14 
Annual Report 
made tests in germinating seeds by different cultural methdcls, 
which shows another practical educational use Cincinnati de- 
rives from its conservatories. 
There has been added to the splendid collection of plants 
here during the past year some 380 palms in variety, and some 
three dozen ferns, as also some twenty distinct varieties of 
Croton, which latter purchase gives this department the larg- 
est and best collection of Crotons in the country. There was 
also added twenty varieties of Canna, six of which varieties 
were found to be the finest flowering and most desirable bed- 
ding Canna ever introduced in this city. Twenty-five named 
varieties of Chrysanthemum were secured in addition to the 
splendid list that was being grown in the collection at the 
greenhouse, as well as several plants of Dracsena. 
While in Philadelphia an opportunity presented itself to 
purchase a fine collection of orchids, and seventy-eight speci- 
mens of the very best varieties were chosen, placing this de- 
partment in possession of the finest collection of orchids west 
of Philadelphia. 
The greenhouses at Eden Park are a source of great 
pleasure to hundreds of persons visiting the city, as well 
as to the residents. It is estimated that as high as 5,000 
people visit the greenhouses on Sundays during the sum- 
mer months, and there is never a day but hundreds of people 
go there to visit the beautiful plants, while some make botan- 
ical study of specimens, as there are hundreds of varieties to 
be found at this place. 
The class of plants used and the diversified arrangement 
makes of the formal garden located just south of the green- 
house one of the most attractive formal plantings to be 
found in this country. 
There were grown at the conservatories this year some 
200,000 bedding plants, which supplied all of the parks amply. 
In fact, the carpet l)edding and exotic plantings in our down- 
town parks has grown to be quite a feature of the park work. 
The public has become accustomed to seeing plants, and the 
immediate neighborhood requests, and sometimes reall}^ de- 
mands, that blooming plants be placed in the small parks 
of the down-town districts. 
