For June, 1921 



619 



Dedication of Entrance Missouri Botanical Garden 



THE dedication of the new main entrance of the Mis- 

 souri Botanical Garden to replace the old edifice 

 built by Mr. Shaw in 1858, was held under the col- 

 onnade of the new gatew^ay. May 10, 1921. Air. Edwards 

 Whitaker. president of the Board of Trustees of the Mis- 

 souri Botanical Garden, presided, and after an invocation 

 by the Rev. Dr. John S. Buntiny made the following re- 

 marks : 



"During JMr. Shaw's life and for some years after, this 

 gate provided sufficient accommodations to those visiting 

 the Garden. Later with the opening of the Garden on 

 Sundays and other attractive features to the public the 



I ii'U' of Mail! Eulruin-.- finm Inlcrior of Card, 



attendance increased, and for some time the Board of 

 Triistees have realized that larger and better accommo- 

 dations at the main entrance were needed. How to pro- 

 vide them was a question. It resulted in what we all at 

 times have had to meet, a financial problem. You are 

 aware that the Garden is supported from the income of 

 the Shaw estate only, about one-fourth of the income be- 

 ing consumed in paying licenses, taxes, etc., to the city 

 and state. In time a plan was evolved whereby with the 

 approval of the circuit court a loan was secured provid- 

 ing funds, with a provision that a percentage of the an- 

 nual income be devoted toward liquidating "the indebted- 

 ness. 



"We meet today to dedicate this structure, and I hope 

 and believe that with the enlarged facilities for the con- 

 venience of visitors their numbers may increase, as they 

 can secure a better and more pleasing impression of the 

 Garden than was heretofore possible. 



"The Garden has an enviable reputation, both interna- 

 tionally and nationally, standing in the front rank everv- 

 where as an institution of scientific and horticultura] at- 

 tainments. 



"\\'e have been fortunate in securing as speal^r of 

 the day the Hon. Henry C. Wallace, Secretary of Agri- 

 culture, and I take pleasure in introducing him." 

 Honorable Henry C. ^^'aIlace made the following ad- 

 dress. 



"It is a privilege to be here today and an honor to be 

 asked to speak briefly on such an occasion. You are in 

 a way dedicating anew to the use of the public these won- 

 derful gardens which for more than half a century have 

 been an inspiration to those who visited them and'which 

 have contributed much to our store of knowledge of 

 Giod's great vegetable kingdom. 



"Instinctively our thoughts turn first to that generous- 

 spirited citizen who made all of this possible. I wish I 



which are beint 



might speak from that intimate jjersonal fellowship which 

 perhaps some of those who are here today enjoyed. But 

 the spirit of a man is made manifest not alone while he is 

 here with us but by the things he does and savs which 

 live after he has passed on. 



"So thousands who could not know Henry Shaw in the 

 flesh nevertheless have a deep sense of gratitude to him 

 and of kinship with him. Hundreds of thousands of 

 those who neither knew him nor have known of him 

 nevertheless will be indebted to him. For the influence 

 of the work that has been done here and, indeed, the in- 

 fluence of these gardens themselves, has spread through- 

 out the nation. The lives of thousands 

 unconsciously have been modified and 

 ■ enlarged and made happier through this 

 influence: and these in turn, knowingly 

 or unknowingly pass on to others the in- 

 .spiration received through the oppor- 

 tunity that Henry Shaw made possible to 

 thcni. 



"He had a keen sense of duty to his 

 fellow man. He came here froin a for- 

 eign land. In a comparatively short 

 space of time he amassed" a fortune. Un- 

 like many who have had a similar life 

 experience, he did not depart with his 

 gain, but devoted his remaining years to 

 good works. He had a high s^ense of 

 citizenship which ought to be felt by 

 evcrv right-thinking citizen. 



"If I should undertake to place rela- 

 tive values upon the various activities 

 ;• carried on here and measure them in 

 percentages, I should place first the subtle influence which 

 these gardens exert upon the lives and characters of those 

 who come for researcli and, more especially, for the pure 

 joy of li\-ing among the beautiful plants the good God 

 has given His people. 



"A\ ise parents bring their children in contact with 

 Nature in her \aried forms. They take them where 

 they may see Nature in her rugged aspects, that they 

 may see evidences of the mighty forces which were 

 at work when the land was shaped. They take them to 

 the rivers and to the sea that they may see God's hand 

 upon the waters, now in repose, again lashed into fury 

 by the winds. They take them to^he fields and to the 

 forests that they may have some understanding of our 

 dependence upon the soil. They bring them to places 

 .such as this, where plants of afmost endless variety of 

 form and color, fragrance and beauty, appeal to the finer 

 emotions and thus develop a love of 'the gentle and beau- 

 tiful which influences thought and action throughout life 

 and which adds largely to the capacity for happy living. 

 "-Men who have studied such matters tell us that suf- 

 ficient records have been found to prove the existence of 

 some six or eight great civilizations prior to the one in 

 which we are now living. They tell us further that each 

 of these great ci\-ilizations was preceded and followed 

 by periods of darkness; that they went through certain 

 fairly well-revealed stages, the last being the period of 

 wealth. They tell us that as the period of wealth de- 

 velops there comes the fevered pursuit of artificial pleas- 

 ures, the rush to tlie cities, the desertion of the open 

 countrv, and the consequent breaking down of character 

 and lapse once more into a period of darkness and 

 despair. 



"ft this, which we like to think of as the most advanced 

 ( Continued on page 621 ) 



