12 MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN. 
vegetable garden; repairing various fences, well-houses, and 
summer houses, and the farm barn, which had become very 
dilapidated and insecure ; tearing down and rebuilding from 
the foundations the west wing of the main greenhouse, to 
which reference was made in my last report; and thoroughly 
pointing and painting the main greenhouse inside and out. 
All of the sets of steps about the parterre, which had 
become much decayed, have been removed and recon- 
structed in granitoid; the dilapidated wooden fence at 
the rear of the residence has been rebuilt, the center in 
granitoid and iron; a refrigerating drinking fountain has 
been set at the gate of the Garden ; and the very unsightly 
and decayed picket fence along the north front of the 
arboretum, 1,040 feet in length, hasbeen replaced by a neat 
barbed wire fence with ornamental cresting, thus opening 
up a very pretty view into the grounds to persons driving 
along Shaw avenue. 
In accordance with plans previously announced, a 
beginning has this year been made toward putting 
the fruticetum in order by removing some of the old 
and useless trees and nursery stock ; subsoiling 210,600 
square feet of ground (in the main already underdrained), 
of which 33,525 square ‘feet was spaded 30 inches 
deep, 10,500 square feet 24 inches deep, and the re- 
mainder about 10 inches deep; replacing the broken 
brick edging of walks in the southeastern quarter of the 
inclosure by sod 20 inches wide; and planting a small 
experimental orchard, comprising 68 varieties, of which 19 
are apples, 4 peaches, and 15 grapes. In addition to con- 
taining the necessary orchard, it is intended that the fru- 
ticetum shall be made to correspond with its name by 
growing in it specimen shrubs, representing as great a 
variety of species as is practicable in the restricted area. 
Notwithstanding the extent of the repairs and improve- 
ments executed during the past two years, and regardless 
of any material extension of the Garden and its greenhouses, 
this work can scarcely be said to be more than begun, since 
