36 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [12:1— Jan., 1916 



until this little "Best Garden in the Whole World" was ablaze 

 with color, and rich with perfume. 



All the boys and girls came and went in this garden with as much 

 joy in it as if it were an Italian garden or one of the exquisite 

 French parterres, or some beautifully planned park. The door 

 into the street was left open and the mothers came flocking in 

 with their babies in their arms to see and to smell the flowers. Some 

 had tears on their faces as they thanked the teachers and the 

 children for this lovely little place that reminded them of their 

 childhood home in some garden spot of far away Europe. 



And so, dear readers, we think that our garden, because it is 

 so tiny and had so little opportunity for growing big and beautiful, ( 

 and, because our children make the very best they can of it, is— 

 "The Best School Garden We Know." 



Excerps from Letter Accompanying Article 



The school is a very big elementary school of 3200 boys and 

 girls mostly foreign bom. Russians, Poles, Hungarians. Austrians, 

 etc., in the most congested neighborhood of New York City and 

 yet we have found it possible to make a little garden and to have 

 it felt as an influence both in the class-room and in the homes of 

 these poor children. 



Of course, such a garden as I describe, would seem the "best," 

 only to those, like myself, who are struggling against great odds 

 to make nature real to our dear children who are brought up among 

 tenement homes, narrow streets, and altogether squalid surround- 

 ings. 



If it is of any interest you could add that Public School i5's 

 favorite book is Frances Hodgson Burnett's "The Secret Garden," 

 and that the children have dramatized and play the garden scene 

 very well. 



Also that we have a Burrough's Nature Club and enjoy looking 

 up answers to the Burroughs questions every month as much as 

 any country children. 



Very truly yours, 



Margaret Knox, 



Principal. 



