THE DESERT BOTANICAL LABORATORY OF THE 

 CARNEGIE INSTITUTION. 



Introduction. 



Several investigators, in Experiment Stations and other branches of 

 government inquiry, have made special studies of the relations of 

 plants to alkaline and other soils. They have also observed the be- 

 havior of plants in arid regions under the influence of irrigation. For 

 the most part, both of these classes of studies w^ere concerned with 

 special and local problems, the immediate purpose of such study being 

 to obtain information for the use of the agriculturist and horticulturist. 

 Despite this limitation they clearly showed the need of a broader and 

 more thorough study of the technical and general aspects of the rela- 

 tion of plants to dry climates and to substrata of unusual composition. 

 Special mention should here be made of the results obtained by Messrs. 

 Kearney and Cameron, who have investigated the separate and the 

 combined effect upon plants of the substances usually found in alka- 

 line soils. Other important papers are cited in the accompanying 

 bibliography, pages 53 to 58. 



When the Carnegie Institution was established, Mr. Coville deter- 

 mined to present to it a plan for a Desert Botanical Laboratory. This 

 long cherished project was an outcome of his work in the Death Val- 

 ley Expedition, in 189 1. A plan was accordingly drawn up by him 

 and presented to the Institution's advisory committee in Botany. This 

 committee considered and approved it because it promised results con- 

 cerning the fundamental processes of protoplasm as important as any 

 in the whole realm of botany. The Board of Trustees of the Institu- 

 tion also approved it, and appropriated $8,000 for the establishment of 

 such a laboratory and its maintenance for one year. Messrs. Coville 

 and MacDougal were appointed by the Institution as an Advisory 

 Board in relation to the matter. This Board decided to place the 

 Laboratory under the immediate charge of a resident investigator, who 

 should carry on researches under its guidance, and should be respon- 

 sible to it in his relations to the Institution. It was planned to begin 

 a few inquiries of wide scope and important bearing to be carried on 

 by the resident investigator until decisive results were obtained. 



Furthermore, it was arranged to provide such an equipment as would 



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N. C. State College 



