45 
supported institutions—the Museum of Modern Art, 5,347, or 2% 
(25 cents admission); the New York Museum of Science and 
Industry, 53,639, or 15% (25 cents admission). For the semi- 
public institutions (supported in part by Tax Budget appropria- 
tions) the decreases in attendance were as follows: Brooklyn Bo- 
tanic Garden; 5% ; Metropolitan Museum of Art, 13% ; American 
Museum of Natural History, 14%; New York Public Library, 
17% ; Brooklyn Museum, 27% ; New York Zoological Park, 32% 
CoopERATION IN THE War EFForRT 
How can botanical science contribute to the war effort? In 
many ways of vital importance. Food, for example, as the Secre- 
tary of Agriculture, Mr. Wickard, has said, is “a most powerful 
weapon” of war. It is needed now in greater amount than ever 
before—for the armed forces and the civilian needs of our own 
country and our allies. Knowledge arrived at by botanical studies 
underlies all attempts to increase the yield of food plants. 
For example, some years ago, Dr. George H. Shull undertook a 
study of the breeding of Indian corn with a purely scientific aim 
in view. His results, published in 1908 and 1909, marked the 
beginning of a new era in corn breeding. “Hybrid corn is the 
most spectacular and far-reaching agricultural development of this 
generation. It ranks in importance with the invention of the 
telephone and the internal combustion engine.” By 1937 80% of 
the yellow sweet corn for canning was grown from “Hybrid seed,” 
produced by following a method based on the principles worked out 
by Dr. Shull. This year more than 25 million acres—slightly more 
than one half the acreage of the corn belt—is grown from hybrid 
corn. There is not a soldier in our army, not a citizen of the 
United States, that does not benefit from this piece of research in 
“pure” botany. It has been estimated that the value of the corn 
crop of this country has been increased by several million dollars 
a year by this practical application of Dr. Shull’s results. In- 
stances could be multiplied, not only in the realm of food produc- 
tion, but also in the use of plants and plant products for drugs, 
all of 

fibres, paper, lumber, and otherwise, and in plant diseases 
the highest importance for war needs. 
