28 
leading east of this, parallel to the museum embankment and in 
part along the northern edge of the future esplanade. ‘This 
involved the obliteration of a portion of paths already existing. 
The work may be regarded as our first step toward realizing the 
new plan, and greatly facilitated our gardening operations, as 
well as affording necessary approaches to our Economic and 
Local Flora Sections. 
The Garden First Opened to the Public 
With the consent of the Commissioner of Parks of the Bor- 
ough of Brooklyn, the grounds were kept closed from February 
r until May 13, 1911, including the period of the initial installa- 
tion of the various plantations, and on the latter date (the date, 
old style, of the birthday of Linnaeus), the Garden was formally 
opened to the public. ‘Temporary gate signs were placed at 
each of the seven entrances,—four on Flatbush Ave., two on 
Washington Ave., and one west of the museum building on 
Eastern Parkway. 
Soil Improvement 
In addition to the horticultural operations, and the care of the 
paths and lawns, attention was given to the improvement of the 
soil of the central meadow, an area of approximately 81/5 
acres. Most of this area was “made” ground, and the soil was 
so poor that much of it would produce little but weeds. Accord- 
ing to estimates submitted by landscape architects for improv- 
ing the soil of the Garden by the method of top-soiling, it 
would have cost $50,000, more or less, to top-soil the area of th 
central meadow. While this method is the quickest, it is 
unscientific and also the most expensive. For both of these 
reasons it seemed desirable to employ cultural methods, and the 
advice of a soil expert from the Federal Bureau of Soils, at 
Washington, was sought. ‘The outline of treatment prescribed 
by him, after carefully examining the area, is given in detail 
in the appended Report of the Curator of Plants. As soon as 
this work was undertaken “blanket labels” were prepared, as 
an educational feature, briefly outlining the needs, aims, and 
methods of soil improvement. One of these labels was placed 
at each of the four corners of the meadow, and they were daily 
read, and apparently carefully read, by the large majority of 
