THE PI.ANT WORLD 167 



Editorial. 



As WE enter upon the second half-year of the current volume we 

 wish to indulge in some retrospective observations and to have at the 

 same time what Mr. Bok would call "a heart-to-heart talk" with our 

 subscribers. 



The improvement in The Pi^ant World since it has been printed in 

 Washington is so marked that it has been everywhere the subject of 

 favorable comment. We feel also that the illustrations have been of a 

 high standard, and we have spared no expense to obtain just the right 

 picture for the right place. As for the subject-matter, it must be admitted 

 that it compares favorably with the contents of the larger magazines, and 

 in literary value is far above what is published in many so-called popular 

 periodicals. There maybe some readers who do not find the whole con- 

 tents of any given issue of interest. But it must be remembered that we 

 have on our subscription list many different classes of people. The 

 largest group consists of those who receive The Plant World by virtue 

 of their membership in the Wild Flower Preservation Society. 



Many of these, perhaps, care little for a journal of this type, their 

 membership merely evidencing a desire to aid the cause of plant preserva- 

 tion. To these we believe the articles written by Mr. Safford will espe- 

 cially appeal, as the series is of general as well as historical interest, and 

 it is the only full account yet published of the early days of American 

 occupation in Guam. 



There is also a group of subscribers who are taking the journal as 

 an experiment, and many of them change their periodicals annually. 

 Then there are those whose interest is limited to some particular feature, 

 such as the Guam articles or the ' ' Home Garden and Greenhouse ' ' de- 

 partment, and we endeavor to please this class of readers by adding new 

 features from time to time. Finally there are the old permanent sub- 

 scribers who have stood by us through adversity and prosperity since 

 the founding of The Plant World, and who constitute the foundation- 

 stone of our endeavor. To these we turn for advice and support, and to 

 them particularly this editorial is addressed. 



The increase in size, the improvement in typography and printing, 

 and the enlarged edition have all combined to add materially to the cost 

 of the journal, the subscription price of which has, however, remained 

 unchanged since the beginning. We venture the assertion that few pub- 

 lications can point to a record of progress such as ours without a corre- 

 sponding increase in the price ; and even those that seem to give the 

 most for the money usually consist of one-third reading matter and two- 



