plants in the Conservatory. Other rare species have been grown from 
bits of root, or spores, or seeds that were contained in the packing 
material around palms and other specimens shipped in from tropical 
countries. Mr. Koch has long made a practice of sowing all soil from 
such shipments in order that whatever minute seeds or spores it con- 
tained might have a chance to germinate; and he has secured a number 
of interesting specimens in this way. Various other valuable speci- 
mens have been developed from bits of root that were found mixed in 
with shipments of orchids. Most of the rare plants in the collection, 
however, have been developed from seeds, spores, cuttings, or seed- 
lings bought from the foreign firms that specialize in such material. 
There are individual plants in the present collection for which 
fanciers would pay many thousands of dollars, if they could come into 
possession of them in an undamaged condition. Many plants are so 
large or so rare as to be priceless, especially since Quarantine Act 37 has 
made it practically impossible to import plants and seeds from foreign 
sources. There are in the world several firms that make a specialty of 
tropical plants, supplying spores, seeds, cuttings, and seedlings to the 
trade; but Quarantine Act 37 has practically cut off American horti- 
culturists from these sources of supply. There are a few Florida and 
California firms that specialize in growing tropical plants; but their 
stock is most limited, and they are at as great a disadvantage as the 
Conservatory in attempting to add to it. This situation has made it 
profitable for certain persons to steal rare plants and dispose of them 
to fanciers, with the result that the Conservatory, in spite of all pre- 
cautions, is being constantly robbed. 
Soon after Mr. Koch was placed in charge of the Conservatory, 
he found that it was necessary either to remov2 many palms from the 
Palm House or to rearrange the plantation. The original arrange- 
ment provided a vista lengthwise of the Palm House, through the center 
of the room, with a fountain in the center of the vista. This arrange- 
ment had been most effective while the palms were of moderate size, 
but became increasingly difficult to maintain as the specimens increased 
in size. Many palms grow very rapidly—one of the coconut palms 
that now touches the roof of the Conservatory, for example, has grown 
to that height in eleven years. Mr. Koch finally determined upon the 
present arrangement, which permits the palms to develop character- 
istically without any loss to the general picture. He was all the more 
willing to change the plantation because the change enabled him to 
secure the vista from the entrance through into the Fern House—a 
vista that is now generally conceded to be the Conservatory’s greatest 
single charm. 
Other changes have been made from time to time. The old 
Aquatic House, which was originally arranged as a display of aquatic 
vegetation and wonderful rockwork, with fine specimen ferns and tree 
ferns disposed at points of special vantage, has been converted into the 
Fern House, with a plantation suggesting the characteristic vegetative 
exuberance of a humid tropical region. The old New Holland House 
has been changed into the present Economic House. The Conifer 
