Aid Association of the State of New York, a volunteer organization which has a legal right to visit and inspect all the public charitable institutions owned by the State and the counties, cities, and towns in the State, and is required to report annually the results of this inspection to the State Board of Charities and the State Commission in Lunacy. It is Miss Clark's special duty to direct the work of the local visiting committees of the Association in most of the 61 counties of the State, and to visit with them the public charitable institutions under their supervision. Mary I. Breed, '92, is assistant in the office of the Associated Charities of Cambridge. Ada Eliot, '90-93, is agent of the Dorchester Branch of the Associated Charities of Boston. Eleanor H. Bush, '96-97, is also connected with the Associated Charities of Boston. The duties of each of these young women are, to investigate the conditions, character, history, and resources of the families referred to her, with a view to discovering the cause of their distress and its most effective remedy; and to meet emergencies arising in families already known to the society, and in some cases to guide and train a corps of volunteer visitors to carry along the work for which she has laid the foundation. Edith G. Fabens, '92–93, '95-97, has been working at the School of Housekeeping under the auspices of the Women's Educational and Industrial Union.

ALUMNAE.

The Radcliffe College Alumnae Association held its winter meeting during the Christmas recess, the President, Mrs. B. N. Johnson, in the chair. A letter of resignation from the present Secretary, Mrs. Bird, was read and accepted; it was then voted that the Board of Management be authorized to fill the office of secretary until the regular meeting in June. After discussion, several votes were passed, which provided in substance that the President be authorized to appoint three members of the Association, to serve for a term of three years, to confer with the Radcliffe scholarship committee as to the assignment of the Harvard Annex Scholarship presented by the Alumnae of Radcliffe College. The chairman of the former scholarship committee was authorized to write to the Treasurer of the College a formal note of gift of the $5000, and to express at the same time the desire of the Association that there should be a joint committee on the scholarship.

A paper on "A Greek Vase in the Boston Art Museum," by Lida Shaw King, '97-98, was presented by Professor Wright at the annual meeting of the American Philological Association at Hartford last summer, and an extract from it is printed in the Proceedings of the American Philological Association for 1898. Grace E. Stanton, A. M., '97, is teaching at the High School, Erie, Pa.-On Nov. 16, Edith Adams,

'96, married Herbert Edward Sawin; on Dec. 28, Marion W. Lincoln, '97, married Leslie M. Cain; on Dec. 8, Maud M. Wood married Charles E. Park; on Jan. 7, Mary M. Kingsbury, '94-95, married Vladimir G. Simkhovitch.

Mary Coes, '87.

DEPARTMENTS, SCHOOLS, AND SCIENTIFIC ESTABLISHMENTS.

BOTANIC GARDEN AND BOTANICAL MUSEUM.

The Garden has been recently enriched by the gift of a large greenhouse, and a laboratory for Plant Physiology. The greenhouse is divided into three compartments for the display of plants, and one for their propagation. The first of the compartments contains a collection of species which possess economic interest, such as Cacao, Coffee, Tea, Cinchona, and the tropical fruits. For the first time in the history of the Garden, these sorts have wholly favorable conditions for their growth. The next section is filled chiefly with the curious vegetation of Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand. The peculiar foliage is a striking feature. The first and second divisions of the houses have curvilinear roofs. The third compartment is of large size, and is what is known as a "three-fourth span." This holds a copious supply of material for the classes in Morphology. Adjoining this, and filling the remainder of the span, is a convenient propagating house, now crowded to repletion with seedlings and cuttings of all kinds. At the end of the section there has been placed a large glass-covered house for physiological experiments, and next to this is a laboratory for histological work. Both of these buildings are to supplement the laboratories at the Museum. Behind this new range there has been erected a long, low house for such plants as do not require a high temperature. Connected with the range there is a convenient work-room for potting plants. Although the amount of space in these houses is much larger than before, the cost of heating is only a trifle greater than with the rickety structure which the range replaced. In fact, the supply of heat from the battery of boilers is so generous that the Director would not hesitate to accept for the University the gift of an Aquatic House for the cultivation of Victoria regia, and the historic water-lilies, if such gift should be proposed. The older range of greenhouses is in fair condition, and is likely to serve the needs of the University for some time to come. The Orchids, Palms, and Ferns are, on the whole, as good and as illustrative as we can fairly demand. Under the care of the newly appointed Assistant Director of the Garden, Mr. Qakes Ames, it is probable that the number of varieties under cultivation will be somewhat increased. It is the intention of Mr. Ames to carry on a part of his interesting experiments in

hybridizing at Cambridge, and others, as heretofore, at North Easton. - The Museum has been very busy during the year. Dr. Farlow has installed an attractive exhibit of Cryptogams in cases on the lower floor, so that the brilliant colors of the seaweeds and the figures of mushrooms are the first things which strike the visitor on entering. Still other cases remain to be filled later, under his direction.

The Ware collection of Blaschka glass models continues its symmetrical development. The latest studies from Mr. Blaschka's studio are perhaps the best that have yet been received from him. The rate of increase is now much slower than before, because Mr. Rudolph Blaschka is prosecuting the work unassisted. Friends of the University will be glad to learn that Miss Ware has made provision for the continuance of the collection, upon an extension of the lines of the plan originally sketched. It is pleasant to announce also that the Overseers have added Miss Ware to the committee appointed to visit and inspect the Garden and Museum.

G. L. Goodale, m '63.

THE BUSSEY INSTITUTION.

When the School of Agriculture and Horticulture, founded by Benjamin Bussey, was first opened, more than a quarter of a century ago, the President of the University, the Dean of the School, and the Instructors at that time connected with it, notably the Professors of Horticulture (Francis Parkman, '44) and of Applied Zoology (Dr. D. D. Slade, '44), were animated with the conviction that, under the conditions of the country and of the arts of agriculture and horticulture then obtaining, an annual attendance of 20 might be counted on. That is to say, it was believed that there would come to the mill grist enough to keep it in good running order. It soon became evident, however, that this opinion was premature, and that in point of fact there were not yet, anywhere in the country, many openings for the admission of young men trained liberally in the practice of the rural arts.

As a matter of course, so long as there was a well-nigh total lack of "positions" to be filled by graduates in agriculture, there were few incentives to impel young men to devote themselves to the study of rural affairs. As in every other professional school, all but an extremely small proportion of the students attend the courses of instruction for the purpose of fitting themselves adequately for grappling with the to them momentous problem of gaining a livelihood. With the lapse of time it has become evident that the difficulty just now mentioned was in its nature temporary. Almost from the very first, the character of the students who have attended the School, the enthusiasm of many of them, and the solid acquirements they gained, have steadied and supported the conviction of the

instructors that success must ultimately attend their efforts if only they could be allowed to persist in teaching. Gradually the fundamental difficulty of no outlet for graduates is passing away. With the growth of the country, new calls arise for the services of instructed men in departments which previously had no existence. There is, moreover, in the air a dawning recognition of the fact that, even in the Eastern States, establishments large enough to employ to the best advantage machines, fertilizers, and improved methods of tillage may in many instances, and under competent supervision, be managed to better advantage than the more modest farms of our immediate predecessors.

With occasional lapses, the number of students in attendance at the Bussey Institution in recent years has ranged with remarkable constancy between 15 and 17, and at last the so long ago anticipated number has actually been reached. In point of fact the names of 23 students are recorded in this year's catalogue, and, what is much more to the purpose, they are almost without exception earnest and competent men, who in the future will doubtless do work creditable alike to themselves, the School, and the University. It is a hopeful sign, also, that nowadays most of the Bussey students join the School at the beginning of the academic year, instead of straggling in- as was much too much the custom formerly-after the snow had begun to fly, and the duties and pleasures of autumn life in the country had in good measure come to a standstill.

The reasons for the gain in the number of agricultural students, though several, are not far to seek. For one thing, there is, on the part of the 'well-to-do, a constantly increasing demand for super-excellent products of the dairy, the farm, the garden, and the greenhouse. This demand is not confined alone to cities and towns, but is felt in not a few villages even, to which the habits and influence of the cities have extended. There are so many people nowadays who wish to have and to use the best of everything that money can buy, that it has become profitable in many places even for men of capital to cater to this taste, and to supply products of really superior quality to those customers with whom money is no particular object, and who are well willing to pay Mr. Babbage's "price of verification." In England, it has long been customary for many of the shrewdest farmers to strive always for the top of the market: witness, for example, the superb beef and mutton to be seen in London, of a quality such as stayat-home Americans seldom or never meet with. In the ruin of the ordinary farming of England, which has been caused in recent years by American competition, it is safe to say that the stress has been felt the least by those farmers whose products were the best and the costliest. Considered as matters of refinement, or of pleasure even, such superlatively excellent things are well worth the prices paid for them, although

these prices may often justly be classed as "long," for to obtain the best results in agriculture or in horticulture the producer must "know how.” He needs to be a past master both in the theory and the practice of his art. In due course, when his competitors, or those neighbors who "envy him his opportunities," have learned how to equal or excel his products, they can, if they see fit, undersell him. Considerations such as the foregoing appeal, of course, forcibly to persons immediately interested in the subject, and to those who, so to say, are actually in contact with it; and it is not at all strange that they should have their influence in increasing the number of students in the agricultural school, as they doubtless will continue to do.

As another example of recent moment, the case of the landscape gardener may be cited. There are in the land to-day scores of so-called landscape architects where there was but one when the Bussey Institution was founded, and there can be no shadow of doubt that the profession will continue to increase and multiply greatly. The builders of the White City at Chicago impressed a lesson upon the American people which will never be forgotten. So, too, in respect to "forestry," so called. In the face of endless misconceptions as to what steps are desirable or possible for the maintenance of forests, and in spite of the dense ignorance as to this matter which now prevails on the part of the general public, the real interest which has been awakened in the subject will doubtless lead ultimately to the study of it. At all events, the care and supervision of parks, pleasure-grounds, and reservations must follow as a matter of course on their creation. Experience should soon teach the importance of intrusting such positions to competent men. Not a few towns and associations of towns now have, or are striving to have, their "forester," who shall maintain good appearances, and control among other things the axes of building-movers and telegraph linemen. This somewhat humble calling might occasionally appeal even to superior men, so situated that they could at the same time have a farm of their own to manage. It is reasonable to believe withal that, other things being equal, graduates in agriculture will ultimately be sought for to serve as managers of institutions of various kinds, charitable or even penal.

Yet another instance of improvement in the outlook for graduates in agriculture is seen in the opportunities now open for teachers and "workers" in the scientific departments of the general government and in those of the several States. It is but a few years since such positions had practically no existence. Now they are more than numerous, though perhaps not particularly easy of access in default of "pull,” and apt to be afflicted, when gained, by cramps and chills and fevers, and other aches and pains political.

F. H. Storer, s '55.