Mr. O'NEAL. It seems to me this could take quite an appreciable cut, judging from the experience you have had in the first half of the fiscal year. For instance, on general annual repairs you only spent $2,626 for the first 6 months of this fiscal year. For maintenance and repair of air conditioning and refrigeration systems you have only spent $2,146 for the first 6 months of 1943; for the maintenance and repair of elevators, you have only spent $940 for the first 6 months of 1943, and you are asking for $5,090 for 1944. For supplies and materials you have only spent $4,520 for the first 6 months of 1943, and you are asking for $12,500 for 1944. Unless there is some explanation, those items could stand a substantial cut. Mr. BOND. The reason that money has not been expended is principally because of the difficulty of securing priorities. It is almost impossible to get the material. Mr. O'NEAL. That situation will probably obtain during 1944 also. Mr. BOND. Possibly so. Mr. O'NEAL. You have gotten along without being handicapped, even though you have not been able to get priorities? Mr. LYNN. If we do not get repair parts, the equipment becomes progressively in worse condition and it will cost a great deal more when we do get the repair parts. Mr. O'NEAL. For annual equipment you had an appropriation for 1943 of $5,000, and for annual built-in furniture you also had an appropriation for 1943 of $5,000, and you have spent nothing on those items for the first 6 months of the fiscal year. For the care of grounds you had an appropriation of $1,500, but you have only spent $2 in the first 6 months. Is the fact that you have not spent anything on annual equipment and annual built-in furniture because you cannot get the priorities? Mr. BOND. Yes, sir; the built-in furniture includes bookcases, built-in recesses and equipment of that sort. In the Library the wood would either be black walnut or mahogany both of which are difficult to obtain at this time. For the next fiscal year we cannot anticipate at present anything we will need in that line. Mr. O'NEAL. What about the care of grounds, on which you have spent $2 in the first 6 months out of an appropriation of $1,500? Mr. BOND. That is because the expenditures from that allotment are made in the spring for grass seed, fertilizer, and labor. Mr. O'NEAL. What did you spend in 1942 on that item? Mr. SOMMER. Will you permit me to mention something about a question I was asked by Mr. Lynn, to state how much we would need for the next fiscal year for the maintenance and repair of elevators. When the 1944 Budget estimates were prepared, I asked to have included for elevators $5,090, because I did not see my way clear to get along on a lesser amount. However, exercising every possible economy and holding our needs to an absolute minimum, I hope to get by on about $4,000 this year and feel that on the same basis we can get along with about $4,000 instead of $5,090 for 1944. Mr. O'NEAL. That is fine. Mr. SOMMER. Of course, there may be some special matter we would have to attend to, such as when we had to repair a motor armature at a cost of $529, which we could not take care of ourselves, and had to send to Baltimore for repair because we are not equipped with the facilities to do such work. Mr. ANDERSEN. I would like to have more information for the justification of two items, for annual equipment and annual built-in furniture. I would like to know what they have spent for that. Mr. BOND. The annual equipment is new equipment, such as new motors, new machines, and new compressors, something of that sort, to replace worn-out equipment. They are practically unobtainable now. Mr. ANDERSEN. As to the annual built-in furniture, is not that something you can do without for a few years? Mr. O'NEAL. He said we could take that item out this year. BOTANIC GARDEN TUESDAY, MARCH 9, 1943. STATEMENTS OF DAVID LYNN, ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL; AND WILLIAM A. FREDERICK, LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT AND HORTICULTURIST Mr. O'NEAL. Before we take up the estimate for the Botanic Garden, I think it will be interesting, Mr. Lynn, if you can tell the committee briefly how the Botanic Garden started; and also tell us what physical properties are included in the Garden, and what is the reason for the whole operation. I think a brief statement of that sort would be very enlightening. Mr. LYNN. I will be glad to do that. The United States Botanic Garden was founded in 1820 under the auspices of the Columbia Institute for the Promotion of Arts and Sciences, an organization which was the outgrowth of an association known as the Metropolitan Society and which received its charter from Congress on April 20, 1818. The Garden continued under the direction of this institute until 1837, when the institute ceased to exist as an active organization. It remained abandoned until 1842, when it became necessary for the Government to provide accommodations for the botanical collections brought to Washington, D. C., from the South Seas by the United States Exploring Expedition of 1838-42, under the leadership of Capt. Charles Wilkes, placed temporarily on exhibition at the Patent Office upon return of the expedition in June 1842. The first The first greenhouse for this purpose was constructed in 1842 on a lot behind the Patent Office Building, under the direction and control of the Joint Committee of Congress on the Library, from funds appropriated by Congress, and greenhouse construction was continued during the 2 succeeding years. The collections of the exploring expedition were placed therein and put under the custodianship of the Commissioner of Patents by the Library Committee and remained thereunder until 1850, although the actual care of the botanical collection was under the supervision of Captain Wilkes, assisted by William D. Brackenridge, the horticulturist and assistant botanist of his exploring expedition. In 1849 Congress authorized the construction of an extension to the Patent Office Building, and in order to allow for construction, it was necessary to relocate the Botanic Garden greenhouses which occupied the land adjoining the building and upon which the extension was to be erected. Such relocation was authorized by the act of May 15, 1859 (9 Stat. 427). The site selected pursuant to this act by the Joint Committee on the Library for the relocation of the Botanic Garden was at the west end of the Capitol Grounds and was practically the same site as that occupied by the Botanic Gardens during the period it functioned under the Columbia Institute. Action toward the relocation of the Botanic Garden to its present site was initiated by Congress on January 7, 1925 (43 Stat. 729), and the project-which was thereafter authorized by Congress by acts of January 5, 1927 (44 Stat. 931), and March 1, 1927 (44 Stat. 1262), and provided for a new site, the construction of new conservatories, and relocation of the gardens-was carried forward by the Architect of the Capitol under the direction of the Joint Committee on the Library. The boundaries of the present site-squares 578, 576 east and west, and reservation B-are Maryland Avenue on the north, First Street on the east, Canal Street on the south, and Third Street on the west, and of reservations 6-C, 6-D, 6-E, 6-F, from B Street to South Capitol Street along Canal Street and of reservations 6-G, 6-H, 6-I along South Capitol Street from Canal Street to G Street-all in the southwest section of the city. In addition, the Botanic Garden property also includes Poplar Point Nursery, located adjacent to Anacostia Park and containing 22.58 acres. Part of the nursery was acquired in 1926 under the provisions of the act of June 26, 1926 (44 Stat. 774), and part in 1935 by transfer from the Interior Department in exchange for reservations 6-K, 6-L, 6-M, 6-N, 6-0, 6-P, 6–Q, 6–R, 292, and 293 under the provisions of the act of May 20, 1932 (47 Stat. 161). Of this nursery area, a right-of-way 200 feet wide (approximately 112 acres), adjacent to the Anacostia River, is reserved for a roadway for the use of the National Park Service. Although the Botanic Garden began functioning as a Governmentowned institution in 1842, the records indicate that it was not until 1856 that the maintenance of the Garden was specifically placed under the direction of the Joint Committee on the Library, and a regular, annual appropriation was provided by Congress (11 Stat. 104). The legislation governing the employment of personnel at the Garden is set forth in the Code of Laws of the United States, title 40, section 216, which reads as follows: "There shall be a superintendent (Director) and assistants in the Botanical Garden and greenhouses who shall be under the direction of the Joint Committee on the Library" (17 Stat. 491). At the present time the joint committee exercises its supervision through the Architect of the Capitol, who has been serving as Acting Director since July 3, 1934. Mr. O'NEAL. Mr. Frederick, what is being done now at the Botanic Garden? Mr. FREDERICK. Just at the present time we have, of course, our regular activities, and we have a display which is of great interest. We have a very fine display of azaleas, which is outstanding in this part of the country. During the winter months we make it a point to have unusual displays of outstanding flowers for the general public and also for students of botany, school students, or other people interested in floriculture. This display will be followed by an Easter display of lilies and other bulbous plants, such as tulips and hyacinths, including plants that bloom in the early spring of the year. We have tried to get outstanding types of plants which we know will be of interest to the country, insofar as their being new is concerned, and something that the public themselves can grow possibly at home, in very small hothouses or in the ground. During the summer months our work includes getting ready for the next year's shows. Mr. O'NEAL. What about rare plants? Mr. FREDERICK. We have fine collections of orchids, acacias, and other rare plants which we are adding to, whenever possible. We also have very fine collections of orchid plants given to us through the courtesy of individuals, as a donation to the Govern ment. Mr. O'NEAL. What is the disposition of flowers you have down there which might be of use in hospitals or elsewhere? Mr. FREDERICK. We have sent some flowers to Walter Reed, naval and other hospitals for members of Congress and servicemen; and also some to the White House since discontinuance of the White House greenhouses. I might say we do have demands for certain types of flowers which we do not grow. We do not grow any roses. Mr. O'NEAL. There are no sales? Mr. FREDERICK. No, sir. Mr. O'NEAL. Could better use be made of what you are growing down there by way of sending to hospitals and other places some of the flowers or plants you have there and thus getting a larger use of them than you now have? Is there much spoilage? Mr. FREDERICK. Practically none. Mr. O'NEAL. You have utility for all of them? Mr. FREDERICK. For everything, yes, sir. Mr. LYNN. I would like to say, Mr. Chairman, that last year, we had 377,801 visitors at the Garden-people who came to see the Garden and the exhibitions. Mr. JOHNSON. In reference to these flowers, for the White House, how many do you send there? Mr. FREDERICK. I can't give you any information on that, offhand. Mr. JOHNSON. Could we not have in the record a statement of the number of flowers sent any place? Mr. FREDERICK. We have a record for last year, of flowers going out and can approximate how many we have grown. Mr. JOHNSON. Can we have any statement as to the number of flowers produced? Mr. FREDERICK. Yes, sir. Mr. JOHNSON. What is that statement? Mr. FREDERICK. I will have to get that from our records. Mr. JOHNSON. Would you put in the record a statement of the number of flowers you have produced and the disposition of them? Mr. FREDERICK. I will be glad to do that. Mr. JOHNSON. I would like to know how much we are spending to provide flowers for the White House. Our prominent visiting guests now all go to the Blair House. I wonder if any of these flowers go to the Blair House? Mr. LYNN. I think you will find it is a very nominal amount. We do loan some palms and ferns to such organizations as the Congressional Women's Club; also for governmental functions. We also loan Members of Congress plants for their offices, and when they need rehabilitating we have them sent back to the garden and take care of them. A good many Members like plants in their offices. Cut flowers produced annually at the U. S. Botanic Garden; distribution made of such flowers, and estimated production cost Approximate number cut flowers produced annually-- White House__. Hospitals__ Capitol restaurants and the Congressional Club__ Estimated Botanic Garden production cost: White House____ Hospitals__‒‒‒ Capitol restaurants and the Congressional Club_ Total____- $68, 000 16,000 34, 000 18,000 535.00 1, 150.00 590.00 2,275.00 SALARIES Mr. O'NEAL. The first item for the Botanic Garden on page 86 of the committee print, is for salaries, for which the appropriation for 1943 was $83,452. You are requesting $84,793 for 1944. I understand that $720 of this increase is to complete in 1944 the 1943 within-grade promotions authorized by the act of August 1, 1941, and that the remainder of the increase, $641, is to meet the |