39 
laboratory building, and especially by a new plant house that will 
afford additional space for laboratory work in the greenhouse 
Investigations 
Plant Disease Survey—In my last annual report (p. 44) I re- 
corded the appointment of Prof. W. H. Rankin to the newly es- 
tablished research fellowship. The primary purpose of this ap- 
pointment was to make a survey of the diseases of the trees and 
shrubs of Prospect Park and the Botanic Garden. Professor 
Rankin was finally unable to undertake the work, but the Garden 
was fortunate in securing the services of Prof. George M. Reed, 
of the University of Missouri, who was in residence from June 
15 to September 15. A preliminary report of his first summer’s 
work will be published in the Garden Recorp for January, 1917. 
It is anticipated that this investigation will enable the Garden to 
contribute toward the solution of the difficult and highly im- 
portant problem of the control and eradication of the diseases of 
the trees and shrubs of the parks and parkways of the city. 
Plant Rust Studies—From February 19 to May 1 Doctor Olive 
was absent in Porto Rico, in company with Professor Whetzel, of 
Cornell University, for the purpose of studying and collecting 
plant rusts, an important group of phytopathogenes in which he is 
specially interested. Such trips as this not only afford valuable 
opportunities for research, but also result in the enrichment of 
our scientific collections. It is hoped that in the near future pro- 
vision may be made for such trips as a regular part of our re- 
search work. 
Plant Breeding —Experimental investigations of heredity and 
variation in peas, castor beans, and corn, as previously reported 
for 1915, have been continued during the year, by and under the 
direction of the curator of plant breeding. These studies have 
yielded a large amount of data concerning the laws of inheritance 
of the numerous characters in these plants, and by extension, the 
laws of heredity in general. Peas have furnished the best ma- 
terial for these studies, and in collaboration with the Bureau of 
Plant Industry of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, between 
two and three hundred varieties have been collected from all over 
the world, including some especially interesting wild and semi- 
