FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR. 



SUBMITTED TO THK TRUSTEES JAN. 11, 1893. 



To the Board of Trustees of the Missouri Botanical Garden: 



The following report on the Missouri Botanical Garden 

 and the Henry Shaw School of Botany is respectfully sub- 

 mitted, in compliance with the rules of the Board. 



THE BOTANICAL GARDEN. 



It is gratifying to me to be able to report that the num- 

 ber of visitors to the grounds through the past year has 

 been considerably increased as compared with preceding 

 years, and, so far as could be gathered from their remarks, 

 they have shown an appreciation of the improvements which 

 have been made, and especially the more natural grouping 

 of the plants and the addition of large specimen cacti, 

 yuccas, etc., from the arid regions. On the open Sunday 

 in June about 16,000 visitors were counted; but on the 

 open Sunday in September only about 4,650 persons visited 

 the Garden, owing to rains through the greater part of the 

 afternoon. As in former years, the visitors on these holi- 

 days have been orderly and for the most part unusually 

 appreciative of the attractions of the Garden. 



A marked improvement has been made this year in open- 

 ing up the eastern side of the garden proper, which has 

 been densely shaded heretofore by overgrown shrubbery. 

 This has permitted the conversion of a large tract of bare 

 "Tound into lawn. The decorative plants, which have been 

 increased considerably in number notwithstanding this 

 seeming extension of the lawn area, have been grouped in 

 clusters instead of being arranged as heretofore in long 

 monotonous rows of a single species. The number of 

 species in cultivation has been greatly increased, chiefly 

 through the liberality of various botanical gardens, from 



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