flower, the rose, as well as many interesting and important 

 plants, both native and introduced. This garden will be used 

 for teaching and will be designed to be accessible to all who 

 come to visit, work, and learn. For the first time, and in 

 conjunction with the National Garden, Congress has 

 authorized the acceptance of gifts to the Botanic Garden, 

 including volunteer service. In January 1991 a private non- 

 profit organization known as the National Fund for the 

 United States Botanic Garden was chartered under District 

 of Columbia law to raise funds for the National Garden. 

 This group represents a modern version of the private ef- 

 forts that led to the initial creation of the Botanic Garden. 

 The two-and-one-half-acre site for the National Garden, lo- 

 cated on the west end of the Conservatory, is a prime loca- 

 tion for this new American educational display garden. It 

 is hoped that this garden will inspire and educate the mil- 

 lions of visitors who will come to experience it. 



In these ways, the United States Botanic Garden is posi- 

 tioning itself to fulfill its charter in response to the demands 

 and challenges of the twenty-first century. At the same time, 

 these efforts move the Garden closer to realizing the vision 

 of the original Columbian Institute for the Promotion of Arts 

 and Sciences. 



CONCLUSION 



The United States has changed dramatically since 1816, 

 when the Columbian Institute for the Promotion of Arts and 

 Sciences formed a botanic garden at the foot of Capitol Hill 

 to collect, cultivate, and distribute useful plants to the 

 American people. Some of the goals of the Columbian In- 

 stitute are now shared by the United States Department of 

 Agriculture and the Smithsonian Institution on a larger scale 

 than was ever envisioned by the Garden's founding fathers. 



The United States Botanic Garden continues to fulfill 

 several important roles through its collection and cultivation 

 of the world's flora. The throngs of visitors who pass 

 through the Garden each year attest to the value and 

 popularity of those functions. In 1978, it was recognized as 

 the Nation's best maintained botanic garden or arboretum 

 by the Professional Grounds Management Society. 31 



31 Botanic Garden Best Maintained, Roll Call, March 16, 1978, p. 5. 



63 



