(i6 3 ) 



guide-book, bound in stiff covers. This document has been 

 kept on sale at the approach to the Elevated Railroad Sta- 

 tion and at the museum building together with other publi- 

 cations of the Garden, picture postal cards and unmounted 

 photographs. Trees in the Garden, of kinds growing natu- 

 rally in the Hudson River Valley, were marked by a large 

 letter H from August to October. 



Exploration 



The policy of sending members of the staff and special 

 agents to conduct exploration in regions little known botani- 

 cally, has been continued with excellent results; the collec- 

 tions of living plants and of specimens have been materially 

 increased by this work and much addition to botanical 

 knowledge has been made. It is most desirable that ex- 

 plorations be continued, especially in tropical America. 

 All the material secured has a direct bearing on the prepara- 

 tion of "North American Flora," in course of publication 

 by the Garden, and becomes available for other investiga- 

 tions, while many desirable plants for the greenhouses are 

 also obtained. 



The exploration work of the past year includes a visit by 

 Dr. Murrill, Assistant Director, to the island of Jamaica 

 for the purpose of studying and collecting the fungi of that 

 island, he having been absent from December 5 to January 

 19, and his work added much to the knowledge of these 

 plants. Dr. J. K. Small, Curator of the Museums, again 

 penetrated the Everglades of Florida in company with Mr. 

 J. J. Carter, devoting the month of January to this trip 

 and secured a large collection which includes a number of 

 species not heretofore known on the North American main- 

 land. I was absent from the Garden from February 20 

 to April 14, accompanied by Mrs. Britton, and by Dr. 

 Marshall A. Howe, one of our curators, continuing explora- 

 tion work in Jamaica and in Cuba, and spent a week in 

 returning from Cuba on the southern Florida Keys; over 

 10,000 specimens of all kinds were obtained during this 



