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black soil of the coppices relatively valuable for agricultural 
oses and much of the coppice area has been cleared there- 
for; should this process go on continuously, the natural growths 
would, of course, disappear, and a most beautiful and interesting 
natural feature be lost; the reservation of a few areas of it in 
different parts of the island would make safe a very attractive 
and in some respects unique feature and would probably be a 
profitable public policy, as such reservations have proven to be 
elsewhere. 
Practically all of the area of New Providence not occupied by 
one or another of the features already mentioned and not under 
cultivation, roadway or habitation, is scrub-land, being areas 
which have formerly been delorceted for cultivation or otherwise, 
and permitted to grow up again; there is much of this land, and 
the character of its ae aia is usually indicative of its original 
conditio 
The eeises for our museums and herbarium, of living 
plants for our conservatories and of seeds for germination, aggre- 
gate about 4,000 specimens, included under 710 collection num- 
bers ; much of this material is new to us, other specimens are of 
species of which our representation was previously imperfect or in- 
complete, and some illustrate plants hitherto unknown to science. 
now propose to extend the exploration to other Bahamian 
islands and to this end have sent Mr. Nash, our head gardener, 
to the island of Inagua for about a month, and have commis- 
sioned Mr. Brace, who assisted me on New Providence, to 
examine the island of Abaco. Their work will give us desired 
information and specimens from both the southern and the 
northern parts of the archipelago 
Respectfully submitted, 
N 
. L. Britton, 
Director-in- Chie. 
