attacks of leaf-hoppers carrying mosaic; our hemlock 

 grove has been recently threatened with bark borers. 

 These and other ravages have happened within our own 

 borders, with no persons on our staff having either the 

 time or the special training to deal with them, and there 

 is every reason to believe that similar things will continue 

 to happen. The Board of Managers of the Garden is 

 now planning to make great advances in the esthetic 

 improvement of its grounds and collections, but this 

 would be a short-sighted policy if we have no provision 

 for coping with the problems of disease which may 

 arise. 



The solutions of the problems with which we ourselves 

 are confronted and will continue to be confronted would 

 constitute a contribution of the highest value to those 

 who are concerned with the care of decoratively planted 

 estates — among whom many of our own members are 

 included — and to those who are concerned with the 

 maintenance of public parks and planting for city 

 decoration. They would thus be a direct return for 

 both our municipal and privately contributed support. 

 But these problems are in no sense sharply separated 

 from those of general plant pathology, and research on 

 our material would, beyond question, yield very valuable 

 data bearing on the whole subject of the diseases of 

 cultivated plants. 



Horticultural Collections as 

 Material for Fundamental Scientific Research 



The Garden has opened up in recent years a new and 

 important field of activity in connection with the display 

 of floricultural types and especially of floral novelties 

 as they appear. Here, besides the general esthetic 

 value of the plantations, a useful service is performed 



[18] 



