New-York tribune., 1901-04-07
A MUSEUM OF TREES
1hE COMPLETION OF THE ARNoLD AR.
0oiiETUM GIVES BOSTON CNE OF
THE MOST NOTABLE PARKS
IN THE WORLD
IN THE WORLD.

Boston. April 5.-The completion this spring
or the Arnold Arboretum as a mart nf The sys-
tenn oi parks which girdles the city of Roston
caiis attention To the most notable museum of
hShis uees IN the United States ana one of the
.ios' notable To he found anywhere in the world
~ - aoublul II there is institution in the
country OF 50 much general value concerning
which there is 50 little popular hno Wedge 4
mere 4lst Of the undertakings which have orig
iha'ea al the arboretum ami have been carried
10 completion under its director Charles = Sar-
gent Is sufficient stir the rnt husiaSrn of tree
lovers everywhere. Twenty-Five years go. il
mas been well said. hnowedse of the characters
geographical distribution ana economic and hor
ucu!'ufa! value Il the tres Of North America
was iiaSinentarY ana mostly hey ma the reach
OF students. Many # our trees Mere entirely
unknown even to botanists and only the
'agueSt and most uns ltiSfa Dry information
eoGll be obtained about many others
Nov. as a result of the work done at the
ARNOLD Arboretum. il may BE fairly said that
the trees of no other continent have been so
Carefully studied or are 50 Neu known The re-
suit If this study is embodied in Mr. sargent's
monumental silva Of North America" begun
at the arboretuln in 1888. and aFproac hing
completion in fourteen great Guarto volcrnes-
a work which. in this country at all events
may be compared for origin Atty Of research
ia the WIDEST area, as we'll as for typographical
spltnaor only with such classic in another
field as Audubon's Birds Of North America"
Nor IS this 10y any means all The trees OF
Japan have been a specially Of The arboretum
resulting in the publication Of the Forest Flora
OF Japan only less important Than The Silva
The arboretum is a department Of Harvard
University. 1t is OutSrowth in a way, OF
the love II horticulture which has made Eastern
Massachusetts,, in spite OF many difficulties OF
Climate and soil. the garden Il the United
States. The immediate foundation Of the ar
boretum is due. however to James Arnold a
wealthy citizen Of New -Bedfori a lover of gar
dens and trees who left to three trustees the
sum Of SloaoDo To promote hortioutu and
agriculture. ore Of thu trustees named in Mr.
Arnold's will was the late George Il Emerson.
We'll known botanist. and the author Of Trees
and Shrubs # Massachusetts, At AIR Emer-
sons suggestion he Arnold fund was offered
TO Harvard To establish the Arnold pro:essorship
Of arboriculture. The offer gladly acrs pied.
Mr. Sargent. who had been in charge of the
Harvard Botanic Garden, in Cambridge Was
appointed first Arnold professor. and the he
ginnings Of the arboretum the laboratory of
such a department. in which every tree capable
of standing the climate Of New England should
be grown, soon followed. Curiousiy enough,
however. the Arnold fund increased by
cumulation Of interest 10 Sl.DbNo- remained
the sole endowment Of chair and museum alike;
SO that remarkable the work Of the
bor-tum has been. il is all the remark
able as a monument to the self-sacriiicng labOrs
Of those who have conducted it, \ building To
contain a museum Of woods. the remarkable
library probably the best the subject of trees
in tsss world-and the unrivalled h@rbarium Of
wO98y plants has been given by H. II. Hume
Yel4i the Massachusetts, Society for Promoting