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REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE LABORATORIES 
Dr. N. L. Brirron, DirrectTor-1n-CHIEF. 
Sir: I have the honor to submit the following report for 
the year 1917. 
General Matters 
The equipment and facilities of the laboratories, experi- 
mental plots, and propagating greenhouse have been con- 
tinued on the same basis as in the previous year. The 
purchase of new supplies has been much reduced and no 
new projects have been undertaken which have entailed 
special expenditures. Various experimental studies have 
fully utilized all available space in greenhouse, cold frames 
and experimental plots. 
Meteorological records have been taken and placed on 
file. Programs for the monthly conferences of the scien- 
tific staff and students of the Garden have been arranged 
and reports of such conferences published in the Journal. 
Personal Investigations 
Cultures of Cichorium Intybus have been grown for 
further study of incompatibilities in function of sex organs 
and for further data regarding fasciation. The statistical 
studies of flower number per head, vigorously prosecuted 
since 1912, have now been completed and during the year 
manuscript presenting the results has been prepared. 
Studies with Hibiscus, Verbascum, and Plantago have 
been continued along lines previously reported. Cultures 
of Reseda, Nicotiana, Papaver, Ammocallis, Lythrum, and 
Phlox subulata have been grown for various lines of investi- 
gation. 
With your permission field studies of the natural dis- 
tribution of Hibiscus were made during August. A general 
survey was made of wild Hibiscus growing along the New 
Jersey coast from Cape May to the Tuckahoe River. 
What appears to be a pure stand of Hibiscus oculiroseus 
several acres in extent was found along the Tuckahoe 
River and Cedar Creek. Presque Isle on the coast of Lake 
