f Edit 



Twice we have intimated tbat we expected to use 

 colored plate» in this ma.^-az^ine a.id we revert to the sub- 

 ject once more to sa}- that be,<^inning- with the August 

 issue we expect to run a colorec' plate in every other num- 

 ber for the rest of this ^-ear. By Januar3^ it is hoped that 

 we can complete our arrangements for a plate in each 

 issue for 1905. We hope or.r readers will show their ap- 

 preciation of this move b3^ helping to make the magazine 

 known to others. Whenever you meet a botanist or bot- 

 anizer ask him if he takes The American Botanist and if 

 he does not, tell him he should do so. We stand ready to 

 increase the number of pages in this magazine just as often 

 as the subscription list warrants; therefore even' person 

 3'ou influence to become a subscriber adds to the value of 

 your OAvn copy. 



* 

 A subscriber to this journal, himself by no means a 

 beginner, writes as follows in response to our recent re- 

 quest for suggestions: "Botany for Beginners is a very 

 interesting department in your journal and I am sure 

 manv people besides beginners enjoy it. We sometimes 

 read in it articles on mushrooms; these articles also are 

 intended for beginners. I should suggest that there be 

 more articles about ferns for beginners, hepatics for begin- 

 ners, mosses or cryptogams generally for beginners. It 

 strikes me that in the Fern Bulletin, in the Bryologist or 

 like journals there is scarcely anything for beginners. 

 Whv? Because only specialists read those journals. But 

 would it not be the proper thing to write lor beginners 

 about those special subjects in a journal devoted to 

 general botany ? I think it would ; it would help interest 

 more nature students and make more specialists. How 

 many of your readers cannot distinguish between a fern 

 and a flowering plant, a moss and a clubmoss, a hepatic 



