REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON SCHOOL GARDENS, ETC. 307 



CHILDREN'S HERBARIUMS. 



The Exhibition of Children's Herbariums, November 29 and 

 30, 1895, was the most satisfactory exhibition of its kind that has 

 been held in Horticultural Hall. The various packages of 

 pressed plants were sent to the Committee very plainly and 

 adequately labelled, so that the allotment of space necessary to 

 keep each collection unbroken and the laying-out of the 

 specimens were made comparatively easy. The somewhat explicit 

 instructions in the circulars of the Committee were closely carried 

 oat. 



The namber of exhibitors, as well as the number of specimens, 

 was smaller than in 1894, but the quality of their work was much 

 superior. Some remarkable examples of pressing, mounting, and 

 preserving the natural colors of flowering plants were exhibited, 

 especially in Arthur E. French's collection of 125 specimens, 

 which were selected from a collection numbering 200 specimens 

 that were changed to fresh paper every day during the pressing 

 process. The preservation of the colors of the flowers was 

 probably due to that careful work. Master French took the first 

 prize for twenty ferns at our Exhibition in 1894. 



Arthur C. Faxon exhibited highest grade work in sedges, 

 grasses, and leaf spraj's of shrubs. His combination of scientific 

 and artistic arrangements and naming were beyond criticism. It 

 was his fourth exhibition of herbarium specimens. 



Gordon Weinz, a little boy eight years old, took the second 

 prize for fifty flowering plants. His interest in the other children's 

 collections was pleasant to see. 



Phillips Barry contributed this year for the fourth time, and 

 gave evidence of his earnestness, industry, and knowledge, in the 

 form of one hundred flowering plants that he had not previously 

 exhibited, among them being fourteen orchids, some of which 

 are quite rare. 



The fern collections, though not large, were of fine quality, and 

 the labelling in vertical writing was the finest ever seen at our 

 exhibition, especially that done by Theresa Cohn and Lulie D. 

 Ellis. The ferns of the latter exhibitor were exceptionally fine. 



