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Botanical Survey. — Since our last Annual Meeting I have 

 received some copies of a paper on Botanical Survey for Local 

 Naturalists' Societies, by Dr. Smith, of the Yorkshire College, 

 Leeds, to which I should like to call the attention of all inter- 

 ested in the plant life of the District, and I trust some of our 

 members will assist in this work which is being taken up by 

 members of other Societies in other parts of Yorkshire. 

 Quoting briefly from the paper, I may state that "the first 

 step in the case of starting a record is to select a place where 

 the vegetation is fairly uniform, for example, a wood, a portion 

 of a moor, or some swamp. The size of the area is of minor 

 importance, although there are many advantages in having it 

 as large as possible — say, at least an acre. The identification 

 of the place should be ensured by colouring it on a 6-inch 

 Ordnance Survey Map. For each Plant — Association dealt 

 with there should be a record book, suitable for carrying and 

 using out of doors. 



Each worker may begin with one association and extend 

 his operations. This may be done either by recording associa- 

 tions quite distinct in character {e.g., a moor, a wood, or a 

 marsh ) , or by comparing different areas with similar vegetation 

 (e.g., several oak woods). 



The scheme aims at more than mere identification of plants, 

 it will train in observation on the social conditions of life in 

 plants. Common plants in time become familiar not only by 

 their flowers, but by their leaves and other organs, and the 

 winter period will furnish material for observations quite as 

 interesting as the summer. After an association has been 

 carefully studied, it would form a suitable topic for a paper 

 to the Society." I should be glad to supply any of our 

 members interested with copies of the Paper. 



I have also received from the Secretary of the Durham 

 County Naturalists' Union a Eecord Book for the use of Field 

 Clubs, which is intended for working districts according to 

 the Botanical Survey method, but they suggest not only 

 recording the plants of the particular area investigated, but 

 the geology and the whole of the Fauna. 



I should be pleased to hand the Record Book with the in- 

 structions to any member or members who would be willing 

 to make a trial of it during tbe coming summer. 



