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This letter was the culmination of negotiations, authorized by 
the President of our Board of Trustees, and initiated by a letter 
to Mr. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., from the director of the Garden 
(too long to be reproduced here), setting forth the organization 
and work of the Garden, its plans for future development, and 
its financial needs. In this letter special emphasis was placed 
on the need of financing our scientific work on a permanent 
basis more nearly commensurate with its importance. 
In the fall of 1924 a representative of Mr. Rockefeller made a 
thorough investigation of the Garden in all of these aspects, and 
the letter above quoted was the result. Its importance lies, 
not only in its financial encouragement, but also in the fact that 
it is the strongest kind of endorsement of the accomplishments 
and future program of the Garden. 
Why Additional Funds Are Needed 
The Agreement of December 28, 1909, between the City of 
New York and The Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, 
concerning the establishment and maintenance of the Botanic 
Garden, provides that the City shall appropriate annually “‘such 
sum or sums of money as may seem to the said party of the 
first part [the City] necessary for proper maintenance,” including 
the purchase of books and other collections and equipment, the 
publication of scientific, educational, and administrative reports, 
and the payment of all salaries of scientific, educational, and 
administrative officers and employees. 
This Agreement was entered into in consideration of the fact 
that the Botanic Garden authorities had (as required by an act 
of the State Legislature) provided a fund of Fifty Thousand 
Dollars, the income from which should be used for the purchase 
of plants and (by subsequent amendment of the A greement) 
other Botanic Garden purposes. 
The organization of the Garden’s work began with the appoint- 
ment of the Director, which took effect on July 1, 1910, and it 
soon became evident that there was a much greater need for 
the new institution than had been anticipated. The grounds 
were enlarged by two additional parcels of land, the collections 
rapidly grew, the demands for public service increased by leaps 
and bounds, the attendance at the grounds and at classes and 
lectures gradually surpassed the most sanguine anticipations. 
