police purposes and for the maintenance of roads and walks, which are 

 vested in the Department of Parks. It is provided that the grounds 

 shall be open and free to the public daily and the educational and scien- 

 tific privileges of the institution shall be open to all alike. 



The maintenance of the institution is accomplished by annual appro- 

 priations by the City, as provided for in the City Charter, supplemented 

 by funds of the Corporation and by membership dues. The endowment 

 of the institution, derived from gifts and bequests, has now reached 

 $522,500, to which will be added $50,000 provided in other bequests. 

 It is sought to increase this endowment to not less than $1,000,000. 



Grounds. — The grounds are of great natural beauty, mostly hilly, 

 but with some level areas at the northern end. There are over 70 acres 

 of natural woodlands, including the famous "Hemlock Grove," on the 

 hills bordering the Bronx River, and these woodlands are carefully 

 protected against fire and vandalism. The Gorge of the Bronx River 

 is one of the most valuable natural features within the City of New 

 York. Through the reservation, there have been built about 4 miles 

 of public driveway and about 8 miles of walks ; about one quarter of a 

 mile of driveway and some 2 miles of walks comtemplated in the gen- 

 eral plan of development have not yet been constructed. 



Greenhouses. — Conservatory Range No. 1, situated near the ap- 

 proach to the Bronx Park Station of the Third Avenue Elevated Rail- 

 way, is the largest glasshouse in America; it is 512 feet in length, the 

 central dome nearly 90 feet high, and contains 15 compartments devoted 

 to the display of plants from tropical and warm temperate regions. 

 Houses Nos. 1 and 2 contain palms in great variety and bamboos ; 

 House No. 3 contains many representations of plants of the lily, am- 

 aryllis and related families ; House No. 4 is given to large tropical 

 plants, many of them of economic importance; Houses 5, 6, 7 and 8 

 are given to succulent and desert plants, including several hundred kinds 

 of cactuses, century plants, yuccas, house-leeks and stone-crops ; House 

 No. 9 contains a large concrete tank in which many tropical water plants 

 are grown, with tall grasses around its margin ; House No. 10 contains 

 a very large collection of tropical plants of the calla and pineapple 

 families; House No. 11 contains a fine representation of bananas and 

 their relatives, among them the traveler's tree and bird-of-paradise 

 plants; Houses Nos. 12, 13 and 14 contain a large and varied repre- 

 sentation of plants of warm temperate regions, including ferns, orchids, 

 acacias, evergreen, and hundreds of rare and unusual species ; House 

 No. 15 is given to tropical orchids in great variety; the orchid collection 

 is largely the gift of Mr. Oakes Ames, who spent many years and in- 

 curred great expense in bringing it together. In the court of Conserva- 



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