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Propagating Houses and Nurseries. 
The usual horticultural and experimental work has been 
carried on here during the year. The great activity in ex- 
ploring the West Indies resulted in the accession of many 
new plants and seeds, the greater part of which were accom- 
modated here for a considerable time before transferal to the 
conservatories. Seeds to the number of 1,839 packets have 
been sown, and from this source, up to the present time, 5,491 
specimens have been derived, with others yet too small to be 
potted and accessioned, while some seeds have not as yet 
germinated. he experimental work has called for more of 
the time of the men than formerly, from its increased activ- 
ity; considerably more land has been allotted for this pur- 
pose than heretofore. 
To accommodate the increased size of the temperate col- 
lections, which include many bulbous plants which require to 
be rested for a considerable portion of the time, it has been 
necessary to crowd the tropical collections into two houses, 
so that an extra house might be obtained for the temperate 
plants. 
There are in the propagating houses at present 8,689 
plants; in the nurseries there are 2,491 trees and shrubs. 
Labeling, Accessioning and Herbarium. 
For this work I have had the assistance of one garden aid 
for a part of the time and one or two apprentices. Show- 
labels to the number of 1,137 have been made for the con- 
servatories, for trees 140, and for the herbaceous grounds 
371, making a total of 1,648. 
Accession numbers 16,868 to 19,937, inclusive, have been 
registered during the year, making a total of 3,070 acces- 
sions. The total number of plants obtained from all sources 
has been about 10,569, of which 5,491 have been derived 
from seed, 1,468 by gift, 1,379 by collection, 1,673 by ex- 
change and 558 by purchase. 
The work of substituting zinc data-labels in the conserva- 
tories for the old wooden ones, begun late last year, was con- 
