THE AMERICAN BOTANIST IZ 



and if, as seems likely in a few cases, this turns out to be im- 

 possible, that it will be necessary for the public to do without 

 them or to accept a substitute which can be produced here or 

 which can be imported with safety." It is not likely that a 

 policy of separating ourselves from the good things of this 

 world to spite a few measly plant pests will commend itself to 

 a free people. To be sure a race of landscape artists has 

 sprung up in this country which is so patriotic that it will 

 plant only native species, but while we admit that many hand- 

 some shrubs and trees originated in this country, we do not 

 see how the best planting can do without the lilacs, the for- 

 sythias, the rhododendrons and many others that make our 

 grounds attractive. We cannot help feeling that the horti- 

 culturists should have bent their efforts toward establishing 

 safe methods of importing plants instead of proposing to shut 

 ourselves up in magnificent isolation. Fortunately for us, a 

 change in the political complexion of the country may make 

 possible the modifying or rescinding of the obnoxious order. 

 Its enforcement for a short time may possibly be of value in 

 emphasizing the harm that such a sweeping order is sure to 

 bring to the gardening movement in America. 



A former subscriber to this magazine recently wrote us 

 as follows: "I discontinued the American Botanist because 

 I could not comprehend much of it. Since then I have been 

 studying and am now reviewing the issues and am surprised 

 that I could not have grasped the ideas they contained while 

 the copies were coming to me." It is evident that others have 

 had the same trouble, for of the large number who annually 

 ask for sample copies, not one tenth subscribe. And here we 

 have been flattering ourselves that we are making a magazine 

 that a child could understand. A realization of our failure 

 to meet the needs of the beginner, however, only emphasizes 



