45 
Plantations and Grounds 
“for the collection and culture of plants, flowers, shrubs 
and trees... and for the prosecution and exhibition of 
ornamental and decorative Seas and gardening, and 
for the entertainment, recreation and instruction of the 
people.” 
In order to fulfill the entire purpose of the grounds, as specified 
in the above quotation, we have endeavored to make the garden the 
most beautiful spot in Greater New York, while at the same time 
arranging the plantations in accordance with botanical principles, 
so that the well-labeled collections will serve to instruct as well 
as to afford entertainment and recreation. We are now in fre- 
quent receipt of testimonials which go the entire length of pro- 
nouncing the Brooklyn Botanic Garden the most beautiful spot 
in the City. 
The Rock Garden, constructed in 1916, was for a number of 
years the only rock garden in a public park in America. It has 
been annually improved and gradually enlarged, and has been 
the means of arousing an interest in rock gardening and saxitile 
plants throughout the United States. Numerous private rock 
gardens and two or three in public parks are a direct or indirect 
result of the interest aroused in this type of gardening by our 
own rockery and by the Botanic Garden Leaflets and numerous 
magazine articles on this subject prepared by our horticulturist, 
Mr. Free, under whose immediate supervision the rockery was 
constructed and developed. To stimulate and foster an inter- 
est in gardening of any kind is one of the most substantial re- 
sults that can follow from our own plantations. Notwithstanding 
the garden-club movement, which has gathered a considerable 
following in America during the past ten or twelve years, and 
the several garden magazines now being published in the United 
States, a genuine interest in gardening, for its own sake (as 
distinguished from a social interest in it), is still in its infancy 
in this country. The Brooklyn Botanic Garden aims to foster 
this interest in every possible way. 
The Japanese Garden has been improved in minor details dur- 
ing the year, and still remains, so far as we are informed, the only 
1 Laws of New York, 1911, l.c., Section I. 
