552 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIV. No. 1138 



which require the botanist's assistance, a 

 wider dissemination of the botanist would 

 be advantageous. Properly trained botan- 

 ists distributed through the country with 

 their eyes open might be a valuable asset 

 in the improvement of production; botan- 

 ist and cultivator might be mutually help- 

 ful; the former would meet problems at 

 first hand, and the latter should be encour- 

 aged by the cooperation. A kind of first- 

 aid class suggests itself, run by a teacher 

 with a good elementary knowledge of 

 botany, upon which has been erected a gen- 

 eral knowledge of horticultural operations. 

 This would afford a vocation for students 

 of scientific bent who can not spare the time 

 for a long university course. Some of us 

 may remember the courses arranged by 

 various County Councils thirty years or so 

 ago, financed by the whiskey money, out of 

 which have grown some useful permanent 

 educational institutions. But these courses 

 were often barren of result, owing partly 

 to insufficient "sympathy" between the lec- 

 turer and his audience. A young man 

 fresh from the university who was waiting 

 for a more permanent job was brought into 

 touch with the practical man in the lecture 

 hall, and the contact was, so to speak, not 

 good. Between the two was a gulf across 

 which the lecturer shouted, and his words 

 often conveyed little meaning to those on 

 the other side. A great deal of money must 

 have been spent with incommensiirate 

 results. 



On the other hand, we must be careful 

 to work economically and not wear out 

 high-class tools on rough work. I think 

 there is some danger of this in connection 

 with certain courses in horticulture for 

 women. Girls who have had a good general 

 education enter, at the age of seventeen or 

 eighteen, on a course of study, lasting for 

 two or three years, of horticultural meth- 

 ods and the kindred sciences. So far, 



good ; but after all this training the finished 

 product should aspire to something more 

 than market gardening in competition with 

 the man who left school at twelve or four- 

 teen, has learned his business practically, 

 and has a much lower standard of living. 



The utilization of waste lands is a big 

 subject and trenches on the domain of eco- 

 nomics. But important botanical problems 

 are involved and careful ecological study 

 will prepare the way for serious experi- 

 mental work. The study of the growth of 

 plants in alien situations is fraught with 

 so many surprises and apparent contradic- 

 tions that successful results may be looked 

 for in most unlikely situations. I remem- 

 ber a striking instance near Lake Tarawera, 

 in the North Island of New Zealand. The 

 area in question had been completely dev- 

 astated in the great eruption of Mount 

 Tarawera in 1886, the ground being cov- 

 ered with ash to a depth of several feet. 

 "When I saw it two years ago the vegetation 

 of a considerable area was almost purely 

 central European. The trees were poplar, 

 Robinia and elder, with an undergrowth of 

 dog-rose, bramble, etc. I was not able to 

 find out the recent history of the locality 

 and there were very few signs of habitation, 

 but it was not the kind of vegetation one 

 would expect to find growing so naturally 

 and freely in such a locality. But the sub- 

 ject of utilization of waste lands will occupy 

 us later. 



The study of the diseases to which plants 

 are liable, and their prevention and cure, 

 offers a wide and increasing field for in- 

 quiry, and demands a larger supply of 

 trained workers and a more definite and 

 special system of training. For the study 

 of those which are due to fungi it is ob- 

 viously essential that a thorough general 

 knowledge of fungi and laboratory methods 

 should be acquired, preferably at some 

 Pathological Institution which would also 



