24 MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN. 
It may be worthy of mention, as showing the influence 
of these gatherings, that, partly as a result of the discus- 
sion at the preceding banquet,* much interest has been 
awakened in the beautification of St. Louis homes by the 
use of growing plants, a matter energetically taken up by 
the Engelmann Botanical Club and indorsed by the sub- 
sequently organized Civic Improvement League. As a 
result of these efforts, over 70,000 packets of flower seeds 
were sown by school children alone last year, and there is 
reason to believe that the activity of both children and 
parents will be increased the coming season. 
The provision in Mr. Shaw’s will for the award of pre- 
miums or prizes at a flower show when held in St. Louis, 
was not taken advantage of in 1902, for the only time since 
the first flower show was held, no flower show being held 
in the city last year. 
THE SCHOOL OF BOTANY. 
The staff of the School of Botany remains unchanged 
since my last report. 
With the purpose of better adapting the work of the 
department to the general needs of the University, the 
series of electives in botany offered to undergraduatest 
was considerably shortened and simplified in the spring, the 
courses as now offered being as follows :— 
1,2. Elementary Morphology and Organography. — Laboratory work, 
with supplementary lectures and quizzes, dealing with the form 
and structure of plants with special reference to their life pro- 
cesses, and to systematic botany. 
3,4. Cytological Technique. Laboratory work in the cultivation and 
examination of bacteria and the methods of histological investiga- 
tion, combined with a study of the principal types of plant anat- 
omy, — specially adapted to the needs of students intending to 
study medicine. 
* Rept. Mo. Bot. Gard. 18 : 25. 
t Rept. Mo. Bot. Gard. 12:19. 
