52 COLUMBIAN INSTITUTE FOR THE 



greenhouse was erected between September, 1843, and January, 1844. 

 The corresponding act of June 17, 1844, with an item of $2,200 on 

 account of the botanical collections of the same expedition, provided 

 for " enlarging the greenhouse," but which of the houses was so en- 

 larged is not stated. The accounts for material and labor continued 

 from July 11 until October 31, 1844, and the size of the addition was 

 given as 78 feet 7 inches long and the same width as the old parts. 

 Mr. Brackenridge deplores, in his report for 1842, the lack of a place 

 for outdoor planting, a desideratum which was evidently not sup- 

 plied in that location. The other regular employees in the green- 

 house service seem to have been a gardener or assistant florist and 

 a laborer. 



An extension of the Patent Office building, begun in 1849, made it 

 necessary to displace the above greenhouses, 1 and they were trans- 

 ferred in 1850 to the site of the former botanic garden of the Co- 

 lumbian Institute on the Mall between First and Third Streets. Mr. 

 Brackenridge continued in charge until 1853 or 1854, being also em- 

 ployed under A. J. Downing upon the improvement of public 

 grounds in Washington during 1851 and 1852. The name of Wil- 

 liam R. Smith, who afterward became superintendent, first appears 

 upon the pay rolls in June, 1853, as gardener or assistant florist, at 

 the rate of $1.25 a day. The greenhouses in their new location re- 

 mained, moreover, under the supervision of Capt. Wilkes, until 

 August, 1854. 



The removal of the greenhouses and the work upon the new site 

 during the first year is thus described in the annual report of the 

 Commissioner of Public Buildings for 1850 : 



The square immediately west of the Capitol enclosure was selected by the 

 Joint Committee on the Library as the most suitable for the location of the 

 public green-house. The two small buildings on the Patent Office square have 

 been, as was required by the appropriation contained in the deficiency bill, 

 approved May 15, 1850, removed, and by the use of such of the materials as 

 were suitable, reconstructed. And, to afford ample room for the care and 

 preservation of the botanical collection, in addition to these, a more commodi- 

 ous building has been erected, which is so planned and located as to form a 



1 " In order to make room for the foundation of the eastern wing [of the Pat- 

 ent Office], it became necessary to remove a part of the conservatory, in which 

 is kept the rich collection of tropical plants that were selected and preserved 

 with so much skill and care by Captain Wilkes and the scientific gentlemen 

 who accompanied him on the exploring expedition. The appropriation which 

 could be applied to that object being insufficient to erect a new building adapted 

 to the purpose of their permanent preservation, it was thought best to remove 

 that part of the structure which interfered with the foundation of the Patent 

 Office, and rebuild it in a cheap manner, so as to preserve the plants until 

 Congress might fix upon a spot on which a permanent building should be con- 

 structed, and select adjacent grounds for the cultivation of the hardier plants 

 of the collection." (Annual Report, Secretary of the Interior, Dec. 3, 1849.) 



