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A SPECIES OF WILD CHERRY-Prunus microcorpa-CAPABLE OF RESISTING GREAT DROUGHT.

in Geok-Tepe, Turkestan, he found at smooth skinned apricot on sale. It is as smooth as the nectarine and its color is a pale yellow. It is a juicy, delicious fruit. known locally as the Slew-abrikose. Smooth apricots from the American grower's point of view, are things much. to be desired, and this particular fruit the explorer found to possess superior qualities of flavor. He found out where it grew and today under care of the experts in Washington the apricot is under "process of propagation" and ultimately it will be sent to the American apricot lands where the hope is it will flourish and yield abundantly.

The history of the introduction of new kinds of alfalfa into the United States with a view to proper selection and distribution, so that the proverbial benefaction of making two blades of grass grow where one grew before may be outdone, has been written again and again in agricultural history, but the search is never over. Explorer Meyer is looking for new kinds of alfalfa, kinds which may prove to be better adapted to the soil of some parts of the United States than those which already have been tried.

No grass and no grain is too humble to escape the plant hunter's attention. To Washington from the mountains near

wild grass, apparently a species of wild rye, and when under the gentle ministrations-plant lovers are always gentle handed and gentle hearted- of the Capital botanists the promise of the rye reaches fulfillment the work of distribution will be begun, and it may be that through it some of the country's waste places will come to a green redemption.

Travelers agree, Mr. Fairchild says, that the most beautiful tree in Turkestan and perhaps one of the most beautiful in the world is the Karakatch. It is a species of elm, the Ulmus campestris umbraculifera, the shade bearer. Word has come from Mr. Meyer that this tree eminently is fitted for planting in large numbers in the hot, irrigated sections of the United States. This introduction will be pushed in regions where trees of adequate shade are desired, but where experiment has shown in the past that many species have failed to respond to irrigation.

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From the foothills of the Himalayas has come a drought resisting species of poplar. In the arid and semi-arid regions of the western states where irrigation is not possible, or as yet has not been accomplished, there is a demand for shade trees for home yards and parks. tempts have been made frequently to find a promising subject. Explorer Meyer thinks that in this poplar, the Populus pruinosa, he has found something which will grow and give grateful shade to the families living in dry regions where the cold of winter is not too severe.

Seeds and cuttings of scores of species of plant life have come out of the country already traversed by the American plant explorer. Perhaps if one in twenty of the discoveries upon introduction into this country proves to be of lasting value the results will be worth the labor, the disregard of danger, the personal devotion to duty of the hunter, and the money spent by the government which commis

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The explorer of the deserts must be a botanist, but he must do much more than is done by the ordinary botanist of the field. He must know what many men who are botanists only do not know, how to get his material with the germ of life still active across deserts, countries, continents and oceans. He cannot be sure always that his collections will stand the long journey to Washington from the point of gathering. In this case frequently he must send them ahead of him to the coast town from which ultimately he intends. to take his departure, there to be planted and to grow until he can regather them from the soil to make them his jealously watched companions on the last stage of his journey. As soon as consignments of cuttings or seeds are received in Washington by David Fairchild they are turned over to the entomologist who examines them carefully for insect pests. Then quickly they are given to a pathologist who examines them for diseases and then if all is well with the importations they are put into alien but kindly soil "and started to growing."

this country from the Andes, the Himalayas, the Gobi Desert and from Australia, in all perhaps seventyfive kinds. Experiments in interbreeding have been successful and the American alfalfa range rapidly is being extended. From Southern California and from Arizona recently there have been sent to market five tons of dates, the fruit of palms introduced and grown successfully by the exploring scientists. Florida the mango industry is today upon a commercial footing. Explorer Meyer now in the Himalaya Mountains, some years ago found in China a puckerless and seedless persimmon. He sent cuttings to Washington where they were grown successfully. Then they were shipped to places in the Southern United States where it was believed they could be cultivated. Today ten acres of puckerless, seedless persimmons are under cultivation in Georgia by one of the largest fruit growers in America, a man who has faith in the word of the plant finders.

DAVID FAIRCHILD. THE AGRICULTURAL EXPLORER IN CHARGE OF FOREIGN SEED AND PLANT INTRODUCTION, BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY.

The Bureau of Plant Industry for several years has been at work introducing new and promising species of vegetation into the United States. What has it done? Improved alfalfa, thick growing, and enriching fields to which the plant was a stranger, are one answer to the question. Alfalfas have been brought to

In

Out of China recently the government's explorers brought a new cherry, which was sent to Southern California where it took kindly to soil and climate and gave return for the work expended by a crop of fine, marketable fruit which was ready for the picking two weeks in advance of any species of cherry known to the state. A red currant, the Ribes petraeum, brought from the Altai Mountains has proved in St. Petersburg to be

a thrifty grower, and a producer holding promise of a successful American future.

Cuttings of ten forms of olives of the hardiest kind known, have been sent from the far east to the gardens of the American Capital. It has been proved that these olive trees will stand a temperature of -2° Fahrenheit which kills American olives down to the ground. Apples, pomegranates, wild peas and hardy oranges are other introductions, some of them already acclimated, bearing juicy fruit, fine flavored and grateful to the eyes of the market man and the buyer.

Disappointment comes frequently and always painfully to the men of the Explorer's Division of the Bureau of Plant Industry. Time after time attempts to bring to this country living seeds and living shoots from places far distant have failed, but the death of the plant does not bring death of hope. Five times attempts were made to secure from

Chili the seeds of a plant relative of the Alligator pear with the germ of life still in them, and five times failure came. Finally the explorer has planned to swing a cradle of moss underneath the fruit of the tree to catch it as it falls ripened from the stem, knowing that in this way he can be certain of an absolutely fresh seed supply.

The work of David Fairchild and his fellow scientists is one of propagation and distribution. The aim is to put new forms of plant life into the hands of the agriculturists of the country. It is the development of a new type of field work. It is experimental of course, but no experiment is tried without previous study to make certain that kindred conditions of soil and climate exist between the place of the species' origin and the place where it is to start life anew in an environment which, the anxious plant lover's constant prayer is, it will not find uncongenial.

LIGHT-PRODUCING ALLOYS

LONG before the modern process of

using chemical preparations, fire was kindled by the use of flint stones which by concussion emit sparks.

This method of lighting inflammable materials has been restored by the use of other metals producing, under the action of a shock, sparks hotter than those obtained with the ordinary steel and flint. Metallic uranium will ignite a mixture of air and fire-damp; scientists have discovered that this mixture must remain a certain length of time in contact with the uranium before igniting. The phenomenon is its delay to take fire; this delay of 10 seconds at the temperature of 650 degrees, diminishes in proportion as the temperature increases, for a delay of only one second the temperature must be increased to 1,000 degrees.

The temperature of the sparks from uranium is then above 1,000 degrees.

Sparks forced from iron whether by an ordinary steel and flint or by the stroke of a miner's tool will not ignite the mixture of air and fire-damp.

cotton wicks saturated with alcohol or benzine. It was decided that this metal could be utilized for making very simple lighters, by placing a piece of uranium in a movable support pressed by a spring against a steel surface covered with points arranged in such a way that the sparks produced would be projected into the gas jet or on the wick to be lighted.

This very ingenious idea which was not applied because of the high price of uranium is now going to be realized because of the recent utilizing of the substance cerium.

In 1906 Dr. Auer of France attracted attention to cerium by a patent concerning an alloy of cerique metals with iron; by this alloy small pyrophoric sticks under slight shocks will emit very hot sparks.

A new alloy, the Kunheim alloy, is composed of cerique metals with the addition of iron and magnesia. It ignites more readily than the preceding alloy, and may be utilized for lighting gas jets, while the Auer metal is especially

SUBSTITUTE FOR SHORTHAND

By

ROBERT H. MOULTON

FEW years ago an important law-suit was being tried in a court of one of our large cities. A dozen witnesses, representing each side of the case, had been heard and their testimony duly recorded. The most important witness, however, and the one upon whom the defense chiefly relied to support its contentions, was reserved until the last. When he finally took the stand, judge, lawyers and the other court attaches leaned eagerly forward in order not to miss a word of what might be said, and the official court stenographer prepared to take down his testimony. The examination began, and the witness proved to be such a rapid talker that the stenographer, one of the most expert in his line, was forced to exert himself to the utmost to keep pace with the questions and answers that were plied back and forth.

When the examination finally was concluded, the stenographer leaned back with a sigh and congratulated himself that he had made a record for speed and -accuracy? Well, he had passed successfully through similar experiences before and there was no reason why he should feel that he had made any errors in this instance, or doubt his ability to correctly transcribe the queer assortment of hieroglyphics that covered page after page of his note book. Besides,

if there was any doubt in his mind, he could easily

communicate his perplexity to the judge, who would re-examine the witness and but just then a dramatic incident occurred. The witness was seen to sway in the chair and then topple forward, dead-a victim of heart failure.

This incident so unnerved the stenographer that when he set to work a few hours later to transcribe his notes he found more than the usual difficulty in deciphering them. Still he finished his work with the consciousness that he had performed his task well. The half dozen or so of words about which he had been in doubt could not affect the result of the trial materially anyway-at least that is what the stenographer thought. But when a few weeks later the case was decided by the judge, it went, very much to the surprise of all concerned, against the defense. In reading his decision the judge dwelt with some emphasis upon certain words in the testimony of the chief witness and which, he declared, had led him to arrive at his conclusions. The stenographer recognized in these particular words the very ones about which he was in doubt, when transcribing his notes, and he was troubled. If he had been absolutely sure of himself, might not the whole case have been decided differently? But now it was too late to do anything in the

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THE MACHINE WHICH DOES AWAY WITH THE STENOG

RAPHER'S PAD AND PENCIL.

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This is only one of many instances wherein the inability of stenographers to read their shorthand notes correctly has re

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sulted in much trouble and confusion. This defect in a marvelous system of taking down the words of a speaker verbatim is one which numerous inventors have labored to correct. Mechanical aid of some sort seemed the only solution of the problem, because there are limits beyond which even the swiftest hand and the keenest and most accurate mind cannot go. So these as well as inventors set to work to perfect a device that would replace shorthand. But none of the many machines on which patents were claimed seemed capable of fulfilling all the requirements that would be exacted of them.

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THE NEW STENOGRAPHIC CODE AND ITS KEY. EU equals I: PH equals M (initial); PB equals N (final); BG equals K (final): final T equals T or D (context invariably distinguishes); S equals Is or As-in phrases initial or final); TPH equals N (initial); TP equals F (initial). The following letters, when appearing on the same line with asterisk, become figures instead, as: S with the asterisk equals 1: T with the asterisk equals 2; P with the asterisk equals 3: H with the asterisk equals 4: E with the asterisk equals 5: F with the asterisk equals 6: P with the asterisk equals 7: L with the asterisk equals 8; T with the asterisk equals 9; O with the asterisk equals 0.

There has recently been put upon the market, however, a dictating machine, called the Stenotype, which its inventor claims will do for shorthand what the typewriter has done for longhand. It is not intended to replace the typewriter, but to be a companion machine to it. It is said to eliminate the greater part of brain work in taking dictation, and to make this work a matter of practice rather than mental strain. This claim certainly makes it look rosy for those who have heretofore found the stenographic pace too fast. Instead of learning stenography the student will only need to learn to operate the dictating machine.

Shorthand is difficult to master and many students of it never become proficient, while those who may be termed experts are comparatively few. This is proved by the number of those who fail in taking the Civil Service examinations for Uncle Sam. The speed required to pass is only eighty words per minute, which probably defines the speed limit of the average experienced stenographer. The trouble is that in shorthand there are too many mental operations to be performed-six for every word, in fact. It is claimed that the dictating machine will cut this in two.

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