36 . STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



this State, besides a great many cultivated ones, before tliey can expect 

 to become efficient men for landscape gardeners. Every student that 

 leaves this institution without that knowledge injures it. With our 

 collection of ornamental trees and shrubs, and the establishment here 

 of all the native species, the elective courses could be easily arranged 

 so that students desiring to fit themselves for the overseeing of large 

 estates or to become associated with landscape gardeners could be am- 

 ply qualified for such work. Furthermore, there should be established 

 here at the College strong courses in landscape architecture, forestry 

 and sanitary engineering, to round out and supplement a knowledge of 

 the flora of the State. 



''There is no feature so valuable in a collection of plants from an 

 educational standpoint as a collection following a natural sequence, or, 

 in other words, a synoptical collection. The Arnold Arboretum has 

 about four acres devoted to this purpose, and one can obtain a better 

 idea of shrubs from this collection than from any other in the United 

 States. Such a collection at the College would be desirable, and should 

 contain a large number of the herbaceous plants, such as our most im- 

 portant asters, golden rods, old-fashioned herbs and flowers, medicinal 

 plants, etc." 



The above is the account of the dream of the college officers in Massa- 

 chusetts, extended for over a third of a century. In the early days of 

 this College, more than one professor had selected a spot and dreamed 

 of a botanic garden, when ample means should be given for the under- 

 taking. 



In 1870, when the present Professor of Botany began his work at M. 

 A. C», he did not wait for a generous sum with which to start a garden, 

 but began to dig and plant in a very small way, trying in succession 

 many different schemes. He thought^ a small garden right away prefer- 

 able to waiting for a long time for a large one. Besides, it doesn't cost 

 much to experiment in a small way, till one finds out just what he wants 

 and learns how to do the work. By a slow process at little cost, I have 

 learned that a garden cannot be planted once for all time, without gi'eat 

 expense. Plants need a rotation; a change from one place to another. 

 The soil becomes depleted; insects and fungi find their favorite plants 

 and settle down in great numbers to live on them. Most shrubbery 

 does better with an oecasional change. Had our botanic garden waited 

 for $5,000 per year, or even |500 per year, it probably would have re- 

 mained only a dream even to the present time. Not counting a share 

 of my own time, our botanic garden, consisting of two acres, where 3,000 

 kinds of plants grow, costs not far from six hundred dollars a year, by 

 far the cheapest garden of its size and quality in existence. The Pro- 

 fessor of Horticulture says that not less than |5,000 per year, not in- 

 cluding greenhouses, should be used in the maintenance of a botanic 

 garden at this College. 



During three or four months of the year, this small garden attracts 

 more visitors than any other one thing or department of the College. 

 How would it be with a larger and more complete garden? 



The points referring to the origin of our botanic garden, illustrate my 

 way of starting a museum. 



