June 15, 1900.] 



SCIENCE. 



937 



Garden was begun in 1896, and Dr. N. L. 

 Britton was elected Director-in-chief in that 

 year. The perfecting of the plans for the 

 buildings, roads, driveways, walks and plan- 

 tation occupied the greater part of the at- 

 tention of the management during this year 

 and the next. The actual erection of the 

 most important of these structures, the mu- 

 seum building, was begun in the Spring of 

 1898, ground having been broken for it late 

 in 1897, and it was handed over to the 

 board of managers of the Garden in March, 

 1900. During this constructive period many 

 additions were made to the staff, and a 

 large amount of material suitable for the 

 museums was accumulated, while much 

 progress has been made in the building of 

 driveways and the development of the plan- 

 tations. 



The area included within the Garden has 

 been, and will be freely accessible to the 

 public at all times, for the enjoyment of the 

 beauties of the wild woodlands, and of the 

 collections of living plants, but the comple- 

 tion of the museum and horticultural houses 

 marks the beginning of the full activity of 

 the institution and a brief description of the 

 manner in which it discharges its chief 

 functions may be of interest. 



The collections of living and prepared 

 plants in the plantations and museums are 

 arranged to present information on the form, 

 relationship, mode of life, habit, and general 

 biological characters of the principal types 

 of vegetation in such manner as to be capa- 

 ble of comprehension by persons unac- 

 quainted with the technical aspects of bot- 

 any. A number of special groups of plants 

 have been established in suitable places in 

 the Garden. The trees are in the arboretum 

 of the Bronx on the side and summit of a 

 long ridge ; unassorted and reserve material 

 of all kinds is kept in the nurseries on the 

 eastern slopes of the same ridge ; the salice- 

 tum is established on the border of a marsh 

 in the northern end of the Garden giving 



the willows and poplars the conditions under 

 which they grow best. The fruticetum oc- 

 cupies an adjoining upland plain, affording 

 space for the cultivation of a large number 

 of shrubs, while the conifers are located on 

 slopes to the westward of the hemlock forest. 

 The viticetum is along the western edge of 

 the forest, and the trellises of logs and tim- 

 bers extending for a length of six hundred 

 feet give suitable support to the vines. 

 The herbaceous collection occupies an open 

 glade to the westward of the forest and lies 

 between two granite ridges. It is traversed 

 through the middle by a small stream 

 widened at places into lagoons for aquatic 

 forms. About twenty-two hundred species 

 are now in cultivation in this plantation- 

 The wide border plantations which are es- 

 tablished along the boundaries also offer 

 opportunities for the growth of a great 

 variety of trees, herbs and shrubs, and serve 

 as screens and supplementary nurseries. 



The horticultural houses, also erected by 

 the city for the Garden and now essentially 

 completed are located in the western part 

 of the grounds at some distance from, and 

 facing the museum. A palm house with a 

 total height of dome of ninety feet is the 

 central feature from which lower ranges ex- 

 tend on either side making a total length of 

 front of five hundred and twelve feet. 



The collections of living plants are ar- 

 ranged in the same system as the synoptic 

 collection in the museum. Every plantation 

 except the nurseries and boundary borders 

 contains species of the same general habit, 

 and the horticultural houses are used for the 

 cultivation of forms which may not endure the 

 outdoor climate of this locality. Not only 

 will the plants from warmer zones be grown 

 under glass, but when it is desired to de- 

 velop native species out of their season they 

 may be forced and brought to full develop- 

 ment and bloom in the winter. 



The museum is a fireproof building of 

 brick, stone, and terra cotta, 308 by 110 



