33 
their children. This indicates a real appreciation of the work on 
the part of parents. 
On November 21, formal exercises were held in the laboratory 
building in recognition of the completion of the first course of 
study for the preparation of teachers of children’s gardening. 
An address was given by Dr. Gustav Straubenmiiller, associate 
superintendent of schools of New York City, on the “Educa- 
tional Value of Children’s Gardens.” Certificates in Children’s 
Gardening were awarded to the seven young women who had com- 
pleted the course. 
Need of Additional Instructor—Neither the curator of public 
instruction nor the instructor took the regular month’s vacation 
to which they were entitled during the summer. This, of course, 
is voluntary service, and cannot be expected annually. On account 
of the children’s gardens, the summer months are among the bus- 
lest, and the work last summer was much more than could be 
handled well by our available staff. Furthermore we had no one 
competent to carry on the work in case of enforced absence of 
the instructor from illness or otherwise. For 1915 the instructor 
should be made assistant curator of public instruction, and a new 
instructor should be appointed to begin not later than July 1. 
ublic Demand for this Work Demonstrated—The facts as set 
forth above, and more fully in the appended report of the curator 
of public instruction, clearly demonstrate the extensive demand 
in Brooklyn for opportunities of this nature. Much as has been 
accomplished, the amount could easily have been doubled had we 
not already reached the limits of possibility with our present 
cramped quarters. 
Investigations 
Attention is called to the report of the curator of plants, re- 
cording the completion of the manuscript of his work on the flora 
of New York and vicinity. This is now in the hands of the 
printer, and will be published in January, 1915. The work will 
appear as a Memoir of the New York Botanical Garden, in accord- 
ance with an agreement to that effect between the New York and 
the Brooklyn gardens at the time the author resigned from that 
institution to assume his present position. An intensive study 
