36 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



been and are being made. But science is long, and human 

 life is short, too short to successfully undertake experiments 

 "which, to be truly conclusive, must often extend through 

 generations of human life. 



Such work will be more systematically, and therefore 

 more satisfactorily, performed in public institutions, which 

 may be expected to continue certain lines of research from 

 generation to generation, and where the duration of experi- 

 ments will not depend on the pleasure or on the life of the 

 individual man. 



Tlie country is to be congratulated, that, in pursuance of 

 this object, and others relating to arboriculture, Harvard Uni- 

 versity has established the Arnold Arboretum, which contains 

 some hundred and twenty-eight acres of land, quite variable 

 in character, a portion of the well-known Bussey Farm in 

 Roxbury, near Boston. The location is such, that the results 

 of experiments there made will be of special value to New 

 England, and of general interest to a large portion of the 

 whole country. The arboretum is yet in its infanc}', having 

 been commenced only in 1874 ; so that, excepting the older 

 trees, of which there are many already upon the estate, the 

 majority of species are hardly more than nursery specimens, 

 which, pending certain arrangements between the arboretum 

 and the city of Boston, have not as yet been planted in their 

 proper places. The work of the arboretum is therefore 

 largely in the future. It is proposed, as soon as possible, to 

 plant out along the main roadway the various orders of trees 

 and shrubs in botanical sequence, both native species and 

 those of foreign introduction, including all their varieties ; 

 so that any one not possessing a special botanical knowl- 

 edge may at a glance comprehend the classification, and see 

 by direct comparison the plants which best endure our cli- 

 mate. Among the many plants cultivated, of course, some 

 will prove failures; and it is part of the work of the arbore- 

 tum to show by living illustrations what to avoid, as well as 

 what to select. 



In fact it is intended to make the arboretum a living 

 museum, to which the nurseryman, the gardener, and the 

 private land-owner may resort for trustworthy information 

 regarding all trees and shrubs, and save themselves the cost 

 of personal experiments and the delays caused by an unfor- 



