110 



its privileges are taken advantage of l)y teachers, students, writers, 

 l)usiness organizations and various members of the community who 

 are interested in plant life. The following are a few examples of 

 the use made of the library by the public during the past year: 

 the librarian of a large Ixisiness cori)oration in Manhattan com- 

 ])iled a " l^ibliography on petroleum ])roducts as insecticides," 

 which was based largely on material in this library; the author of 

 the article on botany for the 1929 edition of the New International 

 ^'earl){)ok sectn'ed his data from the library's cm-rent ])ul)lications ; 

 a local physician used om- books in making a study of fungus dis- 

 eases of ])lants for the purpose of discovering possible analogies 

 to similar growths in human ])eings; a teacher rccjuested a list of 

 books to be used in identifying the seeds of weeds found in the 

 locality of Ih'ooklyn ; investigators from the research department 

 of a large fruit im])orting company made a study of the use of 

 ])otassium for fertilizing pur])()ses ; a scul])tor used illustrations 

 of the lun-opean willow for decorative motives on a monument; 

 a landowner in C onnecticut sought information on the ]:)ossil)ility 

 of growing bamboo; several illustrators at different times used 

 pictiu'es of flowers; a local drug company asked for a list of books 

 containing good drawings of medicinal plants; an investigator 

 Irom a well-known research institute made a ])reliiuinary survey 

 for a projected series of exi)eriments with tea and coffee in rela- 

 iton to health. 



Other topics on which information was given were: growing 

 of narcissi, care of rubber i)]ants, culture of honeysuckle, ever- 

 greens used as hedges, flower shows, cultivation of ginseng, his- 

 toric trees, plant coloration, care of ferns, where to pin-chase 

 orchids, ])lant genetics, teaching of botany, a(|uatic ])lants, rock 

 gardens, garden furnishings, iris cultivation, peach tree diseases, 

 flower arrangement, treatment of black rot in deli)hiniums, ])ools 

 and water gardens, wood destroying insects. si)raying a]^ple trees, 

 biographical sketches of various botanists. 



An instance showing the practical use of the I're-l.innean books 

 was the following: a visitor wished information on the history of 

 the microscope, es]>ecially experiments by Robert I looke and his 

 use of the word " cell " for the units of ])lant structure. Original 

 sources for this information are llooke"s " Alicrographia " and his 



