THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 45 



It is some time since the World War was won and wages 

 in many industries have returned to something approximating" 

 normal, hut the printing trades still adhere to war prices. 

 The onlv material that has lowered in price is paper. The 

 printers have not only shortened their hours, but in many lo- 

 calities have increased their wages while illustrations of all 

 kinds were never higher. The increased cost of printing 

 which such conditions necessitate is having a most harmful 

 effect upon scientific publications. A large number of the 

 periodicals are late, or not issued at all, while book after book 

 that in normal times would be re-issued is now allowed to 

 go out of print since it is no longer profitable to carry it. 

 There are. now only two fern books obtainable and a large 

 number of popular books on plants, birds, insects, etc., have 

 disappeared from the market. The avaricious publisher, not 

 to be outdone by the printers, has doubled and even trebled 

 the price of books issued at low cost before the war and be- 

 cause the market for nature books is limited, is not issuing 

 others. We cannot recall a single important botanical work 

 issued in America in 1922. All this spells stagnation for 

 science and hard times for the printers, who in spite of high 

 wages are not noticeably prosperous. 



BOOKS AND WRITERS 



The date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) the fruit of which 

 with us is regarded as a sort of confection, is an important 

 food plant in the warmer parts of the world. So extensively 

 is it cultivated in Mesopotamia that V. H. W. Dawson of the 

 Agrictiltural Directorate of that region has found it desira- 

 ble to publish a memorial on the subject under the title of 



