THE ANNUAL MEETING. 201 



ago plants. Much credit is due the professor for this collection, and much val- 

 uable information can be obtained by a few days' study of the different species. 



We were interested in looking over the new laboratory, a building designed 

 as a museum for all agricultural and horticultural products, for samples of all 

 kinds of woods, for the Cooley herbarium and other collections of botanical 

 specimens, for vegetable curiosities, and for recitation rooms for students in 

 botany and horticulture. The views from some of the upper windows of this 

 building are very fine, the one north-east across the grounds especially so. 

 This building is well located and well adapted to the purpose for which it was 

 designed. Between this and the greenhouse and flower garden, situated just 

 across the little stream that flows through the grounds, is the wild garden. 

 This is a plantation of native perennial plants, some five hundred in all, labeled, 

 and including a large number common in our forests. The location is admi- 

 rably adapted to a plantation of this kind. A shaded bank with trees on one 

 side, a sunny bank upon the other, with brook between, and artificial ponds 

 containing water lilies, nelumbium, and other water plants, with springs, 

 marshy land, sedges and marsh grasses. The whole garden is arranged in 

 wards, with the different genera by themselves as near as may be. Each plant 

 is labeled, and the whole affords a fine opportunity for the study of botany. 



The greenhouse was looking somewhat empty on account of large numbers 

 of the plants being set in groups and borders for the ornamentation of the 

 grounds in its vicinity. They were all looking remarkably healthy, both inside 

 of the greenhouse and outside, showing the skillful care with which they are 

 managed by the gardener, Mr. Cassidy. On the bank between the greenhouse 

 and the river is a plantation of hardy grapes, trained to wire trellises. They 

 were making a vigorous growth, and were setting very full of fruit. This low 

 bank had been terraced with much care and presented a neat and tasty appear- 

 ance. 



A word in regard to the trees upon the grounds. A large number are of the 

 original forest, and mostly oak, — the finest tree of all, it seems to me. No 

 other has strength of character equal to it. No one ever saw two alike, and 

 yet it is an oak every time and in all circumstances. Perhaps the finest indi- 

 vidual tree upon the grouuds, however, is the tulip tree, standing just east of 

 College hall. Elms, maples, lindens, and the various species of pines, cedars, 

 and spruces give variety and beauty to the grouuds. The little plantations of 

 Norway spruces and arbor vitae, planted thickly, cultivated for a few years, and 

 removed for planting elsewhere as soon as they crowd each other, were an 

 interesting feature of the grounds. Some Norway spruces, cut back at the 

 top and forced to grow in a lateral direction, illustrate what may be done with 

 this hardy evergreen. All the evergreens are making a very rapid and healthy 

 growth. These, with the well-kept walks and drives and velvety lawns, form a 

 scene of rural beauty seldom equaled anywhere. 



I have given but a hasty sketch of what we saw. It must needs be very 

 imperfect. It has been a labor of love, however. 



Many are disappointed in the amount of work done in the horticultural 

 department at the college. But to one who has known of the difficulties and 

 embarrassments under which it has labored, with an annual appropriation of 

 but $300, with the lack of definite plan, and the unsettled condition of the 

 whole ten years ago, the only wonder is that so much has been done. 



Order has been evolved out of chaos, experiments with a definite end in view 

 .are being performed, the landscape gardening is being carried forward system- 



