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from apprentice to proprietor. A long and most pleasant busi- 
ness connection is hereby terminated so far as Mr. Hershey and 
his associates are concerned, It is a pleasure to record here the 
uniform courtesy on théir behalf and the satisfactory service 
which has always attended our relations with the retiring pro- 
prietors, and it is a pleasure to express in this public manner our 
best wishes and felicitation to Mr. Hershey and his associates, 
Mr. Schindle and Mr. Warfel, as well as our best wishes for the 
new proprietoss who have, we are glad to say, been actively 
identified with The New Era Printing Company for some time 
past. 
Plans of the Royal Botanic Society—The Quarterly Summary 
of the Royal Botanic Society of London, No. 2, for October, 
1919, contains a report of a committee of eight appointed on 
April 9, 1919, by the Right Hon. Lord Ernle, M.V.O., president 
of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, “to inquire and re- 
port what steps should be taken to render the work of the 
Royal Botanic Society of London as useful as possible from the 
scientific and botanical point of view.” The chairman of the 
Committee was Lieut.-Col. Sir David Prain, Director of the 
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. The objects of the Society, as set 
forth in the charter, are “the promotion of Botany and its ap- 
plication to Medicine, Arts and Manufactures, and also for the 
formation of extensive botanical and ornamental gardens within 
the immediate vicinity of the Metropolis.” The scientific aims of 
the founders and the Society subsequently were rather to pro- 
vide material for teaching and research than to develop the 
Gardens as a teaching center. This has been the policy from the 
commencement, and it has also been the wish of the Society to 
provide information and economic and medicinal material to 
those engaged in the investigation or utilization of plant products. 
Although the Society did not at first consider it within its prov- 
ince to institute courses in botany, in 1897 it started a gardening 
school with a view to meet the want for scientifically trained 
gardeners. While it did not contemplate that research work 
should be carried on, it has on many occasions provided facili- 
ties for experimental work in botany and horticulture. 
