SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR. 13 
the pay-roll for the year aggregates $14,096.62, of which a 
considerable sum was expended for necessary repairs to 
greenhouses and other structures. 
Some years ago an effort was made to cultivate under- 
shrubs and other small plants at suitable points in the 
arboretum, by the establishment there of a wild garden.* 
Owing to the severity of the seasons and the extent to 
which the closely set trees of the arboretum have taken 
possession of the soil, this feature has not added to the 
attractiveness of the Garden as largely as was hoped, but 
there is seldom a time during the open season when the wild 
garden and bog do not contain a considerable number of 
interesting plants in bloom, and it is hoped that their suc- 
cess may be increased in the future. The droughts which 
have prevailed during the past five summers, and the 
impervious subsoil, have continued to weaken the older 
trees, especially conifers, so that, as was stated a year ago, 
it is probable that few of the latter will survive many years 
longer; and a very severe frost, coming when the earlier 
species were beginning their vegetation last spring, killed 
outright many trees, such as the weeping willows, while it 
paved the way for further harm during the exceptionally 
hot and dry summer which followed. Where they are 
needed, other trees are being planted to make good the 
losses from these causes, but it is difficult to successfully 
grow a new tree on the spot from which an old one has been 
removed, and a more general clearing and tasty replanting 
will become necessary within a few years. 
The most generally attractive features added to the 
grounds this year are a series of new granitoid lily ponds, 
one of which, situated south of the Linnean house, was 
planned for the growth of the Victoria Regia, or Amazon 
water lily. The decorative effect of these ponds was very 
considerable, and they were the source of favorable com- 
ment by the press of the city and by visitors. A much 
* Third Report, p. 13. 
