gotanii^ai 
EDITORS : 
JOHN M. COULTER, 
WABASH COLLEGE, CRAWF0RD8VILLE, IND. 
CHARLES R. BARNES, 
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN, MADISON, WI8. 
J. C. ARTHUR, 
PURDUE UNIVERSITY, LAFAYETTE, INDi 
October 13.1890. 
My dear Dr.V/atson:-- 
Your first letter reached me a day after I had mailed ray 
letter of inquiry to you, and in the same mail with it came the official 
notice of my appointment. A day or two ago I received your last let- 
ter and also one from President Eliot ^ stating the terms of ray appoint- 
ment and askirg if they were acceptable , to which I replied in the 
firmative. 
I am ready now to begin the work on the Field & Garden Botany. I 
have written to Ivison asking for three copies of the book, two of 
which I shall want to cut up probably. I am tr>’ing now to solve the 
problem as to how to make the most judicious selection of cultivated 
plants to be included, and on this point at present I would like your 
advice. I suppose that the most helpful work will be the revised edi- 
tion of Henderson’s Handbook of Plants (1890). If you have a copy of 
this I would be glad if you would send it to me. If there is no copy 
at the Herbarium I suppose it will have to be purchased. In addition 
I have thought of sending a letter to all of the florists and garden- 
ers 7/ho make a business of selling seeds, bulbs and plants (such as 
Henderson, Vick , Ferry et al. ) asking them to indicate on a copy of theiT 
catalogues wh.at plants are in most general cultivation as shown by 
their sales. I do not know how much of a response I should get, but 
