SCIENCE 



[N. iS. Vol. XLIII. No. 1097 



former and 38 of the latter. No doubt 

 these questions were not always answered 

 from the same point of view, but including 

 such possible discrepancies, they show the 

 following results : 



Total attendance at reporting agricul- 

 tural institutions, 62,049 ; non-agricultural, 

 70,000; an average number per institution 

 of 1,513 and 1,842, respectively. Number 

 of students taking some work in botany the 

 past year, in the former 12,594, in the lat- 

 ter 6,354, or average numbers per institu- 

 tion of 307 and 167. This means that 

 about 20 per cent, of the students in agricul- 

 tural institutions took some form of botany 

 as compared with 9 per cent, in the non- 

 agricultural. Number of major students 

 in botany, for the former 391, as compared 

 with 386 for the latter, making an average 

 per institution of 10 in each case. Number 

 of postgraduate students doing botanical 

 work in the agricultural colleges, 180, in 

 the non-agricultural, 228, or an average per 

 institution of 4 and 6, respectively. Total 

 number of, botanical courses offered, in the 

 former 537, in the latter 336, or an average 

 per institution of 13 and 9, respectively. Of 

 the 41 agricultural colleges, 32 had one 

 hundred or more students taking some work 

 in botany, while of the 38 non-agricultural 

 there were but 16 with this number. There 

 were 26 of these agricultural colleges that 

 offered 10 or more courses in botany, as 

 compared with 14 non-agricultural; and 

 there were 13 of the former that reported 

 5 or more postgraduate students as com- 

 pared with 9 of the latter. In total num- 

 ber of postgraduate students in botany, 

 however, the non-agricultural colleges led, 

 due to the large number at the University 

 of Chicago, which was responsible for 103 

 of the 228 reported. 



Admitting that these figures, like figures 

 in general, probably lie, still we believe that 

 from them and the data that accompanied 



them certain general conclusions can be 

 drawn, as follows: (1) That, per institution 

 and as a whole, the number of undergrad- 

 uates taking botany in our American uni- 

 versities and colleges is greatly in favor of 

 the agricultural institutions. (2) That the 

 number of students in the latter pursuing 

 advanced and postgraduate work, however, 

 is not any greater. (3) That the variety 

 and number of courses offered considerably 

 exceed that of the non-agricultural. (4) 

 That there are a number of our non-agri- 

 cultural universities that in equipment, in- 

 structional force, and courses given in the 

 pure science of botany offer advantages 

 equal to or better than those in the best of 

 the agricultural institutions. 



The reasons for the conditions indicated 

 by these conclusions are: (1) That, be- 

 cause of its affiliation with agriculture, bot- 

 any in some form is favored or required in 

 many of the agricultural colleges ; while in 

 the non-agricultural it is generally optional, 

 and in a number of the smaller eastern col- 

 leges is not even offered as a distinct course, 

 being given only under "biology." The 

 inclusion under botany of bacteriology, 

 plant breeding and forestry, or the very 

 close connection where these subjects have 

 been split off from this science, and the 

 more distant, but still distinct connection 

 with agronomy, horticulture in all its lines 

 and entomology, are secondary factors in fur- 

 nishing in the agricultural colleges numerous 

 students who must have some instruction in 

 botany, and from widely different points of 

 view, thus developing numerous courses. 

 Finally, the chances of landing a botanical 

 position, aside from those in high schools 

 and the limited number in non-agricultural 

 institutions, are greatly in favor of the man 

 who has had at least undergraduate train- 

 ing in the agricultural college, since he has 

 open to him the numerous places in these 

 institutions, their experiment stations and 



