. THE PIvANT WORI.D 17 



the wholesale in the pulp- wood mills, should be entirely exhausted. 

 What if the holly and ground pine should become extinct? The only 

 way it can be prevented is by individual effort as well as by helping the 

 Society in its work. These clippings should be reprinted freely. 



The supply of Christmas trees in Washington far exceeded the demand. 

 Some of these were carried away for fire-wood yesterday, while the 

 remainder were placed in a pile on the haymarket grounds and a match 

 applied. It was estimated that 2,000 trees of various kinds remained 

 unsold the day after Christmas. The loss was considerable, as manj'^ of 

 them had been shipped long distances, two carloads of sweet-scented and 

 symmetrical balsam trees having come from Canada. The duty alone on 

 this lot was over $75. — The Washington Post. 



Philadelphia, Dec. 17. — Frightened at the prospect of an over- 

 stocked market and a serious financial loss, the Christmas tree syndicate 

 here late this afternoon decided upon the destruction of thirty full car- 

 loads of spruces and pines that were lying in the West Philadelphia yards 

 of the Pennsylvania Railroad, thereby cutting the supply in half. 



At dusk this evening a locomotive started out of the switchyard with 

 a string of fifteen cars. These were run to a dump some distance from 

 the city, where they were saturated with oil and the torch put to them. 

 A second string of cars was afterward taken to the same place. 



Altogether 4,000 trees were consumed between dusk and midnight. 

 There are now in Philadelphia about 3,000 trees to supply a normal demand 

 of 5,000. — The New York Sun. 



The Philadelphia Christmas tree dealers who saturated 4,000 trees 

 with oil and then burned them in order to keep prices up by a more 

 limited supply deserve to be hanged on the trees that are left till they 

 almost gasp for breath. 



Are there not 4,000 families in Philadelphia that can't afford to buy 

 Christmas trees at any price? — The New York Sun. 



The Director-in-Chief of the New York Botanical Garden authorizes 

 the following announcement of the proposed allotment of the Stokes fund 

 for the coming year. It will be observed that the fund is to be utilized 

 in several different ways, all in co-operation with the Society, which is 

 fortunate in receiving this assistance in its work. We hope that there 

 may be many essays submitted in competition for the prizes. With the 

 consent of the Garden, the prize- winning essays will be reprinted in The 

 Plant World from the Journal of the New York Botanical Garden. 



OLIVIA AND CAROLINE PHELPS-STOKES FUND FOR THE PROTEC- 

 TION OF NATIVE PLANTS. 



Since the establishment of this fund by the Misses Stokes in 1901, 

 and largely through the stimulus which it has afforded, a great public 

 interest in the preservation of native plants has been developed, and the 

 literature on the subject has become quite large. 



