(10) 
increasing the systematic collections and by additional plant- 
ing of trees and shrubs along the driveways and paths in 
ground already prepared. Continued attention has been 
given to the labeling of the systematic collections both in the 
conservatories and out-of-doors, about 3800 painted labels 
having been made during the year. This continued progress 
in the labeling of the collections is most satisfactory and by 
carrying it along at the same rate of progress during the 
next year, a very large proportion of the specimen plants 
will be provided with labels. 
The Hemlock Grove 
I have suggested in two previous annual reports that it 
would become necessary, in order to insure the safety of the 
hemlock forest, to restrict its use by visitors to certain well- 
defined trails or paths, inasmuch as the indiscriminate tramp- 
ling of the thin soil by crowds of people would in the end be 
dangerous to the hemlock spruces. Up to the present time 
no serious damage has ensued, but the increasing number of 
visitors in summer and the impossibility of restraining gen- 
eral picnicing, have made it quite apparent that the trails 
should be indicated and fenced; this fencing would keep the 
great majority of visitors within the lines of the trails. The 
character of this fencing has been given very careful atten- 
tion; it is necessary to preserve the general sylvan aspect of 
the forest, so that no formal fence lines are permissible, and 
after much consideration I now recommend that the trails be 
given an average width of about 12 feet and fenced on both 
sides by locust posts, 2% to 3 feet high above ground, sur- 
mounted by a single split red cedar rail, the two to be spiked 
together; this method of construction would supply an ordi 
nary fence such as might frequently be seen in woodlands, 
with this construction in mind a large number of dead and 
dying locust trees have been cut from the grounds in preced- 
ing years and the trunks stacked, and a large number of 
dead and dying red cedars have also been cut out and the 
trunks reserved, so that material is at hand for a consider- 
able portion of this necessary fencing. 
