OPEN LETTERS. 11 



and *'that the proposed corrections, however justifiable they 

 may be, cannot be used to any practical advantage, until the 

 dictionaries adopt them." I am sure that there is greater 

 truth and meaning in the remarks of Mr. Meehan than most 

 botanists are aware. Mr. Meehan has long been known both 

 as a botanist and horticulturist; he may be said to have stood 

 between botany and the people. I am ready to believe, how- 

 ever presumptuous it may seem — that plants were made quite 

 as much for the horticulturist as for the botanist, and that he 

 has quite as much interest in their nomenclature. But it is 

 apparent that a trade-name must remain practically the 

 same. When a plant becomes known in the trade under a 

 given botanical name, it is well nigh impossible to give it a 

 new one and yet hold the demand or custom for it. Tradesmen 

 and catalogue makers cannot afford the time and expense of 

 attempting to keep pace with the evolution of nomenclature, 

 even though they had the ability or inclination to do so; and 

 if they did, they would find the sales to be less satisfactory. 

 It is true that many or even most of them do not appreciate 

 the necessities of the changes, but the fact nevertheless 

 remains that a name once fixed in the public mind cannot be 

 dislodged with profit. We horticulturists are coming to think, 

 I fear, that the science of names is a greater thing than the 

 science of plants; and it is not impossible that there is some 

 reason for the opinion. These remarks, I hope, will both 

 explain Mr. Meehan's position and emphasize the fact that 

 horticulturists have a just claim upon the botanists. 



For myself, I sympapathize with the recent rules of the 

 Botanical Club and shall use them in purely botanical writ- 

 ings; but in horticultural writings I must often use the 

 familiar system, and thereby I may expose myself to the dis- 

 pleasure of some of my botanical friends. In justice to 

 myself, I ought to say that I sympathize" with these rules 

 not because I like them — for I do not — but because I hope 

 they will bring peace for a time. I do not believe that we 

 are one whit nearer a stable, or what Professor Greene calls 

 a "correct," nomenclature now than we were ten years ago. 



