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VASCULAR PLANTS OF NORTH DAKOTA 155 
common plants growing everywhere, but it is self-evident that 
almost all the rare plants—the plants which are found after visits 
to a place repeated for the tenth, or the hundreth, or perhaps the 
thousandth time—could not be noticed in the collected material. 
The government’s activity ends here, and would certainly not be 
extended to taking any part in the collection of the 7oo plants. 
Turning our attention to the large public or private insti- 
tutions, some of them, often commanding almost unlimited funds, 
are in the habit--when it is desired to make a study of some 
special plant or plant group—of sending circulars to botanists, 
requesting them to “‘give up” what they have on hand or to 
collect the desired plants for them. In the majority of cases the 
botanist so addressed will “‘for the best interests of science”’ 
yield, and some will even find the proposition immensely flattering 
to themselves! There are perhaps a few who would say that they 
are willing to fulfil the request, if the institution pays the cash 
expenses necessarily connected with it, but such a proviso will 
upset the whole plan. It is deemed unwise to use the funds of 
the institution for such a purpose (why pay for something that 
can be had for the asking?), and the scheme is dropped. Some 
institutions make their requests for material most valuable to 
them with ‘“‘thanks,” others do not even send an acknowledge- 
ment when they have received the goods. The most generous of 
the institutions return duplicates of equal or sometimes higher 
quality than the material received had, others use the occasion 
to unload the most repugnant and worthless trash, others again 
admit -being in debt and promise payments in plant duplicates, 
but these are never sent. Still others pay their indebtedness by 
incorporating and matriculating the received specimens as gifts, 
and immortalize the donator by adding his name in a special 
column and opposite the other annotations, thus substituting 
stones for bread! Some other more substantial means are cer- 
tainly needed for the discovery of our 700 plants! 
It remains to be ascertained, if the conditions within our 
own state are more favorable for the reaching of this end. The 
state has a geological survey with a staff botanist, whose salary 
is supposed to be reimbursed to the farmers by the increase in 
profits from their land derived from the knowledge of the plants 
growing on it in its virgin condition. The reports of the govern- 
ment survey ought to be available, and some additional knowl- 
