named; loosely scaly, as in the lily tribe; or compactly tunicated, as the onion.

They are also radical, produced at the root, in the usual way: Cauline, in the axils of the stem leaves, as in the bulb-bearing lilies; or capitate, where they take the place of flowers, in garlic and onions.

These latter fall to the ground, where they readily vegetate. Whatever may be the form or matrix, all bulbs appear to be functionally similar. tating they may be reckoned bulbiferous plants.

When vege

There is another approximate form, the cormus, or corm, sometimes called a solid bulb. It contains in the arum triphyllum, or Indian turnip ; it is not re-productive, and has no proper place in this category.

C.-Tubers.

A tuber appears to be little more than an ordinary rhizome, a portion of which has been expanded into a spherical form by a deposit of albuminous material, designed and prepared to nourish the incipient stage of the plants, which will spring from the buds, or eyes, on its surface. The solanum tuberosum, or common potato, is a familiar example.

A few highly noxious weeds are found in this section. They belong to the genus cyperces, of which we have several native species. Our own c. strigosus, or bristly-spiked galingale, is merely an unsightly weed, in moist grounds, of the southern species; c. repens, or nut-grass, is becoming a great nuisance; while c. hydra, or coco grass, may still prove worse, unless the severity of our climate shall afford us protection. I. S. Skinner characterizes it "the vilest of all pests which has taken possession of, and caused to be abandoned, some of the best sugar estates in Louisiana. Of all things, it is said to be the most tenacious of life; and nothing serves so well to propagate it as to plow and re-plow, with a view to restore it."

Elliot bears like testimony: "This is becoming a great scourge to our planters. It shoots from the base of its stem, a thread-like fiber, which descends perpendicularly six to eighteen inches, and then produces a small tuber. From this horizontal fibers extend in every direction, producing new tubers, at intervals of six to eight inches, and these immediately send up stems to the surface of the earth, and throw out lateral fibers to form a new progeny. This process is interminable.

"The only process yet discovered by which this grass can be extirpated is to plow or hoe the spots in which it grows every day through the whole season. In their perpetual efforts to throw their leaves to the light, the roots become exhausted and perish."

The discrepancy between the writers quoted in regard to the plow as a weed exterminator is only apparent. They obviously refer to different methods; one to an occasional use of the instrument, the other to its daily or constant use. Both are right. The distinction should never be forgotten.

The space allotted to this essay will not admit a detailed treatment of

the numerous kinds of weeds. Where milder means which reason and inquiry suggests fail to effect a reformation, I would strongly recommend the incarceration of the culprits in the farmers' penitentiary for life. Exclude them entirely from light and air.

Caleb N. Bemont says truly: "It is a settled principle in physiology, that leaves are as essential to plants as lungs are to animals, and that without the healthful exercise of these organs, both the vegetable and the animal will become diseased, and ultimately perish. Leaves are as necessary to the roots of plants as roots are to leaves. They are mutually dependent on each other; one cannot long exist without the other. The repeated and complete defoliation of a plant, therefore, must soon be fatal to the roots, and an effectual mode of eradicating them."-Farmers' Cabinet, vol. 8, p. 87, Julg 4, 1843.

This lesson cannot be too often repeated, or too long remembered.

Address to Farmers.

FARMERS: You are the yeomanry, the nobility of the nation. The land is a sacred trust, placed in your hands for use, and, in due season, to be transferred to your successors. Its rich products give sustenance to the whole people. Every class and condition, whatever may be their pretensions, are dependent upon you for bread.

But your land is fast becoming overrun with useless and highly noxious weeds, and its productive value has been greatly impaired thereby. Indeed, extensive tracts have already been tabooed and rendered worthless by them.

Will you betray the trust confided to your keeping? Will you supinely sit down, with folded arms, and ignobly suffer this leprosy to spread its deadening pall around you?

This is not a mere individual or local question. It involves the whole national domain; the entire population. As the land represents the greatness of the nation, so does production represent the resources of the nation. Hence it becomes the interest and the duty, not only of every citizen, but of the State and National Governments, to foster and maintain the health, the integrity, the productiveness of our agriculture.

Unhappily, one indolent and neglectful loafer, on land infested with noxious weeds, may, in a measure, defeat the utmost care and industry of the neighboring farmers, to keep their grounds clean. In such a case, (and such cases are not rare,) the occupant is a ten-fold greater nuisance than his foul and neglected fields.

Is there no Remedy?

Our cities assert the right, and they resolutely exercise it, to protect themselves against the invasion or spread of diseases, by means of quarantine laws, the removal of nuisances, the rigid enforcement of hygienic regulations, and, if need be, even the forcible exclusion of the occupants from their own premises for a season. Have not the farmers of a district

the same rights? Then why should they not be empowered to maintain them?

It is time for you to vindicate your rights; to stand upon your privileges, and to demand the establishment of an agricultual board of health, in every district, invested with powers and resources adequate to maintain a healthy agriculture.

It may be difficult, but the danger is imminent. It will require you to act deliberately, cautiously, wisely, but with a determination that will eventually insure redress.

The tardy arm of the law has been invoked, hitherto, with little benefit. A farm, stocked with Canada thistle, horse nettle, and other noxious weeds, is a horrible nuisance, and ought to be abated. The resources of the occupant may not be sufficient to do this. He should receive assistance from the district. If he neglects or refuses to coöperate, it may be necessary for others to do the work for him, at his expense; or, it may even be required to remove him temporarily from the premises, and to place them in the hands of an agent, until they are fully cleansed and ventilated. The question would then arise, whether the agent should receive remuneration out of the premises, or from the district funds.

This may be called a bold suggestion, but it is not Utopian. It is only asking for agriculture what law and public opinion have already granted in various other cases.

Yours truly,

E. MICHENER.

REPORT OF THOMAS MEEHAN.

BOTANIST PENNSYLVANIA BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

To the Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture:

SIR: As it was comparatively late in the season that I was apprised of the honor conferred on me by the board, in electing me as the bontanist to your body, I have had but little opportunity of being useful in this new position. The only matter in which I have been consulted officially, was by some citizens of Philadelphia, in regard to the feasibility of introducing the Japan lacquer tree to cultivation in our State. As the question is one of general interest, I may refer to it in this report.

The tree which produces the gum from which the Japan lacquer ware is made is the Rhus vernicifera, and so near a relative is it of our com