MaRcH 22, 1901.] 
In examining the list of North Dakota shrubs 
one is struck by the fact that but five are dis- 
tinetly western, viz.: skunk bush (Rhus trilo- 
bata), Western sand cherry (Prunus besseyi), 
Western wild cherry (Prunus demissa), Western 
Juneberry (Amelanchier alnifolia), and the sil- 
ver berry (EHlaeagnus argentea). These western 
species may be supposed to have moved from 
the western mountains out upon the plains, or 
to have originated here. All the other shrubs 
are more or less common eastern species which 
may be assumed to have pushed out from the 
body of eastern vegetation as has been observed 
elsewhere on the plains. Among these familiar 
eastern shrubs are prickly ash, bittersweet, wild 
grage (Vitis vulpina L.), Virginia creeper, smooth 
sumach, sweet sumach, poison ivy, red rasp- 
berry, wild roses (four species), wild goose- 
berries (four species), cornels (three species), 
wild honeysuckles (three species), hazels (two 
species), willows (three species), and junipers 
(two species). The meadow sweet (Spiraea 
salicifolia), and choke berry, common shrubs of 
the Eastern States, appear to have entered these 
northern plains from Minnesota, the Canada 
buffalo berry from the northeast, and the 
shrubby cinquefoil from the Rocky Mountains. 
NEW EDITION OF THE PHYTOGEOGRAPHY OF 
NEBRASKA. 
THE greater portion of the first edition of the 
‘Phytogeography of Nebraska,’ by Pond and 
Clements, having been destroyed in the fire 
which occurred in the publisher’s establishment, 
the Regents of the University of Nebraska au- 
thorized a new edition, which has now appeared 
as a volume of the publications of the Botanical 
Survey. As the edition is small the distribution 
of copies is necessarily limited. One hundred 
copies only have been placed on sale, and when 
these are sold the edition will be exhausted. 
The disbursing agent is the University Publish- 
ing Company, Lincoln, Nebr. A review of this 
new edition will appear in a future number of 
SCIENCE. 
BOTANY AND AGRICULTURE. 
THE ‘Proceedings of the Twenty-first An- 
nual Meeting of the Society for the Promotion of 
Agricultural Science,’ just at hand, is a neatly- 
printed pamphlet of nearly two hundred pages. 
SCIENCE. 
473 
An examination of its contents shows that bot- 
any as one of several sciences (chemistry, zool- 
ogy, entomology, meteorology, physics), having 
relation to agriculture, occupied an unusually 
large place in the discussions in the New York 
meeting last June. There were twenty-four 
papers presented, and exactly one half of these 
were botanical. Four of the papers had a dis- 
tinctly horticultural bearing, two were in the 
domain of plant pathology, two dealt with the 
chemical aspects of certain plant problems, one 
discussed weeds, one was in the field of agri- 
cultural engineering, and two were devoted to 
botanical pedagogies. These papers all appear 
to be more than ordinarily valuable, but those 
which interest us most are Dr. Trelease’s dis- 
cussion of ‘The Botanic Garden as an Aid to 
Agriculture,’ and Mr. Galloway’s ‘Twenty 
Years’ Progress in Plant Pathology.’ It is not 
within our province to make note of the non- ' 
botanical papers, among which are a number of 
promising titles. The volume is well worth the 
perusal of every scientific man who is interested 
in the applications of science to the problems 
in agriculture. 
FIELD ECOLOGY IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 
Tub Department of Botany, of the Univer- 
sity of Nebraska, offers a course in Field Heol- 
ogy, to be given in the Rocky Mountains about 
Pike’s Peak during the coming summer. The 
headquarters of the party will be at Minnehaha, 
at an altitude of 8,300 feet, from which the 
plains, foothill, sub-alpine and alpine regions 
are easily accessible. The work will be under 
the charge of Dr. Frederic EK. Clements, and 
will begin the first of July and close the first 
of September. It will consist of a study of the 
floristics of the various regions, as an introduc- 
tion to the investigation of the plant formations 
with respect to their structure and distribution. 
The special object of the course, however, will 
be to interpret individual and vegetational 
adaptations in the light of a thorough exami- 
nation of the physical factors present, and to 
determine by experiment in the field the effi- 
cient factors in alpine vegetation. A micro- 
scopical laboratory with the usual accessories 
will be fitted up at Spruce Ridge Cottage. 
There are no fees in connection with the course, 
