124 The Ottawa Naturalist. [September 



a single group, and in some cases even three separate groups have 

 had to be made. Furthermore, in many cases the soil was not 

 suitable where a certain genus would come if kept in the r gular 

 sequence, and it was thought better to plant the trees which would 

 succeed in wet soil in that kind and reserve the drier parts for those 

 which would not ; in like manner, to use the heavy clay and sandy 

 loam soils for those trees and shrubs which would be most likely 

 to succeed in them. This arrangement, however, has not always 

 been possible. Up to the present time little has been done with a 

 view to landscape effects in the Arboretum. The place is beauti- 

 fully situated, and great improvements could be made by the 

 judicious planting of masses of shrubbery and clumps of trees for 

 this purpose. There is, however, no special grant for the main- 

 tenance of the Arboretum and Botanic Garden, what money is 

 spent being taken from the Experimental Farm vote. It has, 

 therefore, been thought that the best use tha* could be made of 

 the money available, was to make the collection as large as 

 possible, keep the place in order, and leave the ornamental plant- 

 ing until later. 



The trees and shrubs are, in most cases, planted far enough 

 apart to permit of their developing into full-sized specimens with- 

 out being crowded by each other. 



One of the prominent features of the Botanic Garden is the 

 herbaceous perennial border, which is situated on the east to south- 

 east side of an Arbor-vitae hedge, which serves as a great pro- 

 tection from the wind, helps to hold the snow in winter and is a 

 fine dark background to the flowers. This border is 12 feet wide,, 

 and the plants are set in rows three by three feet apart. This 

 distance has made it possible to keep the different kinds separated 

 and renders cultivation easy. The Arboretum and Botanic Garden 

 was in charge of Dr. James Fletcher, Botanist and Entomologist 

 to the Dominion Experimental Farms, from the time it was laid 

 out until the spring of 1895, when the work was undert ken by 

 the writer, who, in the spring of 1898, was appointed Curator. 

 From the first. Dr. Saunders, Director of the Dominion Experi- 

 mental Farms, has taken a keen interest in the work ; the planning 

 of the grounds and the procuring of plants and arrangement of the 

 material has been done in conjunctlou with him. 



