THE AMERICAN FERN SOCIETY 



President, Rev. Jas. A. Bates, South Royalslon, Mass. 



Secretary, Prof. L. S. Hopkins, Lincoln High School, Pittsburg, Pa. 



Fern Students are cordially invited to join the society. Andress either President 

 or Secretary for further information. The Fern Bulletin is sent free to members. 

 Annual Dues are $1, and should be sent to Mr. H.G. Rugg.Treas., Hanover, N.H. 



To the Members of the American Fern Society : 

 Late in 1909, without preliminary discussion of any 

 kind you were asked to vote on the desirability of es- 

 tablishing a new "official organ." The existence of an 

 official organ of any kind is necessary only for the pur- 

 pose of keeping members informed of the activities of 

 the Society, and since this magazine has always printed 

 news of this kind it is difficult to discover any need for 

 a change ; in fact, so little matter of interest to the 

 Society has come in that the editor has been obliged to 

 write more than nine-tenths of all the matter thus far 

 published. 



It has been contended that if the Society owned its 

 own magazine, the fact would in some way redound 

 to its credit. As a matter of fact, it would do nothing 

 of the kind. The Fern Bulletin was formerly owned 

 by the Society and was only taken over by the present 

 owner after a trial of several years had shown that it 

 could be more economically managed by a private com- 

 pany. An organ owned by a Society is a constant 

 drain upon its resources. By the present plan, the ex- 

 pense of this kind is fixed and does not go beyond a 

 certain figure. The sum needed to issue the Fern Bul- 

 letin is larger than the entire revenues of the Fern So- 

 ciety. Therefore, should the Society establish a new 

 publication it would certainly mean a" smaller and 

 much inferior one. In estimating the cost of a new 

 publication, too, one should not be misled by the price 



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