292 THE PLANT WORLD 



branch of our work is of the utmost importance ; and it has been sug- 

 gested that a grant be made to each of the local chapters to be used in 

 the purchase of a suitable stock of lantern slides, which could then be 

 used by any one competent to speak for the Society in that locality. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



It is a pleasure to record here the great benefit which the Society has 

 derived from the untiring efforts of its Treasurer, Mrs. Carolyn W. Harris. 

 She has written large numbers of personal letters and has promoted the 

 interests of plant protection in every possible way, and one of the largest 

 increments of our membership has come through her labors. Her 

 determination not to accept the Treasurership for the coming year will 

 be seriously felt by the Society ; but it is not, of course, reasonable or 

 just to expect one member to bear so heavy a burden indefinitely. It 

 must be remembered that the officers and the Board of Managers give 

 their services to the cause as a labor of love, and the amount of work 

 accomplished in this way is far below what they could wish for, and what 

 they confidently anticipate when the growing strength of the movement 

 shall yield requisite means. It is an excellent testimony to the loyalty 

 of the members that only three resignations have occurred during the 

 year. 



OFFICIAL ORGAN. 



Without an actual vote by the members it is impossible to know what 

 proportion have been influenced in entering by the receipt of a monthly 

 magazine, or what proportion would prefer the abandonment of the 

 organ ; but one fact remains clearly evident, and that is that wnth our 

 present income it would be an impossibility to print and distribute inde- 

 pendently an average of 3,000 essays in a year, with a corresponding 

 number of circulars of information, at less than three times the cost of 

 the present method. Since the distribution of literature is one of the 

 most effective of the Society's activities, it follows that a publication 

 organ of some kind is a virtual necessity. Whether the present method, 

 however, is preferable to that followed by the Audubon Societies, in 

 which members pay a fee of either 25 cents or $1.00, and if they desire 

 the official organ, subscribe for it separately, is a matter to which the 

 Board will give careful consideration at the forthcoming meeting. 



LOCAL CHAPTERS. 



Following is the list of these, in the order of their establishment : 



