990 A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 



Boyce Thompson Institute of Plant Research, Yonkers, N.Y., and 

 Superior, Ariz. ; and the gardens of the Carnegie Institution at Tucson, 

 Ariz., and Carmel, Calif. 



The Arnold Arboretum and the Missouri Botanical Gardens may 

 be cited as illustrations of the capacities of arboreta for forest research. 

 The Arnold Arboretum was established in 1872 for the study and 

 cultivation of all woody plants capable of withstanding the climate of 

 Massachusetts. Until about a few years ago the work was mainly 

 the assembling of trees and other woody plants from all parts of the 

 world, identifying, classifying, and propagating them, exchanging 

 them with other arboreta and nurseries, and building up a library 

 and herbarium. Recently, two research departments have been 

 established, one in pathology, the other in genetics, and special work 

 in dendrology is to be offered to graduate students. The present 

 area of the arboretum is 260 acres, and the site is assured for 1,000 

 years. There are now about 6,500 species and varieties of trees, 

 shrubs, and vines in the arboretum. 



The Missouri Botanical Gardens (Shaw Gardens) were established 

 at St. Louis about 1860. A 1,600-acre extension has been made at 

 Gray Summit, Mo., and a tropical station is maintained in the Panama 

 Canal Zone, on Federal land. Collectors and correspondents are 

 maintained in many parts of the world. Many kinds of research are 

 under way, much of it in taxonomy. 



The expenditures of arboreta on research relating to forestry prob- 

 ably amount to about $50,000 a year. 



"The establishment of an arboretum", says the report of the 

 Botanic Garden and Arboretum Committee, Robert Pyle, chairman, 

 "is long, slow, and expensive." The report continues: 



Land and ample funds are essential. Capable administration is obviously 

 important. The selection, assembling, and wise arrangement of plant material 

 or tree groups, the laying down of drives, walks, and buildings is but one step. 

 There follows the study of problems of adaptability to climate, the observation and 

 control of plant enemies. Hybridizing and experimental work offer great oppor- 

 tunities. There is, too, the problem of developing the arboretum for the use 

 of the general public, as a living library may be used for information both useful 

 and enjoyable. 



The services which an arboretum may render are more important, more varied, 

 and perhaps more intimate in the life of a community than may at first appear. 

 Can this important function in our civilization be cared for better by the agri- 

 cultural departments of our Federal of State or city governments, by the State 

 agricultural or experimental colleges, as in Texas, or by private and liberally 

 endowed foundations, such as Morton Arboretum or Boyce Thompson Institute? 



FOREST RESEARCH BY THE INDUSTRIES 



Industrial research in the manufacture and processing of lumber and 

 other forest products was under way at about 200 laboratories in 1931, 

 according to statistics compiled by the National Research Council, 2 

 and these do not include research by lumber companies and lumber man- 

 ufacturers associations. Relatively few of these laboratories are con- 

 cerned exclusively with wood problems. The normal employment on 

 wood-products research is probably in excess of 350 technical workers. 



The largest amount of industrial research in forest products is 

 overwhelmingly in pulp and paper. The number of pulp and paper 

 laboratories is listed as 166, of which 58 are owned and operated by 



2 Bulletin 81 of the National Research Council, "Industrial Research Laboratories of the United States." 

 J931. 



