HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 
Horticultural Hall was built in 1876 at a cost of approxi- 
mately S300,000, and while forming a portion of the Centennial 
Exposition was designed to house permanently a collection of 
rare or beautiful plants for the enjoyment of the people of Phil- 
adelphia. It marked an epoque in American horticulture and 
excelled both in the size of the building and elaboration of the 
surrounding gardens anything of the sort in this country. 
To accomodate the rapid growing Palms, the roof was raised 
ten feet in 1887 and entirely glazed. In 1893 the East End Ex- 
hibition Room was fitted up to receive the Carpenter collection 
of Camellias and other temperate climate plants. In 1905 the 
Cactus House was built to house donations of these plants re- 
ceived from Mr. Cuyler of the Park Commission and Governor 
Brodie of Arizona, and in the ensuing 3'ear the north and 
south vestibules were turned into plant houses. The propa- 
gating greenhouses were built from time to time in the interven- 
ing years to meet the increasing needs of the Park. 
The collecton of plants has kept pace with the development 
of the building, but the increase has been particularly marked 
in the Orchid and Succulent sections which now include nearly 
400 species or varieties of the former and 350 of the latter. The 
number of bedding plants raised for the decorationof the various 
sections of Fairmount and Hunting Parks now exceeds 450,000 a 
year exclusive of 3500 Chrysanthemums and thousands of Lilies, 
Cinerarias, etc., grown for the fall and spring exhibition in the 
greenhouses. As the cash value of these bedding plants alone 
is equal to the entire appropriation for the maintenance of 
Horticultural Hall and its 30 acres of gardens its usefulness to 
the city may be realized. 
Much has been accomplished, but even wider fields of use- 
fulness should lie ahead in the next three decades. 
