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The Department of Elementary Instruction cooperated with 
the Board of Education in Mr. Marvin M. Brooks’s course in 
Nature-Garden Science held at the Garden for the Borough of 
Brooklyn. A similar course given under the auspices of the 
Staten Island Teachers Association was given by Mr. Brooks, 
with one member of our staff, Miss Miner, taking part. The 
Department also cooperated with the Brooklyn Teachers Associa- 
tion in Miss Matilda Rogers’s classes in Flower Arrangement, 
both spring and fall. 
In March, 164 children registered for our Saturday morning 
classes, and 48 new students were admitted in what is called the 
“Try-out” class. A few others were taken in in May, thus 
making a total of 217 children ready for the spring garden. The 
work of these Saturday classes through the spring centers around 
the plans for the outdoor garden. 
The visiting class program during the months of March, April, 
May, and June was, as usual, heavy, with an extra number of 
classes coming under WPA guidance. 
All through the spring and fall the nature material collected by 
Miss Hammond is given out at different times to Nature Rooms 
and class teachers. During the summer 1,000 wild flower speci- 
mens, several thousand tree leaf specimens, a few hundred ferns 
and other spore-bearing plants were collected, sorted, and a 
large part mounted by Miss Hammond. 
Through the distribution of study material and plants, nearly 
7,000 teachers were assisted in their work, and over half a million 
children. 
In the busiest time of our year, the NYA help was taken away, 
leaving a tremendous amount of work to be done in our green- 
houses. Later in the year Mr. Joseph LaGrutta vo 
—_— 
unteered his 
services and has been helping three days a week in the setting 
up of greenhouses and the shifting of material. No new stock 
material has been bought this vear. It has been a year of strict 
economy in material and supplies. 
At the close of the heavy teaching season, the children’s garden 
takes its place, and although the work has been going on every 
Saturday in the spring, summer seems to be the real garden time. 
Total registration for garden classes was 235. This, of course, 
