430 proceedings: botanical society 



The Front Range, at least in the Castle Rock region, is not a simple 

 monoclinal uplift, but strike faulting along the base of the mountains 

 has played a more important part than has been supposed. 

 The Lewis overihrust, Glacier National Park: M. R. Campbell. 

 The Bannock overihrust, southeast Idaho: R. W. Richards. 



Robert Anderson, 

 R. W. Richards, 



Secretaries. 



THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



A special meeting of the Society was held September 18, 1912, in 

 honor of Prof. Hugo De Vries, of Amsterdam. 



Professor De Vries spoke on The future of plant breeding as related to 

 agricultural production. The speaker advanced a modified view of the 

 Malthusian doctrine and emphasized the necessity for developing means 

 whereby the productiveness of food plants can be greatly increased, 

 and the desirability of producing new forms of plant life which may be 

 utilized as a source of food materials. This is necessary if the increase 

 in food production is to keep pace with the increase in population. Up 

 to the present time this has been possible but unless some means is 

 found of obtaining a greater yield than is possible today, future genera- 

 tions must face the problem of an insufficient food supply. 



We are rapidly approaching the limits beyond which the further com- 

 bination and selection of our best strains of plants will give no increased 

 advantage. There is need of securing entirely new forms of plant life 

 and experimental plant breeding is now laying a firm foundation for the 

 production of such new forms. As this work is extended it will be neces- 

 sary to study the various forms of plant life in order to discern the 

 natural course through which the better strains have come into exist- 

 ence ; then by following this course under experimentally controlled con- 

 ditions it may be possible to produce new forms which will far exceed 

 in productiveness those with which we are familiar at the present time. 



At the close of the address brief appreciative talks were made by W. M. 

 Hays, E. F. Smith, W. J. Spillman and F. V. Coville, on various aspects 

 of Professor De Vries' work as a scientist. 



W. W. Stockberger, Corresponding Secretary. 



