The library now contains nearly 27,000 bound volumes; over 20,000 

 specimens are contained in the museums; the herbarium consists of about 

 1,500,000 specimens; and some 13,500 kinds of plants are under culti- 

 vation in the grounds and greenhouses, represented by many thousand 

 individual specimens. 



Planting of the herbaceous grounds was commenced in April, 1897, 

 and about 1,500 species were brought together there during that year. 

 In October 1898, the removal of shrubs from the nurseries to form the 

 fruticetum was begun and 195 species installed. The planting of the 

 deciduous arboretum and of the pinetum was commenced in the spring 

 of 1898. The border screen along the property line of Fordham Uni- 

 versity was partially planted in 1898 and some of the groups of shrubs 

 near the Botanical Garden railroad station were installed in 1900. The 

 herbaceous border in front of the border screen along the railroad was 

 also commenced in 1900, and planted during this year and the next from 

 the present 200th Street entrance to the present Mosholu Parkway 

 entrance. 



The houses needed to complete conservatory range no. 1, on which 

 construction was commenced in May, 1901, were completed early in 

 1902, by means of an additional appropriation made by the Board of 

 Estimate and Apportionment. In this same year, the approach to the 

 terminal station of the Manhattan Railway Company at the south- 

 western corner of the grounds was constructed by the Garden and paid 

 for by the railway company. The front approach to the museum 

 building, commenced in 1901, was essentially completed late in 1902, 

 including the two fountains and the marble seats at the lower end of the 

 approach. Trie two concrete-steel tanks in the court of conservatory 

 range no. 1 were completed in 1904. 



The bronze statuary fountain immediately in front of the museum 

 building was completed in July, 1905, constructed under designs sub- 

 mitted by Carl E. Tefft, sculptor, and approved by a jury appointed by 

 the Council of the National Sculpture Society and also by the Art Com- 

 mission of the City of New York. 



The first bridge built was the single arch required to carry the main 

 driveway over the Bronx River at the northern end of the Garden, 

 commenced in May, 1903, and essentially finished at the end of that 

 year. The bridge which carries the driveway and path system of the 

 Mosholu Parkway into the Garden was commenced by the Department 

 of Parks in the autumn of 1903. The five-arched long bridge carrying 



