can. If there is anything we can do, don't fail
to ask.

PRESIDENT BEST: Thank you, Mr. Thomas. Most of you met Mr. Wilbur Wright
last night out at the park. He is going to make an address of welcome
from the City of Rochester and from the parks. Mr. Wright.

MR. WRIGHT: Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the City of Rochester and
the Park Department, we want to welcome you to The Friendly City. We
want you to feel that Rochester has its hand out for a wide open welcome
for anything we can do to make you happy while you are here.

The parks are particularly interested in the fact that you have chosen
Rochester as your conference city for 1953. The parks, as you know, are
a good deal like the museum. They are botanical collections in the heart
of the city, the money coming from the city; the taxpayers pay the bill.
We have a tremendous botanical collection here, and are known the
country over for our lilac and other collections.

We have, in the past two years, appointed Bernard Harkness to take
charge of our plant collections, with the title of taxonomist. It took
quite a bit of backing to get Civil Service to break down and make such
a title. There wasn't such a title in the State of New York, and they
couldn't understand why they should give it.

Mr. Grant is another good Cornellian coming along as Assistant
Superintendent of Parks, and he is, again, looking after the maintenance
and upkeep of the various plant materials that we have.

We have a very large organization here, the Parks Division includes the
cemeteries, 90,000 street trees, 56 playgrounds, and about 2,000 acres
of parks. Our peak employment is 756 people. All-in-all we have a
tremendous amount of interest in our parks, and they are increasing. We
are exchanging plants with about 25 foreign countries right now, and we
expect to expand that now with the various facilities we are setting up
at our new herbarium, which you visited last night.

We are proud of Rochester, and the park system. We are doing our best to
continue the excellent work of Dunbar, Laney, and Slavin who built up
the park collections. Our aim is to increase the collections, and make
the park system better for the people to enjoy. We hope you have a fine
time while you are here. Thank you.

PRESIDENT BEST: Dr. MacDaniels, ex-president of our Association will
give our organization's response.

DR. MACDANIELS: Chairman Best, Director Thomas and Director Wright, I
don't know wheth