18T6.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



89 



Grasses and some other Monocotyledonous orders 

 as nearly completed as this difficult and con- 

 stantly recurring operation can be. 



The small north glass shed behind the small 

 Orchid-house has been fitted with benches and 

 heated, and will be devoted to the cultivation of 

 Dionsea, Sarracenia, and other insectivorous plants, 

 cool-house Ferns, &c. 



The brick wall dividing Greenhouse No. 2 

 from the large potting-shed behind it has been 

 removed ; the wooden roof of the latter changed 

 to a glass one, and the whole converted into a 

 span-roofed cool-house, which will be devoted to 

 the cultivation of Australian shrubs and other 

 half-hardy plants. 



The principal range of glass-houses has been, 

 for several years, heated by two boilers, placed at 

 the two extremities. The smaller of these has 

 been discontinued ; an arrangement which, it is 

 hoped, will lead to a considerable economy in 

 fuel, as it certainly will in labor. 



This range of houses, though in excellent con- 

 dition, is entirely inadequate to contain the vari- 

 ous collections of exotic plants now cultivated in 

 the Garden, and the plants are beginning to 

 suffer for want of sufficient room. The magnifi- 

 cent Palm in the Central Compartment, probably 

 the finest specimen in North America, must be 

 cut down the coming year, if new accommoda- 

 tion is not provided for it. 



The email greenhouse in the rear of the prin- 

 cipal range is in miserable condition, and the 

 collection of Succulent plants grown in it has 

 already suffered for want of proper accommoda- 

 tion. This house is so old that it does not seem 

 expedient to make any great outlay on it. 



For want of sufficient room and proper accom- 

 modation for its operations, the propagating de- 

 partment of the Garden has been transferred 

 from Cambridge to the greenhouses of the Bussey 

 Institution, now temporarily devoted to the uses 

 of the Arnold Arboretum. 



Materials for the botanical classes during the 

 winter, which were formerly raised at the Gar- 

 den, are now either raised at the Bussey Institu- 

 tion or purchased. This arrangement is cheaper 

 than the former method, and it also admits of 

 the cultivation at the Garden of plants of scien- 

 tific interest in the space which must otnerwise 

 have been devoted to a great number of indi- 

 viduals of a few common species. 



EXCHANGES. 



The total interchange of plants and seeds with 



other Botanic and Horticultural establishments 

 has more than doubled; while the number of 

 plants and packets of seeds distributed from the 

 Garden is more than six times as great as that of 

 the previous year. 



They were distributed as follows: To Great 

 Britain, 487 plants and 878 packets of seeds; to 

 the Continent of Europe, 76 plants and 449 

 packets of seeds; to the Governor of Ber- 

 muda, 2 packets of seeds ; to all parts of the 

 United States, 6,492 plants and 685 packets of 

 seeds. 



Total, 7,055 plants, and 2,014 packets of seeds. 



1,609 plants and 2,195 packets of seeds, from 

 71 donors, have been contributed to the Garden 

 during the year. Of these, 187 plants and 754 

 packets of seeds have been received from Great 

 Britain ; 46 plants and 536 packets of seeds from 

 the Continent of Europe; 11 packets of seeds 

 from the Cape of Good Hope, and 7 from Algeria; 

 66 plants from the Island of Bermuda, and 1 

 from Australia ; and from all parts of the United 

 States, 1,310 plants and 887 packets of seeds. 



The principal foreign contributions are : A set 

 of rare Orchidaceous plants and many Euro- 

 pean and Australian seeds from the Eoyal Gar- 

 den, Kew ; a large collection of seeds, from the 

 North of Europe and Northern and Western 

 Asia, from the Imperial Botanic Garden, St 

 Petersburg ; many seeds, especially of Mexican 

 and Australian plants from the Koyal Botanic 

 Garden, Palermo; a large collection of seeds 

 from the Musee d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris ; and 

 seeds of Alpine plants from the Royal Botanic 

 Garden. Edinburgh. Besides the above, the fol- 

 lowing foreign donations require especial ac- 

 knowledgments : A collection of the Ferns of 

 those Islands from Major-General Lefroy, Gov- 

 ernor of Bermuda ; a fine collection of Orchida 

 and other plants and seeds from Messrs. Veitch, 

 the eminent London nurserymen; several col- 

 lections of seeds from Mr. William Thompson, 

 seed merchant, Ipswich, England ; a magnificent 

 Tree-Fern trunk from Australia, by the Baron 

 Von Mueller; seeds and rare bulbs from Herr 

 Leichlin, Baden-Baden, and collections of seeds 

 of ornamental plants from the late M. Thuret, of 

 Antibes, and Messrs. Huber & Co., nurserymen, 

 Hy feres. 



Among the many contributions to the Garden 

 from the United States, the following are of espe- 

 cial value : Seeds and plants from the Sierras of 

 California, by J. G. Lemmon, Esq., California; 

 plants and seeds by H. B. Bolander, Esq., of Saa 



