93 
From April 7 to the end of the year, one man, paid by the 
Brooklyn Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor, 
worked 111 days. 
General Systematic Section 
Following out the plan of representing Orchidales in the Sys- 
tematic Section, provision was made for hardy orchids by prepar- 
ing for their reception a position on, and at the base of the border 
mound opposite the Gramineae. A rocky bank was constructed, 
half of it made up of acid soil, and half with neutral or slightly 
alkaline soil. Pipe was laid to supply water which trickles down 
to a depression in which bog orchids (acid soil) are planted on one 
side, and swamp orchids (sweet soil) on the other. Three hun- 
dred orchids, representing seven species, were planted in the spring. 
For many years, the shrubs in the family Oleaceae (Privet, 
Lilac, Forsythia, etc.) have been so crowded that it was difficult 
to see individual specimens. In order to make room, the trees 
and shrubs belonging in the Ebenales (Diospyros, Halesia, Styrax) 
were concentrated near the west walk and the beds for Primulaceae 
and Plumbaginaceae inoved north and east and re-made. The 
Oleaceae were then extended into the area formerly occupied by 
these groups. This involved a great deal of work, partly because 
of the size of the shrubs moved (many were 15 feet in diameter), 
and partly because an old road was found crossing the area eight 
or ten inches below the surface. This road varied in thickness 
from six inches to two or three feet and provided an adequate 
explanation of the failure to thrive of vegetation planted over it. 
In the Ranunculaceae the Peony bed was remade and replanted 
using, in addition to the species, eight garden varieties with single 
owers. 
Local Flora Section 
The bog was made watertight (we hope) by covering its con- 
crete walls and floor with pitch. This should also serve to prevent 
the acid peat moss, with which the bog was filled, from becoming 
neutralized by alkaline seepage from the concrete. 
The pool with a sandy bottom and margin was completed and 
two hundred feet of trench dug and water pipe laid for its water 
supply. 
