20 TKANSACTIOHS LlVEKPOOL BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



Department of Agriculture. He informs me that at the 

 present time there are in the States but three establish- 

 ments that can justly be regarded as botanical gardens in 

 the strictest sense of the term. The first and the largest 

 is the Missouri Garden at S. Louis, the second the Arnold 

 Arboretum of Brookline, Mass., and thirdly the Botanic 

 Garden at Harvard University. Another Botanic Garden 

 Mr. Coville tells me is on the point of being established 

 at New York City by combination of private endowment 

 with a grant of money and land from the city itself. In 

 the earlier history of the country there were several 

 private gardens, such as Bartram's at Philadelphia, which 

 is still in existence, but these cannot really be classed with 

 the modern article. In Washington there has existed for 

 many years a botanical garden which, however, while it 

 contained some important and interesting collections on 

 certain lines, has made no pretence at being a true 

 botanic garden, and in fact has been devoted principally to 

 ornamental purposes. The Department of Agriculture 

 has a similar, though less complete, collection of trees 

 and shrubs with a few herbaceous plants, and, taken in 

 connection with the city parks, furnishes a fairly good 

 representation of the possibilities of Washington as a 

 centre for plant cultivation. In addition, the majority 

 of the Colleges and Universities of the States have in 

 connection with their botanical departments, gardens of 

 greater or lesser extent, e.g., those of the State of 

 Nebraska and of Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. The 

 University of California has made a beginning in this 

 direction which is likely with proper encouragement to 

 develop into an important establishment. 



In Canada also, Montreal established a botanic garden in 

 1886, with an area of 75 acres, chiefly at the instigation of the 

 McGill College and the Horticultural Society of Montreal. 



