forms will come about only through the process of breeding and 
selection, and it is necessary that collections of species which are 
desirable for our gardens should be maintained somewhere, in order 
that they can be crossed and hybridized for the production of those 
superb forms which are to beautify in the future the gardens of this 
country. The newer methods of shipping fresh pollen make it possible 
to supply plant breeders all over America with pollen for breeding 
purposes. Few private gardens or estates last long enough in this 
country to be ideal places for such collections, when it comes to 
trees and long-lived plants. The botanical gardens and arboreta of 
the old world have taught us this lesson. The women of America have 
already learned to come to Washington for that information which is 
stored in the minds of the largest group of scientific agriculturists 
which the world has ever brought together and which is freely given 
out by them. They know how much the Department of Agriculture 
has done for them, and they appreciate how much more could be done 
were the facilities here in Washington increased. 
The Department of Agriculture is engaged mainly in the more 
practical food producing phases of horticulture. A botanical garden, 
properly conducted, should form a center of information in regard to 
those groups of plants with which the Department of Agriculture is 
scarcely fitted to deal, namely, those concerned with the beautifica- 
tion of our gardens. Such a garden would also be able to furnish 
them with authentic information regarding the wild species which 
ought to be naturahzed in our gardens — information which few 
nurserymen can afford to give. The women gardeners of America 
could not fail to be benefited also by the stimulus of the better 
botanical environment which would be furnished to the scientific 
botanists and horticulturists of Washington, were there such a thing 
as a botanical garden in the District of Columbia. 
It is a strange paradox which every scientific man in Washington 
concerned with the study of plants is obliged to explain to foreigners, 
that, although the largest local Botanical Society of America is 
located in Washington (consisting of more than four hundred mem- 
bers) and, although the Bureau of Plant Industry with its two thous- 
and employees is engaged in the study of plants, there is no collection 
of growing plants worthy of the name to be found within a day's ride 
of the laboratories and offices of this group of scientific men. This 
body of men has only been able to keep in touch with plants through 
the fact that during the Summer months the experts are scattered over 
the country studying them. The atmosphere of city streets and 
parks is not enough to create that atmosphere of plant enthusiasm 
which is essential for the best work. A great botanical garden is the 
only method conceivable for bringing this about, and the floriculture of 
the country would get the indirect benefit from the building up in 
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