BOTANICAL GARDENS 957 



a number of individuals are planted close together in a group, while at a 

 distance from this species group sufficient to ensure it a full and free develop- 

 ment of branches an individual of the species is planted. A representative 

 of each genus of the trees in the arboretum stands near a drive, so that 

 visitors passing along the arboretum roads may obtain a general idea of 

 the groups of trees hardy in Massachusetts and of their relation to each 

 other. Access to the groups is further secured by a system of grass-covered 

 paths, which reach all parts of the arboretum and make easy the examina- 

 tion of the collections. An attempt has been made to place the groups of 

 trees in positions where each tree may find favorable surroundings without 

 interfering with the beauty of the hills and valleys of the arboretum and 

 of the natural woods, which have been carefully preserved. The shrubs 

 have been arranged primarily in a series of formal beds, and partly in large 

 irregular groups of species planted along the drives as near as possible to 

 the groups of trees of the same families. 



Records and Labels. 



A record of the origin and history of every species and variety of the 

 trees and shrubs planted in the arboretum is kept in a card catalogue, and 

 to each is given a number. When a species or variety is represented in the 

 collection by more than one individual or lot of individuals, a different 

 number is given to each additional individual or lot of individuals. The 

 exact position of every tree planted in the arboretum is plotted on the 

 sheets of a large scale map, and with these is kept the detailed history of 

 each tree, so that it would be possible for a stranger to locate every tree 

 in the collection, even if the labels were lost. 



Labels giving their Latin and English names and the region which 

 they inhabit are placed at the height of the eye on the trunks of prominent 

 native trees standing near drives and walks, and these labels will be found 

 on the trunks of many of the planted trees in the different groups. Labels 

 with raised or painted letters are used for the plants in the shrub collection 

 and for shrubs and small trees near some of the walks. Wooden stakes 

 giving their names are placed before many shrubs and small trees; and on 

 every plant, whether otherwise labeled or not, a small zinc label will be 

 found giving name and number, unless, as too often happens, it has been 

 willfully removed by visitors. 



The Administration Building. 



This building contains the library and herbarium of the arboretum, 

 the administrative offices and laboratories and a collection of the woods 

 of North American trees. The library, which contains about thirty- two 

 thousand bound volumes and eight thousand pamphlets, more or less 

 devoted to trees and their cultivation, and the herbarium representing the 

 woody plants of the world, may be consulted by students. 



The Nursery and Propagating Department. 



The propagating department and principal nursery of the arboretum 

 are on Prince Street near the corner of Centre Street, not far from the 

 Jamaica Plain entrance to the arboretum. Here is a greenhouse with a 



