173 
they might be studied together. The beauty of plants did not 
seem important to the directors. 
Professor Sargent was perhaps the first to develop a public gar- 
den along natural lines for beauty as well as study, but even he paid 
scant attention to plants for the enjoyment of the general public. 
He was bringing together every woody plant that would stand the 
New England climate. It was enough for his purpose that one 
specimen of a species was present. Dr. Gager understood, more 
than any botanist before him, the need of interesting the general 
public in botany. He drew attention to his idea that if the sciences 
are to advance it can only be through popular support. Popular 
support in botany he believed could best come because people en- 
joyed visiting the garden and seeing the beautiful plants well 
grown, in well arranged groups. ; 
He was one of the first to give a section of a public garden to the 
local flora. He planted in this area as many as possible of the 
plants of Long Island and nearby mainland. When the green- 
houses were built he took care to have some of them filled with 
beautiful plants for the public to enjoy, in addition to those houses 
which were used for research. Through the years he developed 
the different plantations which now form such an important part 
of the garden: the flowering cherry, the crab apple and lilac col- 
lections; the water gardens, the Japanese garden, the rock garden, 
and finally the magnificent rose garden. Always he insisted on 
having the plants well grown. Other botanical garden directors 
do this today but they did not twenty or thirty years ago. 
The result has been that Brooklyn people come to this garden 
in tremendous numbers winter and summer to a total of over a 
million a year. Many people have gained inspiration for life work 
in botany or horticulture, because they first saw beautiful plants 
here. I hope persons inspecting the grounds today will remember 
that Dr. Gager believed, not only that this botanical garden should 
do useful scientific work, but that it should be a place where peo- 
ple could find repose from the crowded city. He believed very 
strongly that the future of botany depended upon interesting more 
people in botany through the beauty of the growing plants spread 
out before them at all seasons of the year. 
