“ The Report of the work must be completed on or before May 15, 1901, and submitted to the Teacher of Botany, or person (or persons) designated by him, who—taking into account both the quality and quantity of the work—will forward, if worthy, the best report accompanied by the illustrative material, to the undersigned; whereupon the latter will, on or before May 31, send as a reward to the author of said report a copy of the Ohio Naturalist Vol. 1.
Pupils now studying, or those who have formerly studied, botany are eligible to enter the competition. ”

“ Few teachers would be willing to give up the use of the text-book entirely and it is not at all necessary that they should. But every teacher can now choose a modern book of botany from the fairly long list that is offered by American publishers. ”

“ These are not mainly terminology nor written with the chief aim of enabling the pupil, after having gone through a sufficient number of chapters, to “analyze” flowers. 73Many of them unfortunately provide no means of identifying the native plants as a part of a school course, but teachers are not left without choice of a good book after such ultra ones are thrown out of the list.
The text of an elementary book on botany should contain the important facts and principles of the science, and give a brief but comprehensive idea of the plant kingdom, in simple and plain language. ”

“ Of the 1500 specimens examined each year for three years, two plants always grew from one bur.
Why have I obtained such opposite results as compared with Professor Arthur’s? Can it be referred to locality, soil, or some other more favorable conditions?
70The substance of the above was presented, December 27, 1900, to the Ohio Academy of Science and it provoked a discussion in which Professors Kellerman, Schaffner, Mosely and others participated. Dr. Kellerman thought that the results of Arthur’s experiments were perhaps more nearly in accord with what usually takes place in nature. ”

“ Psoralea argophylla also develops perfect joints but fewer shoots usually make up the crown and it is therefore less conspicuous than P. floribunda. Psoralea esculenta is also a tumbleweed but the writer has not made an examination of the way in which it separates from the thick, tuberous, perennial root. ”

“ When, after a month, none of the flower buds had opened, it was thought that they were too many, as the joints bearing them were without roots, and most of them were cut off and left lying on the ground, where a part of them later on became partly or entirely covered with soil. In September, I was surprised to find them all green and fresh; most of them had rooted, and a few even sprouted, sending up shoots from half an inch to over an inch high, being perfect little joints. At the present writing (Jan. a. c.) all are alive, and, no doubt, will grow out to plants next summer. ”

“ In 1897, I was told by a German farmer that one seed only grew one year and the other later, never both at the same time. A short time after I noticed the statement of A. D. Selby in Bulletin 83, (page 353) Ohio Experiment Station, as follows: “Prof. Arthur has recently shown that only one of these seeds can be caused to germinate the first year, the other always remaining until the second year.” This was a confirmation of the German’s claim, yet I determined to investigate for myself.
I carried on the experiment for three years with the following results:
In 1898, I planted 1000 burs ”

“ Lichenological.—All the kinds of Lichens in the region should be collected. The little disks, or saucer-like bodies, on the plants are the fruit (called the apothecium) ; the apothecia are more distinct and striking in appearance, as is the whole plant also, when moist; therefore the best time to collect lichens is after a prolonged rain, or when the air is moist; when dry they are usually brittle and cannot be satisfactorily handled.
75Do not save specimens that have no fruit, except in case of rare species. ”

“ At the base of each aerial stem a number of special joints are formed in which transverse cleavage regions are gradually developed, and when the seed is ripe the whole crown breaks off at these joints with remarkable ease. ”

“ Fuchsia macrostemma and a large variety of stately forest trees, all struggling together for the mastery and making a forest as impenetrable as the Selvas of the Amazon.
The Magellanic region is characterized by the predominance of several species of Nothofagus. Immense forests may be found composed exclusively of a single species, for example, the N. pumila, and in all this region, extending from the Peninsula of Taitoa to Cape Horn, a distance 10° of latitude, no other kind of tree acquires any considerable size. ”

“ The annexed cut shows a 77specimen near the top of a rocky bluff or hill perhaps one hundred and fifty feet above the valley at Cedar Mills, Ohio. This southern Buckthorn still retained its shining leaves though my visit was late in November when nearly all the other trees except the oaks were bare. This, with the great quantities of black fruits, presented a charming spectacle. The plant is also reported in Stanley Coulter’s catalogue of Indiana plants, discovered in the southern counties by Mr. W. T. Blatchley, “growing on rocky hillsides.” ”

“ In the tumble-grasses the panicle is generally the only part which is transported, the stems of the panicle being usually very brittle and breaking readily even in those forms which are easily torn up from the roots. ”

“ Those growing on rocks can not generally be removed—a thin piece of rock must be chipped off to secure them.
A detailed description should be written of each kind (species) ; drawings perhaps might be undertaken; the different species should be compared and contrasted. Use a good pocket lens. There is no text-book on Lichens that is usable by beginners.
Dendrological.—The Trees may be studied from one of several points of view. If a camera be used, selected trees should be studied and illustrated ”

“ It has been previously reported that this species was found in Ohio last November. Several specimens were found near the Ohio river in Adams county at the mouth of Brush creek, and a few were seen in Brown county. In a little ravine on Cedar creek, a tributary of Brush creek, in Adams county, fourteen miles north of the Ohio river, an enormous number of plants were growing. ”