MODERN BOTANICAL GARDENS 165 



of real knowledge, as well as much general information 

 may be imparted. For this reason a botanical garden 

 as an educational institution may be a much more 

 helpful feature in a community than a zoological park 

 or a museum, since it comes so close to everyday 

 life. 



It is impossible to treat in detail the various kinds of 

 exhibits and demonstrations prepared to impart knowl- 

 edge to young persons. The ease with which this may 

 be done coupled with its recreational and pleasure- 

 giving qualities, makes it desirable for many communi- 

 ties to include in their educational systems a botanical 

 garden of some kind. Not only should the rare 

 "vegetable curiosities," consisting of a sort of botanical 

 circus, be featured, but common things such as wild 

 flowers, weeds, and farm crops must also be instruc- 

 tively displayed. Accurate labels giving the most im- 

 portan* information about plants are a necessity, and 

 by using different colours to indicate the country from 

 which plants come or the uses to which they are put, 

 definite facts and geographic interpretations are ab- 

 sorbed almost unconsciously. When to the educational 

 function is added the great humanizing power of a gar- 

 den, and the recreational service which it is able to ren- 

 der to the business man, the student and the plant lover, 

 it becomes clear why so many thousands of citizens 

 regularly visit gardens in cities which possess them. 



GUIDE TO FURTHER READING 



"Botanical Gardens," by N. L. Britton. Bull. Ton. Bot. CL 

 1896- 



