J00R-N0TES, NEWB, ETC 191 



. mountain valleys, and drained by comparatively few streams, 



which, from want of rain, cease to flow during a good part of the 

 year. The vegetation resembles that of the great plateau of North 

 Mexico, of which the country is indeed a continuation, and the 

 grasses are "largely the same or of the same genera," and, like 

 the rest of the flora, as different from those of the Eastern States as 

 that of the " northern portion of the Sahara. " As one of the most 

 important agricultural questions before the people of the country is 

 •how to increase the production of grass and forage on the arid soil, 

 the Illustrations will be of great value in giving an acquaintance 

 with the native grasses, some of which by cultivation may be 

 sufficiently improved for this end. The descriptions are concise, 

 and seem carefully drawn up ; and the plates, which include dis- 

 sections of the flower, are on the whole good, though occasionally 

 somewhat sketchy. 



"The energy and curiosity of the British race is [sic] inextin- 

 guishable. It [which ?] traverses and explores every part of the 

 world, and pours into Kew a continuous stream of botanical 

 information and specimens.'' This stream requires an outlet, and 

 this is to be supplied by the Kew Bulletin, from which we extract 

 the above sentences. Translated into prose, the sentences mean 

 that " decades of plant-descriptions will from time to time be 

 published in its pages." As the " primary function" of the Bulletin 

 has been declared to be "economical, not scientific " (see p. 126), 

 this further departure in the direction of science is noteworthy. The 

 species described in the April number are Clematis Prattii Hemsl., 

 GlediUchia officinalis Hemsl., Ipomaa Lesteri Baker, Gartnera 

 morindoides Baker, Cyrtanthus Galpini Baker, Aloe Boylei Baker, 

 Tripogon Lisboa Stapf, T. Jacquemontii Stapf, Aristida reducta Stapf, 

 Gymnogramme Baileyi Baker. The threatened suppression of the 

 Bulletin has been averted, Mr. Plunket, the First Commissioner, 

 having stated in the House of Commons that it is "highly 



g, Mr. rlun 



valued by many persons." On the same evenii 

 that the new edition of the Guide to Kew Gardens was "almost 

 ready, and they hoped to have it out during the summer." 

 Some mirth was naturally excited in the House when the First 

 Commissioner was reminded that he gave "a precisely similar 

 answer fourteen months ago." It is to be regretted that so useful 

 an adjunct to the Gardens— of far more importance than the 

 Bulletin— should have been allowed to remain out of print for four 



announce 



has made its appearance. 



We are pleased to find that the plea of convenience put forward 

 by Mr. Hemsley on behalf of " the Kew botanists," on which we felt it 

 our duty to comment on p. 53, does not receive the support of the 

 Director. In the Gardeners' Chronicle for May 21st, Dr. Dyer says, 

 "the ordinary Kew rule [is] that the name of that author is to be 

 adopted who first places a given plant in its right genus." The 

 "rule" has certainly not been by any means strictly observed at 

 Kew in the past, and we are glad to learn, that the line which we 

 have consistently advocated meets with Dr. Dyer's approval. 



