41 
tions in the interests of this department, and on October 19 a 
conference was held with teachers of biology in local high 
schools, for the purpose of discussing with them the ways and 
means in which the Garden may become most useful in connec- 
tion with their work. As Dr. Olive reports, this conference 
brought many helpful and stimulating suggestions. A tentative 
outline of proposed educational activities to be inaugurated by 
the Garden, and which formed the basis of discussion at that 
meeting, is given in Dr. Olive’s report (pp. 60-¢ 
Attention may also be called here to the organization of a 
botanical seminar, composed of members of our own staff and 
teachers of biology in Brooklyn high schools. This seminar 
meets bi-weekly, on Monday afternoons, at 4 p. m. 
The curator also reports an increasingly large number of 
visitors to the Garden during the past fall, the most gratifying 
feature of which is the large percentage of teachers with classes 
from both grammar and high schools. 
Financial Matters 
Municipal Funds: I append hereto a financial statement 
for the fiscal year 1912. It will be seen by an inspection of this 
statement that the city appropriation was barely sufficient to 
meet the needs of the Garden. It should not be lost sight of 
that the appropriation of practically $5,000 for wages enabled 
us (cf. p. 29) to save the city nearly $40,000 on the estimated 
cost of building the brook, improving the soil, and grading the 
southern portion of the central meadow. The decrease of $1,000 
in this item of the budget for 1913 was in reality not in the line 
of economy, as it will make it impossible for us to do as well 
as this during the coming year, especially since we shall have 
about three acres more of lawn to care for than in 1912. The 
total amount appropriated by the city in the tax budget for 
general maintenance, including salaries, wages, and supplies, for 
1913, is $29,460.00. 
Private funds: The annual income from the endowment 
fund of $50,000 ($2,625), plus the gift of $1,000 already men- 
tioned (p. 34), makes the total income on private account $3,625. 
During the past two and one-half years the income from the 
endowment has been applied chiefly to the more purely educative 
features of the Garden’s work, and to meet certain expenses 
