1922] SARGENT, FIRST FIFTY YEARS OF THE ARNOLD ARBORETUM 169 



the Civil War and was several times wounded. On his discharge from 

 service in 1864 Dawson entered the employ of Hovey & Company of Cam- 

 bridge, at that time one of the important commercial nurseries of the 

 United States. In 1871 he was made head gardener of the School of Horti- 

 culture at the Bussey Institution by Francis Parkman, the first professor 

 of that department in the School, a position which he filled for three years 

 when he became superintendent of the Arboretum. Dawson had the real 

 love for plants and an exceptional knowledge of them. As a plant propa- 

 gator it is not possible that any one could have been his superior. No 

 problem in propagation was ever too difficult for him to solve. At the 

 Arboretum he was compelled to work in crowded quarters with insufficient 

 appliances, and in spite of this handicap he raised for the Arboretum during 

 his forty-two years of service probably more than a million plants, and 

 there are now few public or private gardens in the northern hemisphere 

 which have not been enriched by his labors. Dawson served the Arbore- 

 tum faithfully and made many friends for it ; and without his assistance it 

 would have been impossible to make the collections of living plants what 

 they are today. 



FUTURE NEEDS 



During its first fifty years the area occupied by the Arboretum has been 

 increased from one hundred and twenty-five to two hundred and fifty acres. 

 The endowment has been increased from $103,847.57 to $808,175.75, and a 

 construction fund of $129,257 immediately available for improvements 

 has been accumulated. 



The greatest collection of the hardy trees and shrubs of the northern 

 hemisphere has been made and arranged, and many new plants largely 

 discovered through its explorations have been distributed. 



It has established the largest and most important herbarium in the 

 world devoted exclusively to preserving the records of trees and shrubs, 

 and a library which within the limits of its special subjects is not surpassed. 

 More important than these are the friendly relations it has established with 

 the students and cultivators of trees in all parts of the world, for through 

 these relations it will be able to increase and extend its usefulness. 



In discussing the future of the Arboretum and its needs it must be re- 

 membered that during its first half century it has been managed not merely 

 as a New England museum but as a national and international institution 

 working to increase knowledge of trees in all parts of the world and as 

 anxious to help a student in Tasmania or New Caledonia as in Massachu- 

 setts. An institution with such ambitions must be equipped to answer any 

 question about any tree growing in any part of the world which may be 

 addressed to it. During the first fifty years of the Arnold Arboretum only 

 the foundations of such an establishment have been laid, but in laying 

 these foundations some of the needs of the future are made clear. These 

 are, 



