retain moisture, you will be surprised how little water is required to 
keep roses in good condition. During a drought the beds are thor- 
oughly soaked with a hose about three times a week but this has been 
unnecessary these last two summers. Marione C. Fiske, 
Overcross, Bemardsville, New Jersey. 
(Mrs. Haley Fiske) 
An Open Letter 
Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University, 
Jamaica Plain, Mass. 
May I invite your attention to the Arnold Arboretum? 
The Arnold Arboretum is a museum of trees and one of the de- 
partments of Harvard University. It was established forty years 
ago to increase the knowledge of trees and it has been industriously 
engaged in this ever since. It consists of an outdoor museum ex- 
tending over two hundred and twenty acres, in which the University 
has agreed to grow every tree and shrub which can be grown in 
eastern Massachusetts. This museum now contains the largest 
collection of such plants in America systematically and conveniently 
arranged for examination and study. The Arboretum is also a scien- 
tific station for the collection and preservation of material relating 
to trees from all parts of the world and for the publication of the results 
of its investigations. 
The Arboretum has been active in exploration and in the dis- 
covery and introduction of new plants, and through its collectors in 
China, Japan, Siberia and North America it has been able greatly to 
increase the number of beautiful trees and shrubs which can be cul- 
tivated in our gardens ; and it can be said of it that there is hardly a 
public park or a private garden in the United States which has not 
been benefited by it. 
The Arboretum, although it is a department of Harvard and 
located in Boston, in the work it does for the whole country and for all 
foreign countries is a national institution. As a department of a 
great University its permanency is insured, and its continuation in its 
present location is assured by a contract with the City of Boston which 
extends through a thousand years. 
Nowhere else in this country can be found so much to interest the 
lover of trees, and nowhere else can he learn so much about their 
value for different purposes and about their cultivation. The 
Arboretum needs financial help, for the income of its small endowment 
is not sufficient to support it. Until a proper endowment can be 
obtained its needs are generously taken care of by a few of its friends 
