24 



BOTANIC GARDENS. 



sible. This difficulty might only be overcome at some cost by 

 a system of tanks for the storage of rain water, which would 

 furnish exactly the natural conditions for a large number of 

 species. 



It is somewhat surprising to learn that in this area of about 

 two thousand square feet more than twelve hundred species 

 are successfully cultivated, almost all of which are perennials. 

 In some places three or even four kinds are grown on a square 

 foot of actual surface — a striking example of a form of inten- 

 sive cultivation. It must not be supposed, however, that none 

 but Alpine species are grown. A glance at the labels will show 





Corner of Lecture Hall ; View from Garden. After a pbotograph. 



that many are at home far southward in the temperate zone. It 

 is interesting to note that all of the North American species of 

 Cypripedium are grown here successfully. As a matter of fact 

 the alpinum offers a wider range of conditions than any other 

 method of cultivation, and in some form similar to that described 

 might offer suitable conditions of growth for species fairly repre- 

 sentative of the flora of a region extending across twenty degrees 

 of latitude. 



The glass houses are of the usual form, and include a palm 

 house two hundred feet in length, to which are attached work- 

 rooms and the herbarium building. The immediate supervision 

 of the cultural department of the garden is in the hands of the 

 head gardener, who is provided with a commodious dwelling and 

 office building near the arboretum. He has under his direction a 



