gations thus made possible will soon make known the agricul- 

 tural capabilities of that part of the region as well. 



C. B. Robinson. 



THE ECONOMIC GARDEN. 



Ever since the New York Botanical Garden was opened to the 



public, the need of an economic plot, where visitors, especially 



the younger and city-bred ones, might see the principal hardy 



useful plants in a growing state, has been keenly appreciated, 



for its establishment. Late in the summer of last year, a plot 

 of half an acre, lying just north of the Morphological Gar- 

 den, was set apart for this purpose. This plot, to be known as 

 the Economic Garden, occupies the upper or northern end of a 

 valley which lies to the eastward of the large conservatories. 

 The southern half of this valley is occupied by the Hardy Her- 

 baceous Garden, the three gardens together rendering this valley 



vicinity of New York. The valley, at the site of the Economic 

 Garden, is only about fifty yards wide. An old drain which ran 

 through the center has been converted into a rivulet, connecting 

 a chain of small pools, from which the meadow slopes up to a 

 rocky ridge on either side. Both of these ridges are occupied by 

 a sparse natural forest growth. The margins of the slopes have 

 been planted with the more important useful trees and shrubs, 

 foods being represented upon the western side, and medicines, 

 tanning and dye products, etc., upon the eastern side. The open 

 meadow is laid out in beds, planned upon the unit system, where 

 herbaceous plants may be found, their separation corresponding 

 with that of the woody plants. The units are classified, so far as 

 practicable, upon an economic basis. The growing collections 

 represent one or more varieties of many of the plants cultivated 



these, a large number of the plants used by the aborigines, 

 especially food plants, are represented. In the rivulet and the 



