13s 
Mr. J. J. Levison, M.F., arboriculturist of the Department 
of Parks of Brooklyn, and lately forester to the city of New 
York, announced his resignation on April 1, 1917. He will now 
devote his entire time to private practice as consulting landscape 
forester and arboriculturist. His address is Sea Cliff, N. Y. 
From May 14 to June 1 Teachers College, of Columbia Uni- 
versity, gave a series of special short courses dealing with various 
aspects of educational, social, and practical emergency work dur- 
ing the time of war. Students of the School of Education and 
the School of Practical Arts of the College, who attended 
emergency courses three or more hours a day for ten days were 
excused from examinations in all courses in which they had a 
passing standing on May 12. The course in Educational and 
Practical Problems of Gardening was given by Miss Ellen Eddy 
Shaw, of the Botanic Garden staff. The course aimed to meet 
the needs of those interested in the cultivation of their own 
gardens, or of those wishing to codperate with the plan for 
cultivating vacant city lots by directing groups of boys and girls. 
On Saturday, May 5, Dr. Gager addressed the Botanical So- 
ciety of Pennsylvania on “The aims and objects of the Brooklyn 
Botanic Garden.” The occasion was the general meeting of the 
society, which was held at Panhurst, on the grounds of Mr. 
Roberts Le Boutillier, Wayne, Penn., near Philadelphia. A 
basket luncheon preceded the program. After an inspection of 
Mr. Le Boutillier’s planthouses and grounds, including a Japa- 
nese Garden, supper was served by Mr. and Mrs. Le Boutillier 
to the officers and speakers. 
The Committee on Grants for Research, of the American As- 
sociation for the Advancement of Science, met in Washington 
on April 15 and 16, 1917. Among grants made in various sci- 
ences, three were for botanical research, including a grant of one 
hundred dollars to Dr. R. C. Benedict, resident investigator at 
the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, for the continuation of his studies 
of variation in the Boston fern. The other two were to Prof. H 
M. Richards, Barnard College, Columbia University, for the 
continuation of his investigation of the physiology of succulent 
plants, at Carmel, Calif., and to Prof. C. H. Kauffmann, Uni- 
