32 • 



cent, of the people are engaged in extending the boundaries of . 

 human knowledge, that is, in scientific research. A somewhat 

 larger, but still very small percentage is interested or able to 

 keep in touch with the advancement of science; the majority of 

 these comprise the faculties, student bodies, and alumni of our 

 colleges and universities. There remains the vast bulk of the 

 population, some of wdiom are interested, more or less super- 

 ficially, in natural knowledge, chiefly as an incidental added in- 

 terest in life, but many of whom are deaf, dumb, and blind to the 

 processes and beauties of nature, and need to have their interest 

 aroused in order to appreciate the importance of scientific work, 

 to have intelligent sympathy with it, to appreciate the necessity of 

 its support l)y private and pul^lic agencies, and to realize how its 

 pursuit and its results enrich human life in every way.. This 

 problem of education for the people is one whose magnitude is 

 equalled only by its importance. It should challenge the united 

 effort of all those who have at heart tlie best interests of science, 

 of education, and of society. Above all it should be generously 

 supported by all governmental agencies, national, state, and nni- 

 nicipal "Promote," said George Washington in his Farewell 



Address, 



cc 



'f priuiary imp 



the increase and diffusion of knowledge." Nothing is more cal- 

 culated to favor the advancement of scientific research than a 

 high general level of intelligence among the people. 



This is the creed and the conviction which has animated and 

 given direction to the organization and activities of the Brooklyn 

 Botanic Garden during the past ten years, and nothing has been 

 more gratifying than the response of the public to the opportuni- 

 ties afforded by the Garden, free to all the people, all the time, to 

 learn more of the beauties and meaning of plant life, and to en- 

 joy the peculiar intellectual satisfaction thereby afforded. The 

 extent of this response is amply recorded in the statistics on 

 pages 24-26, and also in words of encouragement and commenda- 

 tion, and in contributions to the support of the work wdiich are 

 constantly being received. It would be difficult to overstate the 

 loss to the intellectual, aesthetic, and social life of the community 



r 



if all that its Botanic Garden has come to mean w'ere to be 

 ' eliminated. .^ . • 



' # 



^ V 



4 



/ 



