subjected to hydrolysis, and the table shows the results of 
tests made with the liquors that were obtained : — 
