ov 
has been provided from private funds from the beginning, as the 
City has never been asked to make any appropriation for the pur- 
chase of plants or plant material. 
With greatly reduced private funds income, reduced Tax Budget 
appropriations, and greatly increased demands from the schools, 
we found ourselves in a position where the service could not be 
continued without funds for additional help. The only possible 
source for such funds appeared to be to make a nominal charge 
for the material supplied to High Schools. The plan was ap- 
proved by the school authorities, who sent out a notice announcing 
it in September to the High Schools. These schools have a fund 
—_— 
which may be applied to the purchase of study material. 
A schedule of prices was prepared by our Department of Public 
Instruction, and a school service assistant (Miss Julia E. Best) 
was appointed, whose compensation was to depend entirely upon 
the amount received from the schools. Miss Best entered upon 
the duties of her position on September 7. The curator of public 
instruction reports (page 96) that the number of High School 
requests for plant material (421) were actually greater under the 
new plan, being 34 in excess of 1931 and 23 greater than in 1932. 
The number of Petri dishes called for slightly decreased, being 
4.888 in 1933. This was only 594 less than in 1931 and 839 less 
than in 1932. 
The service to Public Schools (grades below the High Schools) 
has been continued without charge. 
Geographical Extension of Loan Service -—The number of re- 
— 
quests for the loan of books, herbarium specimens, lantern slides, 
and preserved specimens continues to increase. Partly as a result 
of our broadcasting, we received numerous requests from other 
cities and states, including Connecticut, New Jersey, Florida 
(through Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce), Pennsylvania, Dis- 
South Dakota. 
A quantitative expression of our school service is given in Table 
ann 
trict of Columbia, anc 
I, page 38. Attendance figures could have been greatly increased 
by substituting lectures to large groups for intensive class work 
with small groups. We bclieve, however, that such a change 
would have involved the sacrifice of valuable educational results. 
