98 THE TEACHING BOTANIST 



H. L. Clapp, on "School Gardens" in the Popular Science 

 Monthly for February, 1898, gives a description of a 

 remarkably successful garden on the grounds of a 

 Boston school, and shows how much may be done with 

 limited space and means. Such gardens must repay 

 many fold their cost, not only in botanical instruction, 

 but in moral influence, and their formation cannot be too 

 highly commended. There are very practical directions 

 upon this subject in L. H. Bailey's " Lessons with 

 Plants," and especially in his " Garden Making," show- 

 ing how much can be done at little or no expense, and 

 a recent book in German, illustrated with plans, 1 is 

 devoted entirely to this subject. 



An essential feature, indeed the most essential fea- 

 ture, of all botanic gardens are their ranges of green- 

 houses, for thus are the living plants made independent 

 of climate and country. Such collections illustrate 

 extremely well most structural features, and fairly well 

 many ecological principles, especially where the natural 

 conditions are carefully imitated, as is to some extent 

 possible with water plants, desert plants, epiphytes, etc. 

 If the teacher has not the use of such a collection, and 

 has no school greenhouse, he can perhaps make the 

 acquaintance of some owner of a private or even a 

 commercial greenhouse and persuade the owner to 

 accumulate some of the more important forms. What 



1 Cronberger, B. " Dor Schulgarten des In- und Auslandes." Frank- 

 furt a. M. 1898. 2.80 marks. 



