228 
port. Dr. Britton read a communication from Rev. E. E. But- 
ler, and showed specimens of nuts and leaves sent by him from 
a tree growing near Morristown, N. J., which seems intermediate 
between Juglans cinerea and some species of Carya,; the 
leaves are 3 or 5-foliate and pubescent ; the nuts shorter than 
those of the Butternut, and otherwise different. Dr. Newberry 
read selections from the address of Wm. Carruthers before the 
Section of Biology of the British Association for the Advance- 
ment of Science, printed in Nature of Sept. 9th, 1886. 
A Letter from Commissioner Colman to the Botanists of the A. A. A. S. 
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, 
WASHINGTON, D. C., October 20th, 1886. } 
To the Members of the Botanical Club of the American Association Sor the Advance- 
ment of Science: 
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: I have noted with extreme gratification the interest 
you have taken in the work established by’me in this Department, relative to the in- 
vestigation of the fungus diseases of plants ; and the resolutions you have passed com- 
mending my action and assuring me of your support and aid in securing the necessary 
means for the continued and successful prosecution of this most important undertaking 
are fully appreciated, and I wish to thank you on behalf of the farmers and fruit 
growers of the country, in whose interest and for whose direct benefit this work is 
designed. ; : 
As you are well aware, only a few of the more important plant diseases have been 
thoroughly worked out by scientists, and the little that has been done—little when 
compared with what there is to do, but a great deal when considered by itself—has 
been the result of private effort on the part of some of your own well-known mem- 
bers. Such obscure diseases as the peach yellows, the cotton rust, and the ‘foot rot’’ 
of the orange tree, demand immediate attention, and, for their proper elucidation, we 
need to command the services of our most skillful investigators, giving them opportu- 
nities to make special studies in the field until the knowledge desired is gained. As 
you have well suggested, a liberal supply of funds is required for this work. 
In addition to the assistance in this particular, to which you have so generously 
pledged yourselves, I beg leave to call your attention to the fact that you, as botan 
ists, knowing our cultivated and native plants and the fungus parasites infesting them, 
may do much valuable service as observers in your respective localities, by recording 
such facts as may come to your notice relating to this subject, and by collecting and 
transmitting to the Department material useful in the investigations, or that may serve 
to record the distribution of the injurious species of fungi. 
Facilities for this work, and a free use of the mails, will be accorded those who 
may have such notes or materials to transmit, and the source of all matter that may be 
used for publication will be properly credited. 
Again thanking you for your hearty commendation of my course in relation to 
the subject, and assuring you that I shall continue to do all in my power to further 
the work, I remain, 4 ve 
ours res; : 
riage NORMAN J. COLMAN, 
Commissioner. 
