74 
Binding 
Much time and attention has been given to the matter of bind- 
ing, for the proper binding of books and periodicals means a 
great deal for the convenience of the staff, and the treatment by a 
binder of books which are to be read in a reference library 
touches an entirely different set of problems from those which 
concern a loan library. As shown in our tabular conspectus, 
322 volumes have been sent to the binder, each volume collated 
and accompanied by a slip giving minute directions as to material, 
color, scheme of lettering, form of binding, and so forth, each lot 
of books accompanied by a letter covering all points not men- 
tioned on the slips. Two or three times your librarian has visited 
the bindery to inspect the work in person, and the foreman makes 
calls at our library for consultation in questions of doubt. There 
has been set up a reciprocal cooperation between the library and 
the bindery which is giving satisfactory results. This oppor- 
tunity may be taken to express to the Chivers Book Binding Com- 
_pany our appreciation of the interest and loyalty which they have 
shown in the execution of our orders. Among the more im- 
portant sets which have been bound are the Experiment Station 
Record, Contributions from the United States National Her- 
barium, the Botanical Gazette, the Plant World, International 
Catalogue of Scientific Literature: Botany, Mycologia, and Bio- 
metrika. The two volumes of Index Kewensis and the’ Supple- 
ments, nos. I-4, 1886-1910, have been bound in three fourths 
dark green Nigerian morocco, in three volumes. The technical 
work of the binding is extremely good; the volumes open flat as 
they lie on the table and can be most conveniently referred to in 
the herbarium, where they are in hourly use. A strenuous effort 
has been made to complete for binding sets of periodicals where 
parts were missing, as in case of the earlier volumes of the 
Botanical Gazette, and letters have been written to many book 
dealers to secure back numbers. 
Much more binding remains to be done; ragged shelves are 
still in evidence, and our botanical literature is much more diffi- 
cult of access than if fully bound. As rapidly as funds become 
available, the remaining unbound sets of journals and society 
