The Dissemination of Knowledge of the Flora by Means of Articles, Papers, Lectures, Etc.

It is found that there are many people desirous of becoming familiar with the flora, but they are not acquainted with the fact that there is a Department to render assistance in this direction.

Knowledge of the flora has been disseminated by means of articles which have appeared in magazines, and by means of occasional public lectures. The following articles relating to the flora have been published:

(1.) “The Botanical Aspect of British Columbia” (illustrated), in “British Columbia: Its History, People, Commerce, and Resources.” (Sells, London.)
(2.) “Botanical Work for Mountaineers,” in the Northern Cordilleran. (British Columbia Mountaineering Club, Vancouver.)
(3.) “Our Native Flora” (illustrated), in the Fruit and Farm Magazine, January 1914.

Amongst the lectures delivered were the following:

(1.) “Botanical Opportunities in British Columbia,” to the British Columbia Academy of Science (to appear in their Proceedings).
(2.) “Mountaineering as an Educational Stimulus” (illustrated), to the British Columbia Mountaineering Club.
(3.) “Entomology from the Standpoint of a Botanist,” to the British Columbia Entomological Society. (Printed in the Proceedings of the Society and also in the Fruit and Farm Magazine, September, 1913.)
(4.) “Some British Columbia Native Plants for the GardenŠ (illustrated by slides and specimens), to the Vancouver Horticultural Society.
(5.) “What we mean by ‘Our Native Flora’” (illustrated by slides and specimens), to the Vancouver Chamber of Mines.

During the fall of 1911 a deputation from the British Columbia Mountaineering Club asked for advice regarding the formation of a class for the instruction of its members in systematic botany; as a result, a botanical section of the club was organized and a course of study prescribed for the first winter. After the opening lecture the classes met weekly, and a lecture was given each month throughout the winter. During the winter 1912-13 lectures were given every alternate Tuesday, and the class met on the intervening Tuesdays to follow out a prescribed course of study. During the winter 1913-14 a more thorough course, consisting of about fifty lectures (twenty-five elementary and twenty-five advanced), was given to a class with an average attendance of between twenty and thirty. Amongst the students attending this class were a number of teachers from Vancouver, New Westminster, and interurban districts, as well as the regular members of the botanical section of the British Columbia Mountaineering Club.

During the summer, opportunities were afforded for the students becoming acquainted with the flora by occasional excursions to districts in the vicinity of Vancouver.