the broad vision and persistent endeavor of this one man, there exists 
today an unusual contract between the City of Boston and Harvard 
University. This contract deeds to the City of Boston what is un- 
officially described as some 200 acres of meadow, hill, and valley, and 
in turn leases it to Harvard University for the rental of one dollar a 
year for the term of one thousand years from the date thereof, with 
the privilege of renewal. And so the Arnold Arboretum is guaranteed 
forever. 
The way of the path-finder is always a hard road to travel, and we 
can well imagine with what Httle sympathy this project met in its 
early days in the minds of practical New Englanders. Those who 
would have the greatest interest in the study of foreign languages and 
foreign customs might have seen little purpose in the study of foreign 
shrubs and trees. 
But perseverance won its way, and today we have, not a Botanical 
Garden of the usual pattern, but a tract of land devoted to the culture 
of trees, shrubs, and hardy vines. In purpose and in arrangement it 
is the most scientific of gardens, but in appearance one of the most 
lovely, most delightful, and most individual of parks. I shall not 
dwell upon its usefulness as a place where everyone, from the scientist 
to the schoolgirl, may gain knowledge, nor shall I describe at length 
how tree lovers may come here to find their particular variety of tree, 
and study at length their own variety. Nor shall I do more than state 
that in this Administration Building there exists a library where 
these students may find more than 33,000 volumes and 9,000 pamph- 
lets. I should like to describe the great service which the Arboretum 
renders by distributing seeds and plants, and by spreading knowledge 
about them in acting as a center of exchange with foreign gardens; 
and by sending out expeditions to search out new trees, new shrubs, 
and new hardy vines to the farthest corners of the earth, in order to 
bring back and test out here their discoveries in regard to their 
hardiness and their beauty. 
But I am not here to describe in detail the work of the Arnold 
Arboretum — I am here to pay tribute to the genius and the foresight 
of the man who, since 1872, has not only directed its development, but 
has had to create pubHc opinion, public appreciation and to build up 
and sustain the interest of those whom he has enlisted to work with 
him. Not only has he directed the scientific development, but upon 
his shoulders, too, has come for the most part the burden of the financial 
maintenance, and what he has not given himself, he has personally 
gathered from others. 
As truly as a great building is the work of the architect who designed 
it, even though he may have had many advisers, and though many 
helping hands may have aided in its erection, so is this Arboretum 
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