8g SP eo SS Pe hay ane ee ee Se I Te me ag ‘A * 2 ee ee, ee See Pe —o. 
EIGHTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR. 33 
each high, there is reason to believe that this provision of 
Mr. Shaw’s will in time will be productive of much good, 
while if, as is to be hoped, the number of pupils shall be 
ultimately increased, the results attained by a given outlay 
can in all probability be considerably augmented. Under 
the present instructions of the Board, three special students 
have thus far been admitted, and of these, one, a Japanese 
gentleman of good elementary training, after remaining at 
the Garden for a year and a half, was recalled and placed 
in charge of an important horticultural school which has 
been established in his native country. 
The necessity of keeping the office staff down to the 
smallest possible limits, has thus farjprevented the appoint- 
ment of permanent associates for the Director, such as were 
contemplated in the outline policy of the Board quoted 
above, and it has seemed best to treat the assistants’ 
positions as being virtually fellowships, enabling young 
men of fair botanical knowledge, but little experience, to fit 
themselves for more responsible positions while doing the 
necessary routine work of the Garden. It is gratifying to 
note that of the four regular botanical assistants appointed 
before the middle of 1896, two have gone to responsible 
college positions and one has assumed charge of a branch 
of the botanical work of the United States Department of 
Agriculture. The position vacated by the resignation of 
Mr. Thompson in the summer of 1896 has been filled by the 
appointment of Mr. J. B. S. Norton, formerly an assistant 
in the botanical department of the Kansas Agricultural 
College. Of the three regularly appointed horticultural 
assistants, one died while in the service of the Garden, 
where he was doing very efficient work, one has been ealled 
to the chair of horticulture in the University of Missouri, 
while the third, Mr. Irish, is still at the Garden. 
Four annual events provided for in Henry Shaw’s will 
have taken place in 1896, as follows: the preaching of a 
sermon ‘on the wisdom and goodness of God as shown in 
the growth of flowers, fruits, and other products of the 
3 
