Ixvili Proceedings of the Botanical Society of 
January 16. Dr. Miller, President, in the chair. Mr. 
James Rorer spoke on “The Aims and Methods of the 
Bureau of Plant Industry at Washington.” He said that 
since 1901 the old Plant Bureaus had been merged into one, 
under the direction of Professor Galloway, each of the sub- 
bureaus having a sub-director and corp of workers, the only 
exception being that of forestry which had been maintained 
as a distinct department. The four main departments now 
were: 
(a) Pathology and Physiology. 
(b) Division of Plant Experiments. 
(c) Division of grasses and forage plants. 
(d) Division of pomology. 
The speaker then described in detail the work of the seed 
laboratory, including the testing of thousands of samples 
annually and the collecting of statistics as to the quality of 
seeds harvested. He then showed how many lines of inves- 
tigation and experiment were being conducted in the testing 
of fiber plants, drug and medicinal plants and quite recently 
in the growing of tea. The interesting results already 
obtained by the grass and forage bureau in its study of the 
grazing lands of the western States were referred to, and the 
equally valuable study of the growth and pollination of the 
date palm and the fig were shown to be intimately associated 
with areas in the West suited for the commercial exploita- 
tion of these plants. 
In connection with plant breeding and selection, he spoke 
of the hybrids and varieties of orange, cotton and pineapple, 
some of which gave great promise for the future. The rela- 
tion and action of nitrifying organisms in enriching soils 
and increasing the crops of leguminous plants were finally 
touched on. 
On motion the speaker was cordially thanked for his sug- 
gestive communication. 
Dr. J. W. Harshberger next gave “Reviews of Botanical 
Papers Communicated to the Recent Botanical Meetings at 
