JANTJAKY 3, 1913] 



SCIENCE 



a clearer notion as to the essentials of the 

 science as a subject of study. It seems to 

 one who carefully looks over the field that 

 there is often only the most vague notion 

 of the relative importance of the known 

 facts in regard to plants, those of trivial 

 importance receiving as much weight, per- 

 haps, as those of profound significance. 

 Especially is this true of the more elemen- 

 tary courses, in which there is also the 

 greatest diversity in the presentation of the 

 subject matter. This condition argues in- 

 completeness of knowledge either as to the 

 science as a whole, or as to its pedagogics. 

 We have all heard the excusatory remark 

 that "it makes little difference how or 

 where we begin the study of plants, and in 

 what sequence we pursue it. ' ' Yet none of 

 us would admit such a contention in regard 

 to any other matter. The more we know of 

 a country, the more definite are our ideas as 

 to what are its more important mountains, 

 rivers, cities and institutions, and it is these 

 that we feel the traveler should see. We 

 particularize when we know ; we generalize, 

 and are vague, when we do not. It should 

 not be long until this vagueness and doubt- 

 fulness as to substance and manner in the 

 presentation of botany in the high school, 

 and in the college, and in the university, 

 will be a thing of the past. In the near fu- 

 ture we shall certainly have the lower work 

 clearly defined, as it is in mathematics and 

 language, and on this the higher work will 

 be based, to the great saving of the time and 

 energy of teacher and student, now need- 

 lessly wasted. And I appeal to you, botan- 

 ists, to take up seriously the task of so ar- 

 ranging and coordinating our work that 

 botany shall no longer suffer the reproach 

 of being the most chaotic of the primary 

 sciences. Do not tell me that we can not 

 agree. We must agree. If we know our 

 science sufficiently well we can easily dis- 

 cern the more important parts. Let him 



whose knowledge is too limited to enable 

 him to see over the whole field step aside. 

 Let him who has no adequate perception of 

 the pedagogical aspects of the problem step 

 aside. Then let the select few make a pro- 

 nouncement, subject to periodical revision. 

 This is the way that scientific men should 

 settle the question. This is the way it will 

 be settled some day, in the not very distant 

 future. 



The Botanical Stations: — But the college 

 and university departments are by no 

 means all that are engaged in botanical 

 work. Within the past twenty-five years 

 many stations have arisen in which botan- 

 ical investigations are made. Under vari- 

 ous local names they are in fact ' ' investiga- 

 tion stations" and while their results have 

 not been uniformly reliable it is a most 

 hopeful sign of progress that they exist at 

 all. Foremost among these are the fifty or 

 more agricultural experiment stations to 

 which I have already briefly referred, with 

 assured support from the states and the 

 national government for all time to come, 

 in which botanical investigation forms no 

 inconsiderable part of the work undertaken. 

 Hampered as they generally were in their 

 earlier years by incompetent direction, and 

 often by still more incompetent workers, it 

 is gratifying to know that year by year there 

 has been marked improvement in both, and 

 that now many of the directors are men of 

 such scientific training that they wisely use 

 the means at their disposal for investiga- 

 tions of permanent scientific value. And if 

 I read aright the tendencies in these sta- 

 tions, it will not be long until their scien- 

 tific output will be wholly reliable, as in- 

 deed it is now in some cases. This condi- 

 tion will be fully realized when these sta- 

 tions are wholly under the direction of men 

 of broad scientific training. 



And here again we have a duty to per- 

 form. We must recognize the agricultural 



