SOME OF THE POSSIBILITIES OF ECONOMIC BOTANY. 645 
The competition between the importers of new plants is so great 
both in the Old World and the New that a very large proportion of 
the species which would naturally commend themselves for the use of 
florists, for the adornment of greenhouses, or for commercial ends, 
have been at one time or another brought before the public, or are be- 
ing accumulated in stock. The same is true, although to a less extent, 
with regard to useful vegetables and fruit. Hardly one of those which 
we can suggest as desirable for trial has not already been investigated 
in Europe or this country and reported on. The pages of our chemi- 
cal, pharmaceutical, medical, horticultural, agricultural, and trade 
journals, especially those of high grade, contain a wealth of material 
of this character. 
But what is needed is this, that the promising plants should be SYS- 
tematically investigated under exhaustive conditions. It is not enough 
that an enthusiast here or an amateur there should give a plant a trial 
under imperfectly understood conditions and then report success or 
failure. The work should be thorough and every question answered 
categorically, so that we might be placed in possession of all the facts 
relative to the object experimented upon. But such an undertaking 
requires the co-operation of many different agencies. I shall venture 
to mention some of these. 
In the first place, botanic gardens amply endowed for research. 
The Arnold Arboretum, the Shaw Garden, and the Washington Exper- 
imental Garden are American illustrations of what is needed for this 
purpose. University gardens have their place in instruction, but ean 
not wisely undertake this kind of work. . 
In the second place, museums and laboratories of economic bot- 
any. Much good work in this direction has been done in this country 
by the National Museum and by the department in charge* of the inves- 
tigation of new plants. We need institutions like those at Kew in 
England, and at Buitenzorg in Java, which keep in close toueh with 
all the world. The founding of an establishment on a scale of magni- 
tude commensurate with the greatness and needs of our country is an 
undertaking which waits for some one of our wealthy men. 
In the third place, experimental stations. These may, within the 
proper limits of their sphere of action, extend the study of plants beyond 
the established varieties to the species, and beyond the species to 
equivalent species in other genera. It is a matter of regret that so 
much of the energy displayed in these stations in this country, and we 
may say abroad, has not been more economically directed. 
Great economy of energy must result from the recent change by 
which co-ordination of action is assured. The influence which the sta- 
tions must exert on the welfare of our country and the development of 
its resources is incalculable. 
* The list of economic plants published by the Department in Washington is re- 
markably full, and is in every way creditable to those in charge. 
