w 



ISTARIA for labur- 

 num ! That was the 

 last straw. I had 

 long had too much work on 

 iny hands, when in the rush 

 of closing the last issue of 

 this magazine, and distract- 

 ed by numerous other duties, the picture of two 

 laburnum racemes on page 283 was allowed to 

 pass as a wistaria ! Then I knew that the manager 

 of The Rural Publishing Company had no further 

 business as editor of The American Garden, and 

 Prof. L. H. Bailey, for some time a corresponding 

 editor, was at once engaged to take full editorial 

 charge of the magazine. Professor Bailey's work 

 needs no further introduction here. His contribu- 

 tions have been so full of life, brightness, variety 

 and sterling practical value that they have attract- 

 ed widespread attention and favorable comment. 

 As horticulturist of the Cornell Experiment Station, 

 he has won a place second to none in America as an 

 investigator and practical horticulturist. I resign 

 the editorship to his control, in full confidence that 

 he will make the magazine what I have tried to — 

 the first in the world for horticulturists and lovers 

 of nature — the out-door magazine for country and 

 suburban dwellers, workers and pleasure seekers 

 everywhere. — E. H. L. 



* * 



* 



COMES UP the labor question perpetually, the 

 same old controversy in differing aspects, 

 although the methods so generall_v futile in 

 the past do not seem to be abandoned ! A promi- 

 nent nrovement is the first convention of the " Farrh- 

 ers' and Laborers' Union of America," held in St. 

 Louis early in December, and countenanced by the 

 Mayor of the city and Governor of the State. We 

 are glad to know that class legislation is condemned, 

 especially as we are often assured that farmers and 

 laborer's votes are the main source of the power 

 often so ill-used by our legislators. At various 

 times we have heard of movements intending to in- 

 fluence legislation in favor of the laborers. Is not 

 this class legislation ? We consider the laborers as 

 a class. There was also considerable talk about 

 the " middle " classes ; the chairman, in the course 

 of his remarks, said : " It is an acknowledged fact, 

 proved by all history, that purification always comes 

 from the poorer and middle classes, while corrup- 



tion comes from the rich." How is it about the 

 laborers who have secured control of some of the 

 greatest corporations in the country and use their 

 power to control legislation ? There are instances 

 of men who once worked with shovel and pick on 

 the railroad, and afterwards dictated the policy of 

 the road and the legislation of the country. To 

 what class do they belong ? All classes ? Or can 

 they be assigned to the "laborers" or the "rich," 

 as convenience may determine ? It always troubles 

 us to define the limits between the "classes" of 

 which we hear so much. We also know people 

 poor in " mind, body and estate," who form centers 

 of corruption and iniquity, while others of greater 

 wealth employ their means for the benefit of their 

 fellows. In spite of the misuse of property all 

 about us, we doubt if the world would be benefitted 

 if it changed owners. Property is always changing 

 ownership, but the condition of the world remains 

 about the same. We would also like to know what 

 are the "illegitimate corporations" whose death 

 knell was sounded. Webster tells us that a corpor- 

 ation is a body formed and authorized by law ; then 

 how can it be illegitimate, or not according to law, 

 unlawful or unauthorized ? We suffer from op- 

 pressive laws, and sympathise with th®se who wish 

 them changed, but it was our votes which put the 

 men in power who made these laws. Let us not 

 make legislators who will give us laws that rob those 

 whom fate has enriched, or raise the poor and needy 

 to positions where they will prove to be the oppress- 

 ors they often have. Let us have no class legisla- 

 tion. 



-if- * 



VARIATION of domesticated animals and 

 plants in reference to climate and latitude, is 

 a phase of scientific inquiry which is every- 

 where inadequately studied. This comparative 

 neglect arises from various causes, but it is chiefly 

 due to the fact that few people have sensed its im- 

 portance, and few possess the power of generaliza- 

 tion necessary to its systematic study. The paper 

 in this issue by the Honorable Assistant Secretary 

 of Agriculture is important and suggestive, and it 

 inspires hope of a bi'oader usefulness of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. A leading fault with this 

 beneficent institution is the lack of coordination of 

 work among its branches. Of necessity, work must 

 be performed piecemeal ; but all work in nature 

 has its relationships to some other work, and its 



