SCHOOL GARDENS IN AMERICA 



ation from the beginning of its existence has 

 shown the possibility of flower culture and has 

 called attention to the pleasure such occupation 

 brings. The influence of the association is indi- 

 cated even more clearly by the incident of the 

 window-boxes than by the increase in the quan- 

 tity of seed distributed. 



" Seed Distribution. — The kind of work done 

 by the association in former years has been con- 

 tinued without essential change, although some 

 new features have been added. The distribution 

 of seeds, 153,705 packages, was larger than ever 

 before. Of these packages, 132,095 went to the 

 pupils in Cleveland Public Schools, 5,700 pack- 

 ages to other local organizations,* and 15,910 to 



* " One of the local organizations, the Slavic Alliance, which 

 used the seeds, sent through its president the following com- 

 munication : 



" 'The Slavic Alliance was organized in Cleveland in Decem- 

 ber, 1902. Its field of activity and service is among the people 

 of Slavic origin. The Slavic race is represented in our city by 

 members of the following nationalities, here given in the order 

 of their numerical strength, namely: Bohemians, Poles, Slovaks, 

 Slovenes, Croatians and Russians. By birth or descent there 

 live to-day in Cleveland about 100,000 persons of Slavic blood. 

 The Slavic Alliance is a non-sectarian organization, its object 

 being purely educational and pliilanthropic. As stated in its 

 constitution, its purposes are: "To foster a spirit of kinship 

 among the people of Slavic origin for the purpose of uplifting 

 the race; to aid them in all that tends to their moral, social and 

 intellectual advancement; to assist them in the defense of their 

 common interests, and to teach them the rights and duties of 

 American citizenship." 



27 



