41 



established in 1910. The steady and rapid increase in attendance 

 is shown by the figures for the three successive decades : 



First ten years 2.043,800 



Second ten years 6,956,200 



Third ten years 13,491,409 



Total 22,491,409 



In Education 



The justification of botany and horticulture, as of all science, 

 is public service. This has been one of the motivating ideals of 

 the Brooklyn Botanic Garden from the beginning. As the found- 

 ers of this Nation pointed out, education of the public is the in- 

 dispensable cornerstone of a democracy. Surely nothing is more 

 important in a world half chaos than to emphasize the need of 

 doing everything possible to promote and strengthen in the United 

 States of America the democratic way of life, and a realizing sense 

 of its value. Botanical knowledge, like all knowledge, is primarily 

 for the public; otherwise it has no justification. This thought un- 

 derlies our development of a strong program of public education 

 for both adults and children. 



Thirty Years Cooperation with Schools. — While the Garden is 

 thirty years old, our lack of building and plantations during the 

 first eighteen months made it impossible to begin organized public 

 service until 1912, so that this record actually covers only twenty- 

 eight years. From 1912 to 1940, inclusive, 17,555 teachers in City 

 schools have brought to the Garden for insrtuction by members of 

 our staff 1.012,260 pupils. 



For the same period the attendance at Botanic Garden classes of 

 children and teachers and other adults, organized independently of 

 the schools, has been 1,000,683, and the attendance at talks given 

 outside the Garden, at schools and elsewhere, for 25 years (begun 

 in 1915) has been 524,416 — making a grand total attendance at 

 classes and lectures of 2,537,359. 



It must, of course, be kept in mind that our educational work 

 is confined to the one subject of plant life and gardening, whereas 

 most museums cover a variety of branches of knowledge and there- 

 fore make a multiple appeal. Tt has also been the policy of the 



