REPORT OF THE BOTANIST 261 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



specimens were many species not before represented. Since the establishment of the 

 Division of Botany (July, 1900) close upon two hundred species have been added to 

 the list, which was even at that time a creditable one. Vacancies still remain to le 

 idled in, and some genera are far from being complete, but the deficiencies are now 

 mostly of the rarer plants which happily are also less likely to be consulted. In some 

 g.mera, recent revisions and advances in nomenclature have made a great deal of 

 re-naming necessary, and some time was found for a beginning of this important work 

 with Carex, some of the grasses and other plants. A set of Ottawa hawthorns col- 

 lected by my colleague, Mr. Groh, and submitted to Mr. W. W. Egglestou for critical 

 study, has been added to the Herbarium. These specimens in flower and fruit were 

 taken from over sixty trees in the immediate vicinity of Ottawa, and represent 

 fifteen species and varieties of this perplexing genus. A similar collection of June- 

 berries (Amelanchier) was also made, which provides material for a fairly exhaustive 

 study of this genus as it occurs in the vicinity of Ottawa. The Herbarium is always 

 at the service of any student of botany, and may. be consulted daily during the official 

 hours. Together with the Arboretum and Botanic Garden, the Herbarium affords 

 exceptional facilities for the study of Canadian plants. 



It becomes here my pleasant duty to acknowledge and thank Mrs. Wra. Saunders 

 for the very generous contribution of upwards of one thousand sheets of mounted 

 plants to our collection. The plants were mainly collected by the donor herself, ami 

 their careful preservation, together with the requisite data furnisbed, speak well for 

 the great care with which they have been collected. They are greatly appreciated and 

 form an important and welcome addition to our Herbarium. 



AKBORETUM A XI) BOTAXIC GARDENS. 



It was the desire of the Honourable the Minister of Agriculture, that the control 

 and management of the Arboretum and Botanic Gardens adjoining the Central Ex- 

 perimental Farm be transferred to the Dominion Botanist, the transfer to date from 

 January 1, 1911. The Gardens have hitherto been in charge of Mr. W. T. Macoun. 

 Dominion Horticulturist, who at the same time acted as Curator. The splendid col- 

 lection of trees and shrubs in the Gardens is well known and many visitors from near 

 and far spend an enjoyable and profitable time in the study of its vegetation. In 

 past years, however, there has been no desire to make a Botanical Garden in the true 

 and wide meaning of the term, the grounds serving mainly as a trial ground for orna- 

 mental trees and shrubs, deciduous and evergreen, arranged according to pleasing 

 landscape effects or floral displays. Institutions like the Experimental Farms, existing 

 for purposes of demonstration and practical application, should base their results upon 

 established scientific facts and for this reason it will be our endeavour to develop a 

 botanical garden for purposes of economic application and scientific study and to 

 serve as a centre for imparting information to the visiting public. 



The formation of a Botanic Garden is naturally influenced by the local climatic 

 conditions, which may make completeness impossible even in the representation of 

 our own flora. An important feature of a garden for our purposes should 

 be the display of economic plants such as timber, shade and shelter trees, food and 

 fibre plants, and those of medicinal value. Such plants, plainly labelled with their 

 uses or the uses of their products, will no doubt have an interest with the public. 

 second only to beautiful floral effects. In a country so vast as this, a botanic garden 

 should also illustrate the geograpbical distribution of plants and their ecology or 

 relation to environment, so far at least as climatic and other conditions will permit. 

 The interest shown by many visitors and correspondents in the development of such 

 gardens, the popularity enjoved by, and the instruction and benefit derived from, 

 existing gardens all over the world, certainly justify any endeavour to. improve, extend 

 and render more practically useful the beautiful grounds set aside for such purposes. 



