
62 
this year on account of the food situation which developed after 
war was declared. Some of this special war garden service 
done by the Garden and its staff is recorded in the Brooklyn 
Botanic Garden Recorp 6: 152-154. 1917. The report of the 
curator of elementary instruction, appended below, gives further 
details of certain phases of this war garden work. 
In that phase of our work done by Mr. Stoll in which various 
phases of nature study, such as tree study, etc., are taught to 
groups of Boy Scouts, Camp Fire Girls, and other similar organi- 
zations, he has instructed during the year 1,124 individuals, mostly 
Scouts and members of summer camps. A certificate was issued 
to each of those who satisfactorily completed certain prescribed 
work extending over at least six weeks. A notebook and test 
were required in each case. It indicates their sustained interest 
and persistence to find that 70 of them passed the requirements 
and took these certificates, 55 of whom worked at least six weeks, 
10 at least twelve weeks, and 5, eighteen weeks. 
Cooperation with Local Schools 
Talks at Schools—Our records show 82 talks and lectures 
given at schools, mother’s clubs, etc., largely upon methods and 
various phases of gardening. An attendance of over 27,000 was 
recorded at these gatherings. 
School Classes at the Garden.—One hundred and forty-nine 
of these classes, consisting in the aggregate of over 10,000 pupils, 
mostly from the elementary schools of Brooklyn, visited the 
Garden for instruction in various subjects which were especially 
chosen to correlate closely with nature study and geography as 
given in the schools. This important work is more and more 
appreciated by teachers, as it brings the pupil in close contact with 
the living economic plants which he has studied about, but has 
likely never seen, thus being an approach, at least, to the labora- 
tory method of teaching these subjects. Miss Shaw’s report ex- 
plains several phases of this cooperation with schools in con- 
siderable detail. 
Study and Loan Material—Seedlings, fern prothallia, algae, 
and other plant material have been furnished from time to time 
—y 
