16 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



results an-ivod at, and the information brought together by the above 

 means. The ultimate establishment of a botanical and experimental 

 garden shall be held in view as an important means of carrying out the 

 Society's objects." ^ 



This was the second attemjit in Canada to found a botanic garden, a 

 movement which had its origin at the hands of him who also founded 

 the Botanical Society. Like the latter, it was short lived, and for the 

 same reasons ceased to have existence at a time when active work had 

 but fairly begun. 



Montreal.^ 



Dating from the year 1850 various suggestions for and attempts to 

 form a botanic garden in Montreal have been made, but it was not until 

 1885 that these efîbrts took practical shape, when, under legislative 

 enactment an association was formed under the name of the Montreal 

 Botanic Garden Association, the ofiicers of which were Eev. R. W. Nor- 

 man, chaii'man of the board of management ; Prof D. P. Penhallow, 

 director, and H. S. Evans, secretary ; these together with Dr. T. Steriy 

 Hunt, Hon. Louis Beaubien and Alderman E. Holland, forming the 

 board of management.'' 



The work of organization was actively' prosecuted and plans for the 

 necessary conservatories were secured. A very large amount of pre- 

 liminary work was accomplished, and one report was issued.' Private 

 citizens were prepared to contribute largely to the' maintenance and 

 endowment of the gardens, but the ultimate failure of the city to grant 

 the necessary land already promised, brought the work to an abrupt 

 termination at the close of the second year's operations. 



McGiLL University. 



In 1890 a second attempt was made to establish a garden in Mon- 

 treal. At that time McGill University, feeling that a garden was 

 urgently needed in order to provide opportunities for practical study 

 secured by lease, a beautifully situated lot of nine acres at Côte des 

 Neiges. To the plant-houses already situated there, the University added 

 another for the special accommodation of the Australasian collection, 

 which now forms a notable feature of the garden lesources. The con- 

 servatories embrace a total ground area of 4,600 squai'e feet, and com- 



1 Ann. Bot. Soc. Can. 1861, 9, 14. 



^ For an interesting historical account of the Gardens of Montreal, reference 

 may be made to Tlie Canadian Horticultural Magazine, vol. I, published by the 

 Montreal Horticultural Society. 



3 10th Ann. Kept. Mont. Hist. Soc. 1884. 21. 



* 1st Ann. Rept. Mont. Botanical Garden Ass'n. 1886. 

 11th Ann. Report Mont. Hist. Soc. 18^5. 133. 



