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gardens this year than ever before, the regular lectures for 
public schools were set aside this spring; and in their place a 
subject was chosen on “ How to plant a small garden,” and dem- 
onstrations of actual planting were given on an outdoor plot. 
‘A letter was sent to fifty-eight public schools, inviting each 
school to send forty children, or one grade, to this lecture and 
demonstration. Out of the fifty-eight, forty-one schools re- 
sponded, and 1,730 boys and girls were taught how to plant a 
small garden in their own back yards, and how to plant different 
kinds of seeds. The schools concerned chose especially those 
boys and girls who had back yards, so that the 1,730 boys and 
girls represented 1,730 actual gardens. The same course will be 
pursued during the coming spring. 
This method resulted in a smaller attendance at these lectures 
than our usual attendance would have been, but at the same time 
specific and more definite help was given to each individual. The 
attendance at both spring and fall courses was only 5,000, against 
approximately 10,000 of last year; but, as stated above, this 
5,000 represents, for the most part, specific individual help, 
while the 10,000 may represent this or may not. 
We have the direct testimony of one of the public schools that 
our cooperative garden work resulted in more and better gardens 
in the vicinity of that school. Such a tribute, unsolicited, is the 
best kind of evidence of the value of our work, and of the appre- 
ciation with which it is received. 
There were 3,386 boys and girls in our regular garden courses. 
These are the courses which extend over a period of time from 
six weeks to six months in length. The attendance at these reg- 
ular classes was 24,483. These 3,386 boys and girls received 
personal and individual attention. We might handle superfi- 
cially many times this number of boys and girls during the year, 
but the result would be quite different than in the present case. 
We are working toward good, concrete garden work which pro- 
motes independence and individuality, and ly goes 
back home; and we are also working toward Poet citizenship, 
which is better built up by individual work than by working with 
large groups and masses. 
During the past summer 409 boys and girls were registered in 


