( 422) 
considerations. In consultation with officers of the Gray 
Herbarium of Harvard University and of the Smithsonian 
Institution, a plan for extensive exploration of that region 
has been much discussed, and it has been considered by 
our Scientific Directors. It has been proposed that a mem- 
ber of the staff of each of these institutions and of the 
Garden should be detailed for the special work of such an 
investigation, together with such additional aid as might 
be obtained for field and museum work, looking toward 
the preparation of an annotated list of the plants of Colom- 
bia, Venezuela, and the Guianas, with contiguous islands, 
such list to indicate the economic application of their 
products. There can be no doubt that such an investiga- 
tion would be very well worth while, and, carried out in 
the cooperative method proposed, it on be expected to 
be completed within a reasonable period of time. The 
museum and herbarium specimens obtained would greatly 
enrich the collections of the cooperating institutions. 
From our own standpoint, the valuable living plants which 
would be obtained would compensate us for the time and 
money expended. I therefore recommend that you au- 
thorize me, in consultation with the Scientific Directors, 
to enter upon such an investigation, in case the necessary 
funds can be obtained. I think that $1,000 from the 
income of the Science and Education Fund may be used 
for this purpose, which would form a nucleus for other 
contributions. 
This matter brings up again the desirability of a per- 
manent fund specialized for botanical exploration. There 
is no doubt that a fund yielding about $10,000 a year would 
be of enormous value In increasing the knowledge of plants 
and their products. 
Roads, Paths, and Grading 
The Park Commissioner of the Borough of The Bronx 
has carried out the provisions of the Garden Charter in 
relation to the maintenance of driveways, nearly the entire 
