138 THE PLANT WORLD 



EDITORIAL 



Writers in Fick's Family Magazine and in Park and Cemetery have 

 recently discussed at some length the improvement and adornment of 

 school grounds. There can be no question that the brightening of a 

 child's surroundings during his working hours has a very direct and 

 vital bearing on his mental development. The love of nature and nat- 

 ural objects should be carefully fostered in the young mind, and it 

 should not only be taught to appreciate the beauties of plant life, but 

 should receive at least an introduction to those problems of growth, 

 relationship and environment that will later form parts of the botanical 

 course in the high school or college curriculum. Many a botanist has 

 derived his love of the science from childhood experiences with plant 

 life. The importance of botany in its relations to agriculture, medi- 

 cine, chemistry, and dietetics, is now everywhere recognized, so that all 

 possible encouragement should be given to the younger generation of 

 prospective professionals. 



The concluding sentence above, suggests another aspect of the sub- 

 ject of botany as a profession. The death of Professor Thomas C. Por- 

 ter, whose biography and portrait are published in this issue of The 

 Plant Woeld, removes from us the last member of that brilliant galaxy 

 of botanists of the past generation, among which Asa Gray shone as 

 the central guiding star. In the still more recent decease of Dr. Charles 

 Mohr, the veteran botanist of Alabama, we have lost practically the 

 last of another group of men, scarcely less eminent in their studies, but 

 to whom botany was of necessity subordinated to the demands of active 

 business professions. This means the beginning of another era in bot- 

 any. Whether it will embrace so many illustrious names, or whether 

 it will be productive of so many important results, we cannot now pre- 

 dict. There is an opportunity for every young student of the science. 



