502 HYLANDER 



future suburbanite and gentleman-gardener. The care of plants, indoors and 

 out, requires an intelligent appreciation of all the factors that enter into 

 keeping a plant alive — the water requirements of various plants under differ- 

 ent growing conditions, the use of fertilizers, and transplanting techniques are 

 a few that come to mind. Perhaps more emphasis could be placed on orna- 

 mentals for laboratory experiments and less on agricultural species. Relatively 

 new aspects of plant physiology, such as hydroponics, use of hormone sprays 

 and growth stimulants, weed killers, and soil conditioners could well be made 

 a part of the course content. Plant physiologists would find a ready market 

 for articles dealing with care of plants, based on research discoveries which 

 often do not become publicized as much as they ought to. 



Plant ecology can also be made a subject of interest to others than future 

 botanists. The relation of living plants to their environment is a dynamic 

 and thrilling field of botany; it becomes illustrated so beautifully whenever 

 one drives across the country from east to west or north to south. Long hours 

 of otherwise tiresome driving pass quickly as one looks for the appearance of 

 new plant communities and appreciates the reason for the existence of such 

 outstanding vegetation types as the Pacific evergreen forest, the prairies, the 

 deserts, and the eastern deciduous forests. Plant ecology also becomes help- 

 ful to the stay-at-home, in preserving the natural vegetation on the land 

 around his home and in introducing new plants into the proper niches in his 

 bit of nature. 



Gardening is a corollary to life in the suburbs and country. Beginning with 

 the first narcissus and Forsythia, and ending with the last frosted chrysanthe- 

 mum, this activity occupies much of the leisure hours of every member of the 

 family. From Florida to California gardening is a twelve-month avocation, 

 and the favorite topic of conversation wherever one goes is some unusual 

 varieties which have just bloomed in someone's garden. The money wasted 

 in acquiring unsuitable plants and the efforts expended in trying to make 

 them grow in impossible locations are appalling. A trip to the nursery becomes 

 more fruitful when the amateur gardener has gained some familiarity with 

 plant names and identification and knows enough about ecological conditions 

 at his home and physiological demands of particular plants to select wisely. 



There is no need for teachers to revamp the curricula which have stood 

 the test of time and which are necessary to produce our research botanists and 

 professional plant scientists. However, with the above long-range views in 

 mind for those students who may never use botany as a profession, at logical 

 points in the presentation of the subject, emphasis can be shifted to include 

 material which will be of benefit at some future date to those who some day 

 will become "the average American." 



For those who extend their teaching to reach the large invisible audience 

 of the general reader, selecting subjects in the writer's experience which 

 mesh into the pattern of modern living will make more certain the acceptance 



