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     NEWS AND NOTES 
     
    
   
   
    
     NOVEMBER MEETING REPORT. Members who attended the November 6 meeting were 
     
     treated to a most enjoyable presentation of nature slides by Mary Beth Harris. 
     
     The slides, including many of Island coast and beach scenes, showed the 
     
     members just what can be accomplished by heading out into the field with 
     
    

    
     wide open eyes and camera in hand. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     NATURE ESSAY CONTEST REMINDER. A reminder to students 18 or under of the 
     
     December 31 deadline for entries in the national nature essay contest sponsored 
     
     by the Canadian Nature Federation. For further information contact the 
     
     Newsletter Editor or refer to the October issue of the Newsletter. 
     
    
   
   
    
     SLIDE CONTEST REMINDER. For the past several years the Natural History 
     
     Society has been sponsoring a nature slide competition for pictures taken by 
     
     members. Anyone planning to submit slides for next spring's contest is 
     
     reminded that eligible slides must have been taken on P.E.I. by the entrant 
     
     and not entered in a previous competition. 
     
    
   
   
    
     SCIENCE FAIR PRIZE. In a move aimed at encouraging Island high school 
     
     students to a greater interest in natural history and environmental issues, 
     
     the Natural History Society will be donating prizes to the Provincial Science 
     
     Fair for the best projects submitted on an environmental theme. The Science 
     
     Fair will be held at U.P.E.I. in the Spring and prizes will be awarded to the 
     
     winning entry in Grades 7-9 and 10-12. 
     
    
   
   
    
     MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL TIME. In order to ensure uninterrupted newsletter delivery, 
     
     members should act now to renew NHS membership for 1980. Particulars on 
     
     rates and how to renew are given inside the front cover of the newsletter. 
     
    
   
   
    
     EROSION REPORT RELEASED. The long-anticipated report on soil erosion in 
     
     this province has recently been released by government. The study, prepared 
     
     by U.P.E.I. biologist Ian MacQuarrie, identifies erosion as a long-standing 
     
     and persistent problem on P. E. I. and states that improved land management 
     
     practices will be the key to its control. As a premise to the eleven 
     
     recommendations which follow, Dr. MacQuarrie establishes erosion control as 
     
     a 'social problem' whose overall costs cannot be expected to be borne by 
     
     individual landowners. The report recommends that the Technical Services 
     
     Branch of the Department of Agriculture assume leadership in erosion-control 
     
     activities. Departments of Forestry, Environment and Highways, as well as 
     
     individuals and groups are also expected to become involved. Government 
     
     should implement changes in agricultural policy to promote use of organic 
     
     techniques, soil conserving tillage machinery, and livestock production in 
     
     comparison to cash cropping. On-site monitoring of highway and construction 
     
     projects is also recommended. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     Erratum. Among the answers to the KNOW YOUR GRASSES quiz which appeared in the 
     
     November newsletter, numbers 2 and 15 were inadvertently interchanged. The 
     
     answer to question 2, a wiry grass named for a seashore animal, should be 
     
     crabgrass (Digitaria sanguinalis). The answer to question 15, dune grass, should 
     
     be marram grass (Ammonhila breviligulata).