88 



In general the purpose of the trips is to show the city boys a 

 considerable range of actual living, growing plants, and a 

 Botanic Garden is a specially favorable place for such a trip. 



Xew York City. 



HIGH SCHOOL BIOLOGY AND THE NEW YORK 

 BOTANICAL GARDEN 



G. T. Hastings 



The New York Botanical Garden is made use of by some of 

 the schools at the Bronx and Manhattan in much the same way 

 that the Brooklyn Garden serves Stuy\'esant. Every term the 

 biology classes of Morris and Evander Childs High Schools, 

 and at times other city high schools, visit the garden. The 

 pupils, often 600 or more, are taken through the greenhouses in 

 groups of 25 or 30 led by members of the garden staff or teachers. 



Plants of Commerce 



In addition to studying the habitat groups in the desert house 

 and the others, various plants such as cacao, coffee, cocoanut, 

 camphor, Manilla hemp, rubber, tea, etc., are marked with large 

 labels and studied by the pupils. Later in the museum the 

 products of the same plants are seen and the methods of prepara- 

 tion studied. The classes conclude their visits with illustrated 

 lectures in the large hall of the museum. 



Variation under Cultivation 



Pupils of botany classes also visit the garden every term, 

 especially in the spring to see the display of tulips and in the 

 fall the dahlias. The hundreds of varieties of these plants make 

 a splendid illustration. of the way plants vary and of what may 

 be done by selection. 



Public Lectures 



Many pupils visit the garden individually or in small groups, 

 often to get material for class reports. Some of the pupils also 

 attend Saturday lectures. The biology classes of St. Ursula's 

 regularly attend these and reports on the lectures are a required 

 part of the class work. 



City biology teachers often feel that they are handicapped 

 by the surroundings under which their pupils live, but the city 



