EIGHTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR. 
SUBMITTED TO THE TRUSTEES JAN. 18TH, 1897. 
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. Atthe 
request of the Garden Committee, in addition to a state- 
ment of operations for the past year, the present report 
includes a general summary of what has been accomplished 
since the organization of the Board in September, 1889. 
THE BOTANICAL GARDEN. 
One of the first steps taken by the Board of Trustees 
was the adoption of a general outline policy for the guid- 
ance of the Director,* and, as this policy has not been 
materially changed, the instructions are here quoted, as a 
convenient means of noting such advances as have been 
made during the past seven years. 
1. To continue or even augment the present ornamental features of 
the Garden. 
2. To add to its botanical usefulness and interest by the introduction, 
as opportunity offers, of plants representative of the American flora, so 
that, other things being equal, these shall ultimately be largely repre- 
sented and may even preponderate outside of the greenhouses, giving then, 
in the Garden, an epitome of the leading characteristics of our native 
flora. 
3. To carry into execution, as rapidly as possible, a system of cor- 
rectly naming and labeling all plants in the Garden, with the exception 
of such as may be used in ribbon gardening or for other exclusively 
ornamental purposes. 
* First Report. 93. 
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