244 



THE ALUMNI JOURNAL, 



and this will apply not only to the sys- 

 tematic plantations, but to the systematic 

 museum and herbarium. 



The scientific possibilities of a botani- 

 cal garden are the greater if an organic 

 or co-operative relationship exists be- 

 tween it and a university, thus affording 

 ready facilities for information on other 

 sciences. 



The Philanthropic Element. — A botani- 

 cal garden operates as a valuable philan- 

 thropic agency, both directly and in- 

 directly. Its direct influence lies through 

 its affording an orderly arranged institu- 

 tion for the instruction, information and 

 recreation of the people, and it is more 

 eflBcient for these purposes than a park, 

 as it is more completely developed and 

 liberally maintained. Its indirect, but 

 equally important, philanthropic opera- 

 tion is through the discovery and dis- 

 semination of facts concerning plants and 

 their products, obtained through the 

 studies of the scientific stafi" and by others 

 using the scientific equipment. 



NUMBER AND DISTRIBUTION OF BOTANI- 

 CAL GARDENS. 



There are somewhat over 200 institu- 

 tions denominated botanical gardens, but 

 only a few of them meet the require- 

 ments of the foregoing sketch. Some 

 are essentially pleasure parks, with the 

 plants more or less labeled ; most of 

 them pay some attention to taxonomy 

 and morphology; many to economic bot- 

 any, while a small number are admirably 

 equipped in all branches of the science. 



I have drawn freely on Prof. Pen- 

 hallow's first annual report of the Mon- 

 treal Botanical Garden, published in 

 1886, for the following approximate 

 statement of the number in different 

 countries : 



Algeria, i. Cape of Good Hope, 3. 



Australia, 5. Ceylon, i. 



Austro- Hungary, 13. Chili, i. 

 Belgium, 5. China, i. 



Brazil, 2. Cochin China i. 



Canada, i . 

 Canary Islands, i, 

 Egypt, I. 

 France, 22. 

 Germany, 36. 

 Great Britain and 



Ireland, 12. 

 Greece, i. 

 Guatemala, i. 

 Guiana, i. 

 Holland, 4. 

 India, 7. 

 Italy, 23. 

 Japan, i. 

 Java, I. 

 Malta, I. 

 Mauritius, i. 

 Natal. I. 

 New Zealand, i. 



Denmark, 2. 

 Ecuador, i. 

 Norway, i. 

 Peru, I. 

 Philippine Islands, i. 



Portugal, 3. 

 Reunion, i. 

 Roumania, 2. 

 Russia, 16. 

 Servia, i. 

 Siberia, i. 

 Spain, 2. 



Straits Settlements, i. 

 Sweden, 6. 

 Switzerland, 4 

 Tasmania, i. 

 United States, 10. 

 West Indies, 6. 



NOTES ON THE NEW YORK GARDENS. 



The establishment of the New York 

 Botanical Garden was authorized by the 

 Legislature in 1891, and the enabling 

 act was amended in 1894. ^^^ enter- 

 prise was inaugurated and the legislation 

 procured by a committee of the Torrey 

 Botanical Club, appointed in 1889. The 

 Act of Incorporation provided that when 

 the corporation created should have 

 raised or secured by subscription a sum 

 not less than $250,000 00, the Commis- 

 sioners of Public Parks were authorized 

 to set apart and appropriate a portion of 

 one of the public parks, not exceeding 

 250 acres, and the Board of Estimate and 

 Apportionment was authorized to issue 

 bonds, aggregating the sum of $500,- 

 000.00, for the construction and equip- 

 ment, within the grounds, of the neces- 

 sary buildings. The subscription of 

 $250,000.00 required by the Act of In- 

 corporation was completed in June, 1895, 

 and the Commissioners of Public Parks, 

 in the following month, formally appro- 

 priated 250 acres of the northern part of 

 Bronx Park for the purposes of the Gar- 

 den. Since that time the preparation of 

 plans for the development of the tract 

 has been steadily progressing, including 



