90 



December 7, 1900. Evergreens of many kinds, holly, ground- 

 pine, etc. 



January 16, 1901. Birds' nests, cocoons, starfish, sea-urchins, 



shells, minerals, etc. 



February 28, 1901. Budding twigs in great variety, also 

 mosses, lichens, fungi and sea-weeds. 



April 16, 1 90 1. Material for aquaria: frogspawn, tadpoles, 

 snails and aquatic plants. A number of maple seedlings in paper 

 pots were also distributed. In a number of instances barrels of 

 labeled specimens have been sent direct to various down-town 

 schools. "About twenty boxes and baskets were sent every 

 week to the ten vacation schools." 



"Through the distributions we reach the teachers, but by means 

 of the flower shows we come into direct touch with the children. 

 Last May the experiment was tried of holding a flower show in 

 one of the down-town schools. It proved even more successful 

 than we had anticipated and we hope to make this a permanent 

 branch of our work, as it seems to be more far-reaching in its 

 effects than anything else we undertake. The flowers are en- 

 joyed, not only by the children of the school in which the exhi- 

 bition is held, but by the neighboring schools which are invited 

 to visit the show after school hours ; the mothers of the children 

 are asked to come, and if there chances to be a little leisure time 

 the children from the street are invited in." 



It is evident from the above quotations that such wholesale 

 quantities as these must be judiciously selected, or there will be 

 no wild flowers left within easy transportation of the city. One 

 member is reported to have sent i 50 pitcher-plants from a bog at 

 Plymouth, Massachusetts! We question the wisdom of gathering 

 either fringed gentians, pitcher-plants or christmas-fern, in quan- 

 tities sufficient for distribution to seventy-five teachers, and we 

 hope the pupils of country schools may be guided to make a wise 

 selection, if they are encouraged to send flowers in quantities to 

 the city schools. 



The flowers which may be picked in large quantities, without 

 likelihood of extermination are dandelions, violets, daisies, butter- 

 cups, black-eyed Susan, wild carrot, clovers, sweet melilot, 

 golden-rod, asters, and grasses innumerable. But the rarer, 

 dainty woodland wild flowers, that fade as soon as they are picked 



