IMVORTANCE OF STATE IIERBAKIUM 3L 



iuid botiuiists is also woll exempli tied; the iorinei- 

 analyses the products, the latter classifies the various^ 

 speeief-^ and is able to advise as to the best kinds to be 

 exploited. The authors further state that '' the evidence 

 appears conclusive that any effort expended upon particu- 

 lar species will be rewarded with corresponding re^•:ults, 

 providing our nomenclature as here published be fol- 

 lowed.'' 



The Tnited States National Herbarium jmblishes many 

 papers dealing with the correct classification of the 

 native plants many of which have an important economic 

 bearing. There the cardinal principle is fully realised 

 that the first procedure when a new source of any vege- 

 table product is suspected is to know all botanical details 

 about the group to which it belongs and the preliminary 

 step to this knowledge is the classification and naming 

 of the various species. When rubber exportation from 

 Central America became an important industry a tree 

 known as Castilla clastica was thought to be a source of 

 supply. This tree was introduced into cultivation and was 

 widely experimented upon with varying results and a 

 large amount of capital invested in plantations, most 

 of which failed to justify the expectations of the in- 

 vestors. The behaviour of the tree in cultivation led to 

 the suspicion that more than one species was being 

 grown. Here the aid of the systeumtic botanist had to 

 be sought and the genus monographed '^ as a preliminary 

 step to the study of questions relating to the availability 

 of the species as rubber producers.'' 



In British Guiana two of the staple industries jn-e the 

 production of rubber and balata. As early as 1880 an 

 investigation of the various kinds of latex-producing trees 

 scattered throughout the vast forests of British Guiana 

 was commenced by the Government Botanist resulting 

 in many valuable species being brought to the notice of 

 the producers. 



The danger of not preserving specimens of economic 

 ini})ortanco, with information about them, in herbaria 



