942 PARKS 



since its establishment by Dr. W. J. Beal, and is used chiefly for research 

 in connection with the botanical work in the college. 



8. The Missouri Botanical Garden. The Missouri Botanical Garden 

 was established in 1889 through a bequest by Mr. Henry Shaw of St. Louis. 

 For about thirty years previous to this date Mr. Shaw had been privately 

 bringing together material for the garden on the lands about his residence. 

 During this time the garden was known as Shaw's Gardens. Because of 

 the increasing difficulty of growing successfully trees, shrubs and herbaceous 

 plants under the conditions of a city environment which has gradually 

 enveloped the area occupied by the Missouri Botanical Garden, a new site 

 of approximately thirteen hundred acres was purchased (1924-1925) some 

 thirty-seven miles to the west of the city limits at Gray Summit. Certain 

 areas of this tract are now in course of development (1926). At the present 

 time the new site is considered merely an extension of the Missouri Botanical 

 Garden, but no doubt in course of time it will become the garden proper. 



9. The Buffalo Botanical Garden. In the annual report of the Board 

 of Park Commissioners of Buffalo, New York, for the year 1894, ^ s recorded 

 the following statement: "The matter of establishing a botanic garden on 

 South Park has been under advisement for over two years. Finally on 

 April 3 (1894) it was determined to devote the park to this purpose. The 

 firm of Olmsted, Olmsted & Eliot was engaged to furnish plans for such a 

 garden, eliminating from the park plan heretofore submitted and adopted, 

 all features inconsistent with this special purpose. In further pursuance of 

 the scheme Prof. John F. Cowell, a well-known botanist of this city of 

 high standing, was on May I engaged as director of the garden, and entered 

 on his duties July i. In due time a general plan, together with a detailed 

 list of suitable plants, was received from the landscape architects, and 

 accepted by us as the basis of the work." 



During this first year about three thousand plants of various kinds 

 were acquired by collection and donations, and a boiler house, stable, tool 

 house and three propagating houses were erected. During the years imme- 

 diately following other propagating houses, office building, residence for the 

 director and a conservatory were erected. The latter was completed in 

 1900. During this period there was marked progress in carrying forward 

 grading plans, installation of drainage and water systems, building of road- 

 ways, setting out extensive plantations of trees, shrubs and herbaceous 

 plants, collecting and organizing an herbarium, establishing a library, insti- 

 tution of educational service for students and similar enterprises. During 

 the past quarter of a century the garden has slowly but surely made progress 

 in further developments and services. It is practically the only extensive 

 botanical garden in the United States that is wholly under the control and 



