IH li A M 1:K 1 CA X IK )'l A N 1ST 1_"< 



catalogs of names desirable. In describitig the flora of a 

 region, to be sure, all tbe plants may be listed, but when we 

 return from a tri[) and altem[)t in give a friend some idea of 

 the flowers encountered, we do not enumerate them all; we 

 only name the outstanding forms which especially attracted 

 our attention and add the reasons why they did so. Some- 

 thing of the same treatment should [)revail in our printed ac- 

 counts. If one examines the writings of Burroughs, Thoreau. 

 Gibson. \ an Dvke, Hudson, and others of similar character, 

 to discover what it is that gives permanence to their work, 

 he discovers that aside from the ability to express themselves 

 in pleasing form, it is the ideas they present that attract us. 

 ( >ne may conceivably stay at iiome throughout the year and 

 yet gather a harvest of ideas that will provide a better article 

 than extensive botanizing. We do not. however, mean to 

 imply that descriptive articles are not desirable, but we do 

 suggest that ideas may also be included. Every year we 

 have to return to the writers numerous articles that are too 

 categorical or too descriptive of well known features to suit 

 us, but we have never yet returned an article with ideas in it. 

 And so, just now when we assume that all our readers are 

 planning to send us the results of their season's work, we 

 print tliese fricndK- admonitions. 



BOOKS AND WRITERS 



Well, here we are, i)ack from a month's vacation, to find 

 that the publishers have seized the opportunity to make a lot 

 of changes. * * * After completing 37 volumes. Jforfi- 

 cnlturc of Boston ceases to be a trade paper * * * jf 

 has been promoted to be a general horticultural magazine 

 under the auspices of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. 



