64 
the total registration being about 2,000, against 400 of last year. 
The cause for this increase may be accounted for, not on the 
grounds of interest alone but of greater assistance in teaching. 
This figure may be increased several times with the added space 
of the new building. The children’s class work refers only to the 
work done in the greenhouse and classroom with children in small 
groups of from fifteen to twenty members all of whom came en- 
tirely of their own volition. The greater number of these chil- 
dren register weeks ahead for class work, quite independent of 
suggestions from their teachers. In some cases arrangements 
have been made by principals and special teachers for children 
from their schools. P. S. 89, the Gary School nearest the Gar- 
den, makes constant use of our facilities for regular class work; 
while schools far removed from us, as P. S. 148 and 36, each sea- 
son arrange for their children to have classes after school. These 
classes are used as practice classes for the young women taking 
our teachers’ course. It might be of interest to add here this 
statement: Jt 1s very rare that a child, who comes to the Garden, 
takes one short course only. He usually registers for other 
courses in succession until he becomes an independent worker in 
certain phases of Garden work. The curriculum is so arranged 
that the courses build up, one after the other, to form a larger 
unit with a definite sum total of botanical and garden knowledge. 
The Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs, numbering 500 and 400 each, are spon- 
taneous outgrowths from this class work. The highest achieve- 
ment in these clubs is the work for silver buttons: this work 
covers at least six months of time and is, in a small way, inde- 
pendent in nature. Eight boys and five girls received their silver 
buttons this year. About twenty other boys and six girls are at 
present working on special topics with his end in view. 
The registration figure for the outdoor garden was 200 in 
April; this dropped to 125 in July on account of infantile paraly- 
sis, so prevalent in Brooklyn. The drop was due to no special 
feeling of danger for the child at the Garden, but because of 
the necessity of travel on congested trolley lines. The children’s 
gardens this year were:on our new and permanent site. Because 
of the poor condition of the soil, and the extra ground needed by 
the builders erecting the children’s house, it was thought best to 
