o4 
stumbled onto, except by those who are diligently and intelli- 
gently on the search—re-searching. 
The important thing for a scientific institution is to encourage 
research by its members of staff, to provide the necessary facili- 
tics, adequate compensation, laboratories, equipment, libraries, 
Research must be considered an 
ed 
and favorable ‘“‘atmosphere. 
essential, legitimate part of the program of any institution which, 
like this botanic garden, has for its official, fundamental purpose 
the advancement and diffusion of knowledge. National govern- 
ments should support rescarch, of course; but so, also, should 
states and municipalities, who benefit and whose inhabitants 
benefit every hour of every day in intellectual enlightenment and 
from the application of the results of research to human comforts, 
human needs, human betterment. 
The Botanic Garden itself is in constant need of new knowledge 
in connection with the administration of its own collections of 
living plants—knowledge of plant diseases, of plant relationships, 
of classification and nomenclature, of plant genetics, and of 
methods of cultivation and plant propagation. 
So far, it has been possible to apply only a very small portion 
of the Botanic Garden budget to research—approximately 
twenty-two per cent a year. The endowment of research at 
the Brooklyn Botanic Garden would help to promote one of its 
aims as stated in the legislation providing for its establishment; 
it would increase and enrich its usefulness in a very fundamental 
manner, enabling it to render to the community, to various City 
departments, and to mankind in general larger returns on the 
investment of money and effort already made. 
Research in progress during 1941 has included studies in plant 
pathology, plant breeding, systematic botany, ecology, local flora, 
and geographical botany. Detailed reports of this work may be 
found on pages 90-106, following. They are all of scientific in- 
terest and of scientific as well as practical importance. 
Studies of Physiologic Races of Plant Pathogens 
One of the most interesting and important findings in plant 
pathology during the past decades has been the discovery of 
physiologic races in the smuts of cereals. Specialized races of 
