18 MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN. 
banquet to the Trustees of the Garden and their guests, 
presided over by the Bishop of Missouri; the second 
banquet to gardeners, florists and nurserymen, presided 
over by the Director of the Garden ; and the award of the 
first Shaw premiums at a floral exhibition, given under 
the auspices of the Florists’ Club of St. Louis. 
The flower sermon will be printed in the third report, 
which will also contain abstracts of the proceedings at the 
two banquets. The premiums authorized by the 25th para- 
graph of the 4th clause of Mr. Shaw’s will, which were 
awarded by the Florists’ Club at its Chrysanthemum show 
in November last, under the direction of the Board of 
Trustees of the Garden, were offered for subjects calculated 
to broaden the scope of florists’ work, and to afford op- 
portunity for visitors to the exhibition to become familiar 
with choice specimens of plants not ordinarily found in the 
floral establishments of the city. To this end, competition 
for these premiums was opened to the general public with- 
out fee or reservation, and as a result of this liberality on 
the part of the Florists’ Club, several valuable collections 
and specimen plants were exhibited from the middle and 
eastern States. Awards were made for orchids, $150.00; 
new seedling Chrysanthemum, $50.00 ; Draceenas, $30.00; 
Cycads, $15.00; Pandanus, $30.00; Araucarias, $15.00; 
Palms, $135.00; and other decorative plants, $30.00: 
—together $460.00. A series of premiums amounting to 
$40.00, offered for a collection of Oxalis plants, which are 
deserving of more general cultivation by amateurs than they 
receive, was not competed for. 
THE SCHOOL OF BOTANY. 
Since the presentation of my last report I have been as- 
sisted by Mr. Webber, who has attended to the necessary 
routine work of the School, including preparations for the 
regular lectures to undergraduates which are delivered by 
me. He has also conducted, under my direction, the 
laboratory electives for undergraduates, and special classes 
