THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 
59 
to throw out new roots and leaves with scarcely a perceptible halt. 
It is an excellent thing to have specimens of our wild shrubs near 
at hand for study at all seasons. If for lack of space or other 
reasons you cannot have representatives of every desirable species 
you will make no mistake in selecting such things as are conspicu- 
ous in both flower and fruit. The wild crab-apple may be plant- 
ed quite as much for its fragrant, greasy apples as for its delight- 
ful blossoms. The wild plum, the beach plum, the June-berry, 
the frost grape, and the elder have each two seasons when they 
command out attention; in one pleasant to the eye, in the other 
agreeable to the palate. Still others with inedible fruits are desir- 
able because of the bright display this fruit makes in the dull days 
of late autumn and winter. Among them may be named the 
flowering dogwood, the barberry, the ha,wthorn, the chokeberry, 
the sumac, the viburnum and the fly honeysuckle. Most of these 
may be purchased of the nursery men, but the editor likes to 
shoulder pick and shovel and get his specimens at first hand. Dig- 
ging about their roots and finding out how they are anchored to 
the soil, is found to be an excellent way of beginning their ac- 
quaintance, and moreover it forms a substantial foundation upon 
which to build a subsequent knowledge of the plant's life. 
The Plant World, having begun publication in 1897, announces 
that the September number will be its "wooden wedding" and 
that it will publish a portrait and biography of its senior editor as 
appropriate to the occasion ! Such discrimination, however, ap- 
pears quite unnecessary, in view of the kind of anniversary cele- 
brated. 
Herbarium making is a serious business. It calls for the ex- 
penditure of large amounts of time and a fairly large amount of 
money. It is therefore well for the young botanizer to consider 
the subject carefully before w^asting his precious time in mummi- 
fying plants to be stowed away in dusty pigeon-holes. I do not 
mean to disparage in any way the accumulation of plants by 
museums, universities and botanical gardens for these collections 
are invaluable to the student, but I would point out, that so long 
as we have these vast collections of plants easily accessible, it is 
