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land to the south of the culvert in the conifer collection was 
planted with willows and poplars from the old nursery; the 
triangle in the herbaceous grounds, in the neighborhood of 
the sedge collection, was filled in with wild shrubs obtained 
in the grounds; the bank and strip between the path and 
road, on the east end of the long bridge, was planted with 
Japanese barberries and viburnums; that portion of the west 
border, south of the Mosholu bridge, formerly devoted to a 
collection of dahlias, was permanently planted with shrubs ; 
the beds of shrubs on both sides of the path leading from the 
elevated approach to the conservatories were replanted, 
about one half of the material being removed; the com- 
pletion of the fence along the south boundary made the 
planting of shrubs there desirable, and the strip of ground 
between the path and the fence was devoted to a miscellane- 
ous collection of shrubs derived from a thinning out of the 
border on the opposite side of the path, from the beds near 
the elevated approach, already referred to, from our own 
nurseries, and from the woods. The usual horticultural 
operations were prosecuted during the year: the pruning of 
trees, including a thorough inspection of those constituting 
the arboretum collection ; top-dressing lawns and around such 
shrubs and trees as required it; the protection of half tender 
plants from the cold; the raking and gathering of fallen 
leaves which were preserved in piles to make leaf-mold, so 
necessary in greenhouse operations and for the top-dressing 
around conifers; the turning over of manure and leaf-mold 
piles; and much other work of this nature. 
Investigations 
Mr. Norman Taylor, custodian of the plantations, in 
addition to his work on the cultivated plants, has continued 
his studies on the genus Potamogeton, and has submitted for 
publication in ‘* North American Flora” the manuscript 
embodying the results of his studies on these plants and upon 
the other families in the Naiadales. 
In addition to my executive duties and my work upon the 
