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Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 57.djvu/187

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THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN.
177

steam furnished by a power house beside the railroad on the extreme edge of the Garden.

The collections of living plants in the plantations are arranged in the same system as the synoptic collection in the museum. Every plantation contains species of similar habit, and the horticultural houses are used for the cultivation of forms which may not endure the outdoor climate of this locality. Not only are the plants from warmer zones grown under glass, but when it is desired to develop native species out of their season, they may be forced and brought to full development and bloom in the winter.

In the Herbaceous Plantation.

The construction of driveways and paths is being prosecuted by the Park Department with all available funds at their commands.

Public appreciation of the natural beauties of the Garden, and of the phases of botany illustrated by its collections has been most gratifying, as shown by the great and constantly increasing number of visitors. The series of popular lectures given in the museum on Saturday afternoons have been well attended. The Journal of the Garden, which serves as a means of communication with its members, brings to the notice of its readers interesting facts in botany, horticulture and forestry, and records a constantly swelling list of gifts of books, specimens and plants.

The library, herbarium and laboratories have been open for only a few months, yet twenty-two students have taken advantage of the