66 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
THE MISSOURI BOTANICAL CARDEN 
The Missouri Botanical Garden popularly known as 
the Shaw Gardens, St. Louis, Missouri, has won for it¬ 
self a very high rating among the botanical gardens of 
the world. It is not only doing splendid work in horti¬ 
cultural research and education, but is having an im¬ 
mense influence in popularising plants and encouraging 
the interest in them. 
It deserves the active interest and help of the nursery 
and florist trades all over the countiy as it is by no 
means local in its activities. 
It is gratifying to note that according to the 35th An¬ 
nual report of the Director published in the Garden 
Bulletin, the management is pursuing a progressive and 
constructive policy that will insure perpetuation of the 
gardens efficiency and value to the horticultural world. 
OUT-OF-TOWN ADDITION TO THE GARDEN 
The history of other botanical gardens established within 
city limits has been that eventually they have been compelled 
to move to other localities, either because of the difficulty of 
properly growing plants in a city atmosphere or in order to 
obtain additional room for exnansion. For years it has been 
recognized that it is not possible to grow to perfection many 
trees and plants at the Garden, this difficulty being experi¬ 
enced in the greenhouses as well as outdoori and it was felt 
that there was no other alternative than to abandon the pres¬ 
ent location. On the other hand, the necessity for giving up 
the present accessible location seemed to he unfortunate. By 
far the greater number of visRors to the Garden come by 
street-car or on foot. Actual counts made on Sunday after¬ 
noons when 10 000 or more ueonle vmre at the Garden showed 
that not more t>"an 1.^ ner cent carue by automobhe. To move 
the Garden outside the citv to a distance sufficient to insure 
its favorable location for the next fiftv or one hundred vears 
would at once greatlv reduce its influence as a recreational 
and educational institution. The visits of schools and similar 
groups in a body would he practically eliminated. To aban¬ 
don the present location of the Garden would likewise involve 
the moving of the library, herbarium, and laboratory, as well 
as the two schools maintained at the Garden. With many 
commercial and educational institutions of the city dependent 
upon these branches of the Garden for assistance and advice, 
it would seem unfortunate to make them so much less access¬ 
ible than they now are. We were thus faced with the absolute 
necessity of finding a more favorable location for the growing 
of the material used at the Garden, coupled with the very 
great desirability of maintaining the efficiency of the Garden 
by keeping it within the reach of the public, two horns of a 
dilemma which appear to be irreconcilable. After careful 
consideration the solution of this problem seems to be to leave 
undisturbed, at least for the present, the buildings and grounds 
of the present location, together with its scientific and edu¬ 
cational features, but to maintain it as a show place, much as 
it has been in the past, and to acquire land outside of St. Louis 
where much of the indoor floral display material and the 
plants and trees to be used outside can be grown; in other 
words, to regard the present improved portion of the Garden 
as the city showroom and to have the factory away from the 
poisonous atmospheric conditions of the city where the best 
possible results can be produced. The primary object of se¬ 
curing land at a considerable distance from the city would be 
for the purpose above indicated, but steps would be taken at 
once to develop a real arboretum, and there should also be se¬ 
cured a considerable area of natural forest with its under¬ 
growth, which could be preserved for all time as a reservation. 
It should also be borne in mind that many years hence this lo¬ 
cation would probably be the new botanical garden. 
Since the funds of the Garden did not permit of any addi¬ 
tional investment for Garden purposes, the only possible way 
by which this plan could be consummated was to dispose of 
the unimproved pastureland lying west of the existing gar¬ 
den. This would involve no decrease in' the area which has 
always been open to the public, and the Board of Trustees, 
after carefully considering all of the factors involved, voted 
to adopt the plan. Authorization from the court being neces¬ 
sary in order to sell the land above referred to, the prelimi¬ 
nary papers were filed and two hearings were held before 
Judge Davi§ pf the Circuit Court. The Attorney General of 
the State, protecting the interests of the people, was repre¬ 
sented by counsel on both occasions. On the first of March, 
1923, the court did 
“Adjudge and decree that the tract of ground immediately 
west of Shaw’s Garden proper, bounded on the west by Kings- 
highway, on the northwest by Vandeventer Avenue, on the 
north by Shaw Avenue, on the east and southeast by land now 
occupied by Shaw’s Garden, including the arboretum, and on 
the south by Shenandoah Avenue, containing fifty acres, more 
or less, be sold and aliened in fee, free from any of the condi¬ 
tions and restrictions contained in the will of Henry Shaw and 
that such sale be made by the Trustees or their siiccessors 
or a majority of them, either at public or private sale, on such 
terms and conditions as such trustees may deem advisable, and 
that the proceeds of said sale be expended for the use and 
benefit of said trust, including the purchase of such additional 
tracts of ground away from the atmospheric influences of the 
city sufficiently far to successfully carry out the objects of 
said trust in the propagation and growing of plants, shrubs, 
flowers, etc.i as set out in the will of Henry Shaw, deceased, 
including the erection of necessary equipment and improve¬ 
ments thereon, and that the balance of the proceeds be in¬ 
vested as set forth in the third paragraph of the original decree 
herein.” 
This, with other provisions of the decree, has made it pos¬ 
sible to legally dispose of the area in question, and immedi¬ 
ately plans were made for subdividing and imnroving the land 
and placing it upon the market. The imnrovements are pro¬ 
gressing as rapidly as posmble and already sufficient sales 
have been made to insure the success of the project. 
This move, which preserves the existing garden in its pres¬ 
ent location for a much longer period than would otherwise 
have been possible and yet permits the Board to acquire a 
large tract of land beyond the city for the nurnoses indicated, 
should be regarded as one of the most fundamental improve¬ 
ments undertaken since the trust was bequeathed to the 
Trustees bv Henry Shaw. Only those who have given the en¬ 
tire scheme careful consi'^eratiou can annre'’iate what it means 
to the Misaeuri Bot^^nical Garden and to He citizens of St. 
Louis. As soon as tke new location is securpfi and the various 
nurseries and greenhouse collections established, immediate 
improvement may be exnected in the general annearauce of 
the Garden as well as in the character of the floral displays, 
both indoors and out. That the proposed change has met 
with the universal approval of all those who understand what 
is involved is evidenced by the favorable expressions of opinion 
received from all quarters, including resolutions indorsing the 
contemplated change and wishing the Garden every success 
in the new venture from the St. Louis Association of Gardeners, 
the St. Louis Florist Club, and similar organizations. It is not 
too much to say that a crisis in the administration of the Gar¬ 
den has been successfully passed and that within a compara¬ 
tively few years the citizens of St. Louis will have even greater 
cause to be proud of the institution so beneficently placed at 
their disposal by Henry Shaw. 
INCREASED INTEREST IN AND APPRECIATION OP THE 
GARDEN 
The number of visitors to the Garden, now over three times 
that of a decade ago, is but one evidence of the important 
position which that institution holds in the community and in 
the country. To a greater extent than ever before the Missouri 
Botanical Garden is recognized as a source of information 
along botanical lines, and the increase in the requests from 
commercial concerns, educational and scientific institutions, as 
well as private individuals from all over the country, has more 
than kept pace with the increase in attendance. The way in 
which the Garden is called upon to furnish information from 
either its library, herbarium, laboratories, or garden staff, on 
every conceivable aspect of plants or their products, is a con¬ 
stant source of wonder. While this might be expected from the 
citizens of St. Louis, the greater number of requests come 
from individuals and concerns so far away that one is sur¬ 
prised that they ever heard of the Missouri Botanical Garden. 
Of course, the publications of the Garden are widely dis¬ 
tributed, the ANNALS going to practically every botanical in¬ 
stitution in the world and the BULLETIN reaching a vast num¬ 
ber of plant lovers in this country. A recent letter from the 
director of a foreign botanical garden states: “We get the pub¬ 
lications from your garden regularly and find many exceedingly 
able and useful monographs and articles therein. In fact, we 
constantly refer to them in our every-day work.” And the head 
of a French scientific society writes: “We have just received 
the recent number of your Annals. This interesting publication, 
which we greatly appreciate, is a welcome addition to our 
library, where it holds one (f the best places, as it justly 
