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THE LABORATORIES 



Laboratories and working rooms for research are pro- 

 vided on the upper floor of the museum building, and prop- 

 erly qualified students of botany are permitted to make use 

 of this equipment, under the direction of some member of 

 the staff of the Garden. The equipment is designed to meet 

 the needs of a very broad field of investigation including 

 plant chemistry, pathology, physiology and morphology. 

 An experimental garden and greenhouse at the nurseries 

 are used in connection with the laboratories. A valuable 

 series of old microscopes, illustrating the history and develop- 

 ment of that instrument, was presented by the late Mr. 

 Charles F. Cox. 



3. The Pinetum 



[collection of cone-bearing trees] 



The collection of cone-bearing trees, technically known 

 as the Pinetum, because the pines are the most abundant 

 of these trees, is planted over a space of about 30 acres in 

 the southwestern part of the grounds, extending from the 

 approach to the elevated railway station southeast to the 

 herbaceous garden, and northeast to the museum building 

 and the borders of the hemlock forest. The species of trees 

 are grouped in genera, which are mostly separated by paths. 

 The planting out of these trees was commenced in 1901; 

 the collection will continually become more complete year 

 by year as additional species are secured; many of these 

 have to be raised from seed, and the process of establishing 

 a collection of conifers thus requires much time. 



Commencing at the approach to the elevated railway 

 station we find the Douglas spruce {Pseudotsuga mucronata) 

 planted in the space between the traffic road and the park 

 driveway to the left of the path leading to the conserva- 

 tories; this tree is a native of western North America from 

 the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Coast and is sometimes 

 known as red fir; in the far northwest it sometimes be- 

 comes 180 to 210 feet high, its trunk occasionally as much 



