1909] The Ottawa Naturalist. 55 



Held at the home of Mr. R. B. Whyte, Saturday, April 3rd, 

 1909. Present; Prof. John Macoun, Messrs. Whyte, Attwood,' 

 Clarke, Bond, Cameron, Campbell, W. T. Macoun, Groh, and 

 Newman. As per previous arrangement, Mr. L. H. Newman 

 acted as Chairman and opened the discussion on the following 

 subject: "Certain Biological Principles and their Relation to 

 Plant Improvement." The speaker outlined some of the prin- 

 ciple theories respecting the methods of organic evolution and 

 made some deduction from the behavior of plants in Nature 

 which he considered to be suggestive of how plants growing 

 under domestication might be improved. A most interesting 

 discussion followed the presentation of this subject and many 

 important observations were submitted as contributions to our 

 knowledge of the various factors and circumstances which have 

 a bearing upon the development and improvement of our 

 domestic plants. 



At the request of the Associate Editor of the Club in Botany 

 the Chairman agreed to prepare his remarks in the form of a 

 special article to appear in The Ottawa Naturalist at an 

 earlv date. 



L. H. N. 



OUR FIRST EXCURSION OF THE SEASON OF 1909. 



The excursion of the Ottawa Field-Naturalist's Club, on 

 the afternoon of the 24th of April, was not much favored by the 

 weather. Although there was no rain, the sun even shining over- 

 head in all its brightness, yet the thermometer hovered between 

 3 5 and 40, which, together with a cold, fitful wind, made people 

 shiver. In spite of that, about forty members and friends of the 

 Club assembled at the Experimental Farm at 2.30 in the after- 

 noon. This is not only one of the main show and beauty spots 

 of the Capital, but also a ready source of interest and informa- 

 tion to nature lovers. 



Under the leadership of Dr. W. Saunders, Mr. F. T. Shutt, 

 and Mr. W. T. Macoun, the big barn with its up-to-date ma- 

 chinery and agricultural implements was first inspected, and 

 then the different breeds of fine cattle in the basement. The 

 arrangement here is, as is to be expected, a model one. The 

 different kinds of farm animals are certainly well worth seeing. 



Next, the beds of fine crocuses in bloom near Dr. Saunders' 

 residence were admired. Thence we wended our way into the 

 Arboretum, where Mr. Macoun gave much in.struction on native 

 and exotic species of trees, especially conifers and shrubs, and 

 pointed out differences between closely allied species. A tinge 

 of sadness was also interspersed in his remarks, when he pointed 



