MAKING AND FILING DESCRIPTIONS 15 



Another plan for laboratory work is that 

 devised by Professor U. P. Hedrick. He has 

 designed a laboratory note-book which con- 

 tains, first, some printed matter (definitions, 

 explanations, classificatory schemes, etc.) and, 

 second, a number of pages of printed forms 

 for the description of varieties. The style of 

 these blank forms will be better understood 

 by reference to Fig. 3, which is engraved 

 directly from one of the pages. It is con- 

 siderably reduced in size, however, the orig- 

 inal page measuring 6 x 9^ inches. Such a 

 laboratory note-book has certain advantages 

 as well as several disadvantages. 



It should be noted that the making of ac- 

 curate descriptions is much a matter of ex- 

 perience. The beginner will find it slow 

 work, and many of his entries will be made 

 with considerable doubt. One must be thor- 

 oughly familiar with the vocabulary to select 

 always the most appropriate and illuminating 

 adjective. What is more, many of the state- 

 ments made in such a description are rather 

 expressions of personal judgment than records 

 of exact fact. Should a certain stem be called 

 long or very long? Is the basin moderately 

 irregular, considerably irregular, decidedly 



