‘ Indians gal/e roots which tlley said

‘whom Raleigh

I true

- Junu-zomsas.

t : IVEWSY

NOTES‘

-,_s- _

Raleigh and the Potato If webelieve the historians. the introduction of tobacco and the po- tato into Britain dates from the rs- turn of Bir Waiter Raleigh's expe- dition from that region which he

this conclusion (which has been too hastily repealed) is-open lo grav e doubt, for several reason. To begin with, the natural home of the orig- inal wild potziio (or Solanu ) is on the Pacific coast of Peru and north- em Chile. and not on the Atlantic coast of the northern continent. It was on the Pacific coast that Char- f les Darwin on his memorable voy- age in the Beaigle. saw wild potatoes, not much bigger than marbles, growing in the sandy soil by the ulouthsof the rivers. mirthermore. dried specimens and ierra-cotta re- presentations of wild potatoes have been recovered from very ancient graves in the desert lands of these two countries. The elrllest authen- tic account of the true potato lflthlt of Cieza de Leon who, in 1596, saw it in cultivation in the higher reg- ions of Columbia and Ecuador. Sir Francis Drake saw potatoes in Chili in 1578; and by the Germans-who hswe erected a statue in his honor at Offers-burg in Baden-ls credited with having introduced potatoes to Europe on his return in 1580. And to clinch the matter. the statue holds a true potato in its hand! Almost twenty years before that. on th’e coast of Venezuela, the Caril

were "potatoes," to another Erlgllsh seasnan, Sir John Hawkins. These were, however, the so-called "Sweet Potatoes" (Ipomoea. Batatas) be- longing to the Morning Glory fam- ily and not at ill related‘ to the . . A‘ . . .

true , was yet in its infancy. some confu- sion was caused by the one name for two distinct plants: but Gerard. when he published his Herbal, 15M. figured the ercsum and guvc it for all time the title of "potato." ‘ The staple food of the Indians encountered, was the openawk" (Aplcs tuberosa) which is found growing from the Gulf cf Mexico to the St. Lawrence. It has tubers about the siae of walnuts. and belongs to the legume family. Its chocolate-colored flowers, scented like violets, ale very, attractive; the plant 1s a climber. and has been known to attain a height of 1i) 1-2 feet in P. E. Island. If Sir Walter took any tubers from Virginia to Britain it was the little openawk- which modern naturalists call, less elegantly, the pignutl \ As the tubers were so small, the potato reml¢ned for many years merely an object of curiosity. It found its way to Ireland seems to have been improved, either by the climate or by the ingenuity of the natives. so that it was culti- vated as s. field crop before 1663. In Ireland it WEV- served at every meal, and was used also n the pro- ‘uction of potheen or Irish whislnr. It took a further eighty years be- fore the potato wasoultivated as a field crop in Scotland. One of the objections to it, made by the “unco guid," was that it was not mention- ed in Scripture. and was not. there- fore. permissible, as an. article of

food. - _

The potato. it is thought by a Bri- tish naturalist, was introduced to the United States by Irish immi- grants: which is very probable, but is just the opposite to the beliefs in- stilled into us by the old historians.

Bo

tanical No

Through the kindness of Profes- sor R. R. Hurst, of the Laboratory of Plant Pathology. 1 have been en- abled to examine a real botanical curiosity. which is growing in a swamp at the Experimental Penn. It is the Flowering Rush, the But-

IMPERIAL FOX r . r rmraam. curry 1198"!!! and normal.

clnus umbellatus of

sturdy, tall, marsh herbvrlth about three feet 1on8. and a 1on8 stalk, standing well above the leclv- es, surmounted by an umbel of six- -red flowers. The leav- alid three-angled. Like many more of our wild plants, this has been introduced, and pur- posely. I think. for its as‘ it is Gray's or

petalled, rose had named Virginia. in 1584. But es are rush-like,

the only ering

down as supplementary to Flowering Plants and Ferns of P11 Island" which was published by the a1 Canadian Institute in 1933.

RD? tenth addition to the 116i

This is the therein given. A slight misconception appears to have arisen as tc the purpose and value of this pamphlet (le., "The Flowering Plants of P.E.I.") It aims solely to provide an authoritative list of the members of our flora, and does not compete with the descrlpb lve manuals, of which we have ex- cellent examples in the works Gray seek to emulate the many Study books published and the United States.

a ' “‘-- value rosy be inferred from its publication by the Insti- tute. It has been objected that it is tco technical. presumably because it iilc names of the only by so dolnk could the list be made accurately: since the popular names-as has often been remarked-are not re- liable in all cases, while the Latin names .

gives the sclsnt true Solsnum tub- p

insects, of every 0rd environs of 1 ‘ . ed by the institute

96°-

In this list our “Splttlc" insects, a short account of which was given in last week's Notes. are scientifically hora pamllsla, and

both named by tomolcgist Say. A examined as it was em- "splttle" was easily notata, from the

given as Aphrlop the celebrated en

erglng from the identified as quallri

The Unanimous llcrdict of Successful Ranchers

“We have never fed anything to equal .

UI-llldlll;

not mention f

rom County

the Arrow-head,

In the meantime this

and Britten. Nor does

lants. However,

are. Such lists are not cnflned

floral world. The writer hep an in- teresting list of all the species of e1‘. found in the This was print- about 20 years

specimen,

four spat-s on its snout. Earthquake in Japan

In The Guardian of July 1d. a is headed Fltredicied nspan. “student of seismic fllfibtubfl-IIOGS," wrote the newspapers predicting an earthquake on July llth. north-east from Australia. Sure enough a quake shook the district south-west of Tokyo. Japan. and killed 24 per-

the article. "has s. theory that earth tremors are due to celestial conspiracy; he thinks the moon and other plane- tary bodies come into a certain re- to exercise their combin- ed gravitational pulls on the surface

short article "Quake." One Reuben G.

sons. injuring 59 others. "Greenspan," goes on

lationship

of the earth " Precisely ;

years. the moon was

fact less than five quake, provided some

earth's surface was I whit might be called " '

Tension is very probably set up by

B I S C U I '1‘ S and FOOD in promoting growth of pups and

developing qltufflyrrliodies with superior pelts of lustrous sheen, retalnlngiheir color.”

thick-skinned and

leaves

beauty; and in eithe Britt/en's Manuals, it may be that our naturalized Butomus is one in Canada! The I"low-~ Rushls native to England Durham, southward; but has been freely nlifiuralized in Scotland, and more rarely 1n Ire- land. - I§'——*'

“Water-gardennig" ls beginning to take hold in Canada generally, and to some extent in P. E. Island. The Flowering Rush and its near relative, themselves gracefully to this kind of gardening.

lend

record goes “The

‘a scab so to speak.

Nature in Canada That it has

that 1s what the writer of these Notes hale been saying for On the night of July 10th. in the neighborhood of the giant planet Jupiter-was in degrees below it. Thug everything was in trim for a. portion of the

i“ " “m” °,!, tlnctions," says our book. But witl} .4" o

_-

World” , Demand - For Lamb

used for home con- sumptlon on the farm. New Zea- land on an average in recent years

her demand fluctuates from year to year. Australia, Canada, ls increasing her demand for lamb. which in 1939 was 50 pel- cent higher than in 1926. Great Britain's consumption has risen from 39 pounds per head in 1928 .to 83 pounds in 1933. In that year also there was an increased wllll-Iilllltion in Argentina, fol- lowing reduced exports, due in a great measure lo quota and tariff restrictions imposed by the chief r consuming countries. and also to the reduction of imports by the United Kingdom in consonanoe willl the Ottawa Agreements. As to the country with the largest number of sheep, Australia is in the leading position, taking the place of the soviet Union which until 1980 bad the largest flocks of sheep in the world. Fom necessity, these flocks have been reduced by nearly two-thirds.

repeated, relatively unimportant strains upon some of the geological faults which are well-known as “earthquake breeders." The extra combined gravitational pull tips the

Prophecy in such matters does not commend itself to the present writer. If, to vary the simlle, grav- itation pulls the trigger, no explo- sion will follow unless the gun is primed; and how ls one to know when the conditions are favorable for the seismic outburst? The moon and Jupiter were only three and one-half degrees apart on the night of June 13th, but no earthquake was recorded. On June 14th, however, we had a. severe electrical storm with heavy rainfall: and in certain districts hail whitened the ground. The same causes which give earth- quakes “dway," give us abnormal weather here, as a rule; hence on July 11th we had s. thunderstorm in the early morn, with 35-100ths of an inch of rainfall. Jupiter pluvius again! Stan and Stories

"The Sta-rs and Their Stories," by Alice M. M. Grlmth, is said to be a book for young people. but I can as- sure my readers that one resident of this fair province who is oer- tainly not of that category, had a great deal of pleasure in its perusal. _The book. of course, was from the Public Library. ‘

The fly-leaf holds a quotation from Thomas Carlyle: "Why did not somebody teach rne the constella- tions, and make me at home in the starry heavens, which are sliways overhead, and which I don't half know to this day?" And the book follows up this query with stimulat- ing lessons on the principal constel-

mythical stories by which the Greeks and Arabs littempted to ac- count for their outlines. Both Eng- lish and American poets contribute their choicest legends, and the book closes with a masterly review of Astronomy throughout the Ages. Lon ago we used to be taught that the visible stars were divided into six "magnitudes" or classes of brightness. In the whole of the heavens. said our teachers, there are twenty stars of the first magnitude, and among them Sirius shines brightest. “It was not possible with the naked eye to make finer dis-

IZIIC All ' Ind 1m, photcmetric instruments, the grad- ations of light are expressed frac- tionnlly, and the twenty brightest stars range from Sirius magnitude rfilnus 1-4, through Capella mag. o-l to Deneb. 1-4. A complete table of first magnitude stars is given on 17330 254. Gilbert and Sullivan

Just nfty years ago, according to that interesting booklet "Memories of Long Ago." the 800d people of

Charlottetown had the pleasure of - hem-mg "H. M. S. Plnafore" pres- ented by local amateurs, "who never failed to make a hit." The cpera “The Pirates of Penaance" by the srne inimitable collaborators, Gil- bert and Sullivan, was given later by the same company of residents in the City.

Very probably not many of these enterprising singers are still with us, but those who are may revive mem- ories or long ago by perusing "Sel- ectsd O . Second Series. W. S. Gilbert.” also at the Public Library. Besides the two operas already ' named. there are "Iclanthe" and the ‘Mikado!’ 1t ls in “Iolsnthe” that the Private Willh, doing sentry

Q

latlon groups. and on the ancient '

‘ITIE CIIA WN GUARDIAN

CONNECTED WITH

The lsritlsh Fur Trade are taking l treat interest in i'.\.e fur fashion Mfllmequln Parades to be held at the Dorchester Hotel, Park Lane, 10115011. iii early September. Man- ufacturers are greatly encouraged by the support which the retailers are sivins to the proposed show. The Parades will be sponwred by the National Par Week Council. These parades arouse a great deal of interest among traders and the public, and a lot of publicity appears in trade papers and the general

Says the London, England, Fur Record, (copy obtained through the l" dness of Dr. Leo Frank), "Every- thing points to a very good Autumn- Wlnter fur season. Our potential customers in this country are be- coming better of! and the nation's exports have mounted over eight millions in five months."

Rosenberger Lohmann, Ltd.. of London, England, are making a. specialty of mink blending and have the reputation of turning out a very fine product. Their progress gives a pale mink coat a rich natural dank bluish color and has the ad- vantage in that the skins will never turn red or any other color except perhaps revert to the original shade.

‘The Fur Record referring to Lon- don Silver Fox sales says; "whgf- ever one goes the sustaining popu- larity of Silver Fox is obvious. With one accord the gossip chronlclers at Ascot inform us that it was a “fur Ascot" and particularly a, “Sliver Fox Ascot” — moreover a “Silver FOX cape Ascot!" The results of the May-June Silver Fox sales in London reflected this marvelous vogue of the Silver Fox. They tri- umphed over all the political rum- ors and economic‘ handicaps."

"This is a. very encouraging lesson for the whole trade. If we have the right articles at moderate‘ prices, wcmenklnd will buy furs in great~ quantities. Eve may prefer the Sil- ver Fed above all other furs, tem- porarily or permasently, but as men. ey becomes freer—and it is becom- ing so month after month in Eng- land and some other countries-fur fashions will be emphasized over a wide range of skins."

The following figures 1e the May- JuneSilver Fox auctions in London appear also in themagazine. l-Iud- scns’ Bay offered 9.099 skins includ- ing the 600 fresh wild skins from Canada. 66% sold, average advance 715%. Demand was greatest for quarter and half silvery varieties which advanced 10% and 15% res- pectively. Highest price £37 for three-quarter silvery. Highest price for one-half silvery £31.

C .M. Lampson’ 8c Company of- fered 7329 skins, 66% sold, Ad- vances ranged from nothing to 15%. Highest price for one-half, silvery £26. Highest price realized £26 for three-quarter silvery,

Anning dz Cobb cleared 90% nf the total quantity offered in their catalogue at an advance of about 15%, half silvers and quarters being especially well competed for, Since the last auction there has been a sustained demand and large quanti- ties have been sold by private treaty. There was strum! support from France. The highest price realized was for a full silver skin which brought £25 10s. A three-quarter silvery skin brought £25.

Frederick Huth k Co's Sliver Fox sale was also a very successful one. The total number of skins offered amounted to 11.598, the large ma. Jority of which were Canadian origin. The average quality of the collection was higher than "usual this time of year. Competition was ex- ceedingly keen esgecially for the half and quarter silvery sections.

London and Paris memhants were most active but buying was well dis- tributed and purchases were made for accounts ln many luropean countries. Advances ranged from nothing to 20%.

Half silvers averaged £9, 10s, 9d.

Three-quarter silvers averaged £9, 1s, 9d.

Full silvers averaged £9, 8s, 10d.

Quarter silvers averaged £6, 17s,

lid.- Blacks averaged £5, 9s, 6d.

Quite a number of ranchers are pllling their fox pups for womis. in our own ranch we have Just com- pleted the process, using up nearly 1,500 capsules. We used 8 minim tetrachlorethylene mostly Lut for

they might be pressed in a book, or, worse still, lying in :1 glass case in a museum."

53mg years ago, when Dr. James

duty under the clock tower at West- , the famous lines: "Ioftsn think it's comical How Nature always does contrive That every boy and every gal That's born into the world alive Is either s. little Liberal m else a little Conservative!" s ' lands 0B the Bible! I have been reading "In the steps of The Master." .

ma. has a quotation from Dr. t‘: version of the scriptures.

t well call forth u» ad- 1 ‘ thehsadcfthisNoteJn the “sane o! scan" (Chm. a) u» beloved d declares "I am

. GIOR mflllu' sndthelilyof

.11» mos so. l- i, intbsotlfoifs

Moffat first gave his version to the world, “written in effective and in- telllgible mglish," a Journalist. 0H6 Robert Blatchford, had much hard- er things to say. Blatchfcrd was editor of The Clarion, a labor news- paper whlch in those days was look- ed upon as we look upon Commun- ist literature now. Ibwsswith con- siderable surprise. therefore, that I read his defence of the Authorized Version, which appeared inthellon-

TIIELY NOT’! 0N TOPICU Silver Fox Farming '

the lats pups cut the dosage down to two three minim capsules. Would recommend that the tips of Dups dosed be dipped in one in 100 Izal solution as there is a tendency for the foxes to bite them when dosed with the 9101111 medicine, the reason being that it causes heat in stomach.

ing hours before the day gets mo hot. If foxes are chased around on

there is quite a chance cf casualties. The nervous system of a fox is quite

. Harvest Methods Compared

A comparison cf various harvest- ing methods in respect to moisture conientsndgiudeofthegrainhss been carried out Jointly in the

L ‘ '1“ ‘riesofthr Uni- versities of Manitoba, Saskatche- wan, and Alberta under the direction of the Associate Com- mittee on Grain Research. The members of this committee officials of the Dominion and Provincial Departments of Agri- culhne, the Nat‘ ‘ Res-e k Council, Agriouitlural Colleges and other organizations. In this mom-q tune and grade suwey it was found that in various harvesting methom in parts of Manitoba and Saskatchewan in 1939 straight- combined wheat showed a. much greater percentage of tough and damp samples than either stock- threslued or swath -com.bined samples. Of 346 straight-combined samples. 18 per cent were touch and seven per cent damp. Of 212 stock-thrashed samples, 10 per cent were tough and none damp, and of 184 swath-combined‘ samples, 6.5 per cent were tough and 0-5 per cent were damp. with regard to the average grade of common wheat threshed by the various methods, there was a marked lowering of the grade between the early and late season samplw, and in view of the conflicting results for two consecutive seasons, no definite onclusi pan be drawn. As to dlnwn wheat, result of the survey point firmly to the con- clusion that stock-threshing is the best method for this class of wheat in Manitoba.

Cold Pack Cider

Discumlng cider as s. fnudt pro- duct, “Scientific Agriculture," the monthly publication of the Can- adian Sooieiw of Technical Agri- cultulrists mentions several methods of cider making. In the fruit products laboratory of the Central Eirperimentlall Farm at Ottawa, what is known as the closed Cuvee process is used in one of the cold pack methods and 1t is believed 121st this process holds the best possibilities for older making in Canada. No hard and fast routine is laid down but _ a fairly regular pIOOBdUPC is as fol- lows: Pressing-The fresh fruit is dumped into a. large tank of water which is kept agitated. The clean apples are then paddled onto a pulley which conveys them to the prom. They are crushed into a pomace which is dropped on the press-cloths in layers about one inch thick. The clotls are folded over, completely enclosing the pomarvoei A series of these layers of pomance (usually six) is built up, one on top of the other. and each separated by an open lattice press-board. Such a. series, or cheese as it is ienned, is placed undo the hydraulic pres for about twelve minutes. Storag%The juice may be clarified by passing through s. high-speed machine, then either an asbestos pulp pro-filter or a plate filter using diatomaceous earth as a filter-aid. The delivered