THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 19 



ing himself where those sixty thousand people are. Cer- 

 tainl}' the3^ are not on his lists. The reason they are not, 

 however, is that there are really very few botanists as yet 

 in America. The people who buy the popular books are 

 interested only in learning the names of the plants. Until 

 we can induce them to take a deeper interest in botany, 

 the road of the botanical publication is likely to be a 

 rough one. Those who would help matters along must 

 not only subscribe to the publications themselves, but ad- 

 vise others to do so. The American Botanist at least, 

 stands committed to a policy of increasing the number of 

 pages with each material increase of its subscription list. 

 Under these circumstances we have no hesitation in asking 

 for the subscription of every botanist and botanizer in 

 America. If we do not get them we shall not cease publi- 

 cation, but we can make a better journal if we do. Now 



is the time to subscribe ! 



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With the January issue, our other journal The Fern 

 Bulletin begins its twelfth year of uninterrupted publica- 

 tion. In the matter of age it yields only to the Torrey 

 Bulletin and the Botanical Gazette, all the other strictly 

 botanical publications in this country having been founded 

 since it began publication. During its existence it has wit- 

 nessed the demise of many deserving periodicals including 

 Garden and Forest, Meehan's Monthly, Erythea, Asa 

 Gray Bulletin and others. The many changes that have 

 taken place in the comparatively short period of its exist- 

 ence all point to the transitory nature of the botanical 



publishing interests. 



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Readers interested in the phenomena of early spring 

 will find the following papers, published in the American 

 Botanist, worth another reading: "The Advent of 

 Spring," in Vol. 4; "Plants in Winter" and "CHmate and 

 Vegetation," in Vol. 3; "The Beginnings of a Southern 

 Spring" and "Spring in the South," in Vol. 2. Many 

 other shorter notes are also of interest in this connection. 



