NEWS NOTES 



Dr. P>ederick \'. Coville, botanist of the I'nited States De- 

 partment of Agriculture, died at his home in Washington on 

 January 9th in his se\'entieth year. Dr. Coville graduated from 

 Cornell Cniversity in 1887. For two years he remained at Cor- 

 nell as instructor in botany, then became assistant botanist in 

 the United States Department of Agriculture. In 1890 he was 

 appointed botanist of the Death Valley Expedition of the U. S. 

 Biological Survey and reached Death Valley about the first of 

 January 1891, spending nearly eight months in field work in the 

 valley and the neighboring mountains. His report, published by 

 the Smithsonian Institution, was a notable one, describing many 

 new species of plants as well as listing all the known forms the 

 party found. Dr. Coville is probably best known for his work in 

 "Taming the Wild Blueberry." The cultivation of blueberries 

 and the development of improved large varieties are direct re- 

 sults of his work. Dr. Coville w^as active in botanical work both 

 in the Department of Agriculture and in the Botanical Society 

 of America. He was also interested in geography and was a life 

 trustee of the National Geographical Society. 



The U. S. Department of Agriculture has published a circu- 

 lar listing 193 plants widely used by wild life. Each of the plants 

 listed is an important source of food for at least ten kinds of 

 wild birds or mammals. Most of the plants are also recom- 

 mended for soil-erosion control. The circular, prepared by W. L. 

 McAtee, is No. 412 and may be obtained from the Superin- 

 tendent of Documents, Washington, D. C. for five cents. 



The New York Academy of Sciences awarded the A. Cressy 

 Morrison prize for 1936 to Dr. Albert F. Blakeslee, A. Dorothy 

 Bergner and Amos G. Avery, of Cold Spring Harbor, for their 

 work on "The Geographic Distribution of Chromosomal Prime 

 Types of the Jimson Weed." 



Norman Taylor, editor of the Garden Dictionary, has just 

 returned from England. He will continue as editorial adviser 

 for Houghton Mifflin Company for garden and natural science 

 books. 



The Botanical Society of America at the business meeting at 

 Atlantic City, held in connection with the meetings of the 



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