216 THE PI.ANT WORLD 



Editorial. 



The discomforts of an annual attack of hay-fever, which seizes one 

 of the occupants of our editoral sanctum with relentless regularity, moves 

 us to make a few remarks anent the subject of weeds in city vacant lots. 

 Weed, ' ' like ' ' dirt, ' ' is an elusive word to define. If dirt is matter out 

 of place we may ask why a weed is not a plant out of place. The obvious 

 answer to this is that there are some plants, such as the ragweed {Ain- 

 brosia) for which it is hard to conceive a useful place in the economy of 

 nature. Besides being a pest of cultivated fields, the rag^'eed takes pos- 

 session of the roadside and all out-of-the-way corners ; and when its 

 yellow pollen begins to float in the hot, dog-day atmosphere of late 

 August it brings terror to the heart and coryza to the nose of the luck- 

 less victim of hay-fever. 



Almost all the weeds of vacant lots resemble ragweed in being tall 

 and coarse in habit, so that when grownng in a mass they form a shelter 

 for dirt of all kinds, besides harboring insects. Many of them are 

 unpleasantly scented, and none are of any possible value ; so that it would 

 seem a simple matter to insure their extermination by municipal ordi- 

 nance requiring the owners of these lots to have them mowed at fixed 

 intervals during the summer. 



Mr. Charles L,. Pollard, of our editorial staff, and the executive 

 officer of The Plant World Company, has accepted a position on the 

 scientific staff of the G. and C. Merriam Company, a publishing house of 

 Springfield, Mass. There will be no change in the management or 

 place of publication of The Plant World. Mr. Pollard's business 

 address in connection with this magazine will be, as at present, in Wash- 

 ington, though he will be in residence in Springfield for the next few 

 years. He leaves the U. S. National Museum October 1. 



During the past month two more persons prominent in nature study 

 work have passed away. With the death of Miss Sadie F. Price, of Bowl- 

 ing Green, Ky., the botanists of the country have lost a good friend and 

 a faithful correspondent. Miss Price was always quick to notice interest- 

 ing features of plant life, and her zeal in furnishing material to profes- 

 sional workers is attested by the species that have been dedicated to her 

 in grateful recognition of her services. Among these discoveries may 

 be mentioned Apios Priceana Robinson ; Oxalis Priceae Small ; and an 

 unpublished violet. 



Through the courtesy of Miss Price's sister we have received a manu- 

 script entitled "Kentucky Oaks," with numerous drawings, probably 



