MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN BULLETIN 7 
forms capable of adapting themselves to such uneven con- 
ditions. During the past few years, however, the adminis- 
tration of the Quarantine Act by the Federal Horticultural 
Board has thrown so many obstacles in the way of import- 
ing plants that we have practically abandoned our old prac- 
tice of importing large quantities of plants from abroad. It 
is now more necessary than ever to conserve both our green- 
house plants and those grown out of doors and much more 
labor and money is required for this purpose, since, if once 
lost, they cannot readily be replaced. 
School for Gardening.—One of the activities provided for 
by Mr. Shaw was instruction to garden pupils, and there 
was early organized a school for the training of gardeners. 
In 1914 the amount of instruction was increased and its 
grade improved. Likewise, the requirements for admission 
to the school were raised so that more mature and better 
qualified students were obtained. During the war it was 
necessary to close the school since those eligible for admission 
were occupied in more important work. A few pupils returned 
after the armistice to complete their course, but since that 
time practically all the facilities of the school have been 
devoted to the vocational training of disabled soldiers. These 
men are given instruction in the various aspects of both 
theoretical and practical gardening and the results obtained 
have been extremely satisfactory. Both from the pupils 
themselves and their employers, it seems certain that the 
instruction given at the Garden has enabled these men to 
establish themselves in a way which might not have other- 
wise been possible. The vocational training of soldiers will 
probably be terminated some time during the coming year, and 
for many reasons the present time would seem to be a par- 
ticularly favorable one for reorganizing the School for Gar- 
dening on a larger and more efficient basis than has here- 
tofore been attempted. Due to the increasing interest in 
gardening in this part of the country and the falling off in 
the supply of trained men from abroad, there is a consid- 
erable demand for those capable of taking charge of private 
estates, managing the grounds of public institutions and 
parks, as well as in more specialized branches of the sub- 
ject. During the past year some thirty applications for 
admission to the School for Gardening have been received, 
not only from the city of St. Louis and vicinity, but from 
numerous outside points. Owing to the fact that the Mis- 
souri Botanical Garden is particularly well adapted for giv- 
