(4i7) 



Maintenance of these conservatories has included only 

 ordinary painting, the placing of some internal shades, and 

 ordinary repairs to the great area of glass. The whole 

 range must be painted during the coming summer in order to 

 keep it in good repair. No difficulty has been found in 

 operating the heating system, except in one of the newer 

 houses, where it may prove necessary to add a little more 

 radiating surface in the future. 



Additional slate benches were placed in house No. 6, given 

 over to cactuses, and in house No. 9, containing the tree- 

 ferns. Shelving for the convenient storing of flower-pots 

 and other supplies, and additional benches for potting work, 

 were built in the cellar. 



3. Power House and Subways. The difficulty experi- 

 enced immediately after the building of the power house 

 and the subways carrying the steam pipes from it to the 

 museum building and the public conservatories, of surface 

 water getting access to the subways and flowing into the 

 power house, has been practically obviated, by grading 

 operations, and the restoring of excavated areas to lawn ; it 

 is believed that this danger has now been removed. 



At the close of the firing period, in the spring, a careful 

 examination of the whole heating plant was made, in consul- 

 tation with Mr. Gibson, the architect, and it was found 

 necessary to rebuild portions of the brick walls supporting 

 the boilers, and to reline the furnaces ; this work was done 

 by contract, under specifications prepared by Mr. Gibson, 

 and the work supervised by him. At the same time the 

 grates ordinarily used for the furnaces were found to have 

 been considerably damaged by wear, and a new set of grates 

 of a more recent pattern was put in ; these have proved more 

 economical and easier to operate than the old ones. 



Leakage of steam, referable to a defective pipe in the sub- 

 way between the power house and the museum building, was 

 discovered early in the autumn, and repaired. 



A portion of the cornice on the roof of the power house 

 which had been damaged in the dumping of coal, was rebuilt. 



