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REPORT OF THE OFFICERS OF THE BOARD. 19 
for the spring and of foliage plants in summer, producing 
an unrivaled display of the best varieties of these plants. 
A collection of decorative species that are hardy in this 
vicinity occupies a separate section of the central part of 
the grounds, and the names of these plants are frequently 
noted by visitors for use in planting their own gardens. 
For the convenience of teachers and classes, several 
hundred instructive plants are arranged in _ botanical 
sequence, and forage plants, savory herbs and medicinal 
plants are similarly grown in separate groups. One of the 
features of the Garden for several years past has been the 
growth through the summer of chrysanthemum plants for 
display in the fall. Notwithstanding the limited space 
available for this purpose, the chrysanthemum show of the 
Garden.has won recognition as a competitor in attractive- 
ness with the florists’ show held in the city, and visitors 
who have traveled largely characterized that of this year 
as the finest they had ever seen — not even excepting those 
of Japan. 
VISITORS. 
The number of visitors to the Garden varies so greatly 
from year to year, especially as affected by fair or unpleas- 
ant weather on the two Sunday afternoons on which the Gar- 
den is opened by direction of Mr. Shaw’s will, that it is hard 
to furnish comparative figures. Until the middle of 1898 
only estimates were made: since then a regular count 
has been kept. In 1904, the World’s Fair year, the vis- 
itors numbered 316,747. The average from 1899 to 1903, 
was 83,503. In 1905 there were 100,830. The visitors 
on the open Sundays average a little over a fourth of the 
yearly total. . 
Though the number of visitors is evidently increasing, 
it is a matter of regret that more of our citizens do not 
avail themselves of the privileges given by Mr. Shaw’s 
bequest, and that so few seem to know that, excepting 
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