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H/8/1991-1-

HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY

6 AUGUST 1991

The interior of Riverton was elegant, the grounds a delight when the
Society convened on August 6 for its first meeting at the home of Sally and
Tim Eller. The ample dinner was enhanced by the hospitality of the hosts and
their guests, who insured that each table maintained a generous supply of
edibles and potables.

After President Nancy Preuss called the meeting to order, the Ellers
introduced their guests: son Mark, Kate Windsor, Pavita McIntyre, and Sally's
brother Barry Van Riper and his wife Chrissie. Absent were the Fletchers,
Rogers, Mary Seiler, and Elizabeth Thornton and Peter Austin.

Tom Canby, the reader, excerpted passages from an article in New Scientist
magazine about the surprising affects of natural aspirin on plants. Scientists
have found that salicylic acid, the active component of aspirin, provides a
natural defense for plants, and can be produced by them with the proper
stimulus. The voodoo lily, for example, secretes the acid to generate heat
when its blossoms are fertile, generating an odor that attracts flies that
polinate it. Tobacco plants that are infected with viruses unleash a surge of
salicylic acid that manufactures proteins that vanquish the invaders.

Volunteer reader Jim Bullard drew on a chapter from The Birders' Handbook
to describe the versatility of the bird's bill, or, if one prefers, its beak.
Because the bird must use its forelimbs for flight, the bill/beak assumes the
role of hands or paws, for purposes such as grasping objects, scratching the
body, or making courting gestures. In the case of the skimmer bird, which
passes its beak through the water, a twice-normal growth rate constantly
replaces the worn appendage.

The subject of Puerto Rican sea turtles received a welcome addendum from
Bill Hartge, who recently returned from the island with fresh lore. A female
leatherback, he said, may lumber ashore to nest six or eight times in a
season, planting as many as a thousand large eggs. Bill's research expanded to
green turtles, and involved the tricky business of keeping the reptiles alive
once they are captured.

Susan Fifer Canby read the August 1891 minutes of the meeting at Avalon.
They brought forth the observation that fruit trees thrive especially near
smokehouses, leading Iduna Hanel to speculate that the smoking may inhibit
insects.

In his presentation on Forethought, Harold Earp urged the weekly watering
of roses, the testing of soil before liming in order to discover its needs,
and giving a try to tilling your soil at night to discourage weeds on the
theory that absence of sunlight inhibits germination.