4 
PARR AND CEMETERYo 
WorK of the Cleveland Home Gardening Association 
We have not many instances on record whereby a 
standard of commercial success can be exploited to en- 
courage enthusiasm in the several lines of improve- 
ment work now being prosecuted ; and it is, therefore, 
very gratifying to find so excellent an example as that 
of the Home Gardening Association, of Cleveland, O. 
The history and development of this association, dur- 
ing its existence of only some bare four years, has been 
chronicled at intervals in these columns, and it must 
have been observed that its originators struck a very 
popular chord when they devised the scheme of dis- 
tributing flower seeds at a nominal cost among the 
public school children, for from the second year, the 
profits from the sale of the seeds even under the 
penny per package system, promised to pay the cler- 
ical help and cost of handling. The report for the 
year 1903 shows that it has done more than this; the 
money received from its seed sales has paid the ex- 
penses of the association, including the amounts paid 
for flower show prizes, for lectures, for an experi- 
mental school yard, for window boxes at its headquar- 
ters, and for the excess in cost of imported bulbs. 
Some details of the work, as given in the report for 
last year, will be of interest. In all 153,705 packages 
of seed were distributed, a larger number than ever 
before; of these, 132,095 went to pupils in the Cleve- 
land public schools, 5,700 to other local organizations, 
and 15,910 to organizations in different parts of the 
( country. It is calculated that the seeds found entrance 
to at least 25,000 Cleveland homes. 
The method of distribution is both effective and at- 
tractive. With the approval of the Superintendent of 
Instruction, a circular embodying the methods and in- 
structions of the association, and its prospectus of de- 
sires and intentions, is sent to the teachers in the 
schools, and in due time this is followed by order en- 
velopes. These envelopes are made of strong manila 
paper, 8*4 by 534 inches. On the front is printed the 
title of the association, a list of the seeds and bulbs 
proposed to be distributed the coming season, described 
as to size and color, and arranged in two columns with 
spaces in which to mark number of packages required. 
This is followed by directions for payment and remis- 
sion of envelope, space for name and address, school 
and grade of scholar, and finally by suggestions for 
care of garden and seeds and such notes as may be 
useful. Upon receipt of these en- 
velopes at the several schools, the 
teachers distribute them to the 
scholars desiring them ; they are 
filled in, returned to the teacher, 
with payment for the amount of 
each order, and the teacher for- 
wards the orders to the distribut- 
ing headquarters and the money to 
the treasurer of the association. At 
the proper time the order envelopes 
are returned to the several schools 
and the seeds handed to their own- 
ers. 
Twenty-four schools arranged 
with the association for lectures, 
which were illustrated by lantern 
slides ; they dealt chiefly with the 
qualities and capabilities of the 
seeds and plants, instruction in 
planting and care and emphasized the possible arrange- 
ment of plants to exhibit them to best advantage. Of 
especial interest to the audiences were pictures of the 
school flower shows. 
In addition to certain prizes offered by public- 
spirited citizens for best gardens, the association also 
offered similar inducements for garden development. 
Twenty-one wards out of twenty-six were repre- 
sented, one ward having nine competitors. 
School flower shows are also encouraged by the as- 
sociation and prizes offered. Last year twenty-four 
schools entered in competition, while over thirty other 
schools held flower exhibits, — in all, over two-thirds 
of Cleveland’s public schools gave practical demonstra- 
tion of the love of flowers among school children. 
The work of the association does not end with what 
has been briefly touched upon in the foregoing. It 
aims to encourage and -give expert advice on school 
yard improvement, and undertakes to advise on all 
questions of home gardening. For the coming season 
it is urging the establishment of one or more school 
gardens, and will aid in the preparation for such gar- 
dens wherever they may be undertaken. 
It is impossible to do fair justice to the work ac- 
A PRIZE WINNER IN PLANTING CONTEST OF CLEVELAND HOME GARDEN 
ING ASSOCIATION, SHOWING GOOD ARRANGEMENT OF PLANTING. 
