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physical care of such a collection needs constant supervision; 
requests from the public for the identification of specimens and 
the use of the collections by the public are constantly increasing. 
At present the herbarium is in charge of the curator of plants and 
assistant curator whose duties in connection with the plantations 
and conservatories demand such a large proportion of their time 
that the needs of the herbarium cannot be adequately met, and 
little time or energy is left for investigation. I urge the appoint- 
ment of a curator of the phanerogamic herbarium as soon as 
funds can be secured, and during 1920 if possible. 
Curator of Plant Pathology.—A collection of several thousand — 
species, and matiy more individuals, of living plants, woody and 
herbaceous, in conservatories and garden, all more or less subject 
to disease, and requiring to be kept in prime condition for pur- 
poses of public exhibition, necessitates the constant attention of 
a competent plant pathologist. Unsolved scientific problems are 
constantly emerging in this connection. The disastrous loss from 
diseases of the white birches in the Garden during the past two 
or three years, and the earlier loss of practically every chestnut 
tree from Prospect Park and other city parks due to the chestnut 
bark canker, are striking illustrations of the ravages that may 
result from plant diseases. In some cases the disease is fairly 
well understood, and the remedy known; when that is the case 
the chief need is constant watchfulness, and prompt application of 
the remedy. But accurate diagnosis is a first essential, and in 
innumerable cases the nature of the disease is not known, or an 
efficient remedy has not been found. Since the establishment of 
the Garden we have had no curator of plant diseases. The City 
was asked to make an appropriation for such a curatorship in the 
budget for 1920, but the request was not approved. No scientific 
need of the Garden is more urgent, or more important. 
Docentry—Much of educational value may result from view- 
ing the objects exhibited in an art gallery, a museum, a zoological 
park, or a botanic garden, especially if the objects are well labelled 
and the labels carefully read, and particularly if a printed guide 
to the collections is available. othing, however, can take the 
place of the living teacher, and this is peculiarly true in con- 
nection with plants. The behavior of animals in a zoo is fairly 
